CAN poor countries afford to be green? That is a question which politicians in the developing world have often asked rather pointedly. To them, it seems that the...
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Time is running out for India's aging state-run oil refineries as the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set to free up diesel prices and open the gates to private
In Kenya, towns and cities are growing fast. It's estimated at least 100,000 people move per year from their rural homes to the capital Nairobi in search of opportunities. The urban growth has led to a high housing demand with the Ministry of Housing estimating at least 200,000 new housing units are needed each year to meet the shortage.
Homes have been demolished against residents' wishes to make way for another of King Mswati III's 'vanity projects'.
IN THE past five years growth in the rich world has been measly. From 1990 to 2007 high-income countries managed an inflation-adjusted per-capita GDP growth of about...
Microfinance aims to strengthen income flow of the poor by providing financial funds to small businesses and budding entrepreneurs to start or
Introduction
 A small loan from a microcredit bank in Luanda, Angola, enabled one-time street peddler Ana Helena Domingos to buy goods in bulk and launch a now-flourishing wholesale operation, doubling her income in 10 months. (AP Photo/Jose Silva Pinto) |
Since the 1980s, millions of impoverished people around the world without access to banks have been able to take out tiny loans to start businesses. Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, who established the first microfinance bank in Bangladesh and launched the modern microlending movement, claims microloans have lifted millions — especially women — out of poverty and spurred economic growth. But recent studies cast doubt on microcredit's effectiveness. Borrowers have been saddled with multiple loans at exorbitant interest rates, often having to borrow from loan sharks to make their microcredit payments. Economists fear overindebtedness could make borrowers even poorer and that a possible credit bubble could burst. Others worry that in recent years, for-profit investors have swarmed to the field, attracted by high returns on investment. Some governments have capped microlenders' interest rates, but the industry hopes to forestall regulation by adopting voluntary consumer protection measures.
Analysis - This is part of a series of articles The Conversation Africa is running on financial inclusion and micro credit and their role in economic development.
Expressing concern over the obstruction of essential supplies to Nepal, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on all sides to lift the blockade at the Indo-Nepal border immediately.
Expressing concern over the obstruction of essential supplies to Nepal, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on all sides to lift the blockade at the Indo-Nepal border immediately.
Transparency International is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption.
infrastructure
The company has won plaudits for its admission of forced labour in the Thai seafood industry but much of the supply chain remains hidden
