For the Arab World, 2011 was historic. The Arab Spring, ignited in Tunisia, quickly spread to Egypt, Libya, Syria and other Arab countries.  The year brought much hope and a sense of opportunity as Arabs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf saw the possibility of a future without dictatorship, corruption and hypocrisy – [...]

The Water Dragon symbolizes new frontiers, changes and innovations. This could be good news for financial inclusion in China and the rest of the region. East Asia and the Pacific host a variety of countries when it comes to financial inclusion. South Korea and Singapore boast excellent levels of financial inclusion whereas countries like Indonesia, [...]

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to be a region plagued with challenges but ripe with opportunities in microfinance. Just one in five households has access to formal financial services, with high operating expenses as well as a general lack of financial infrastructure, supervisory frameworks or consumer protection plans being just a few of the stumbling blocks [...]

The year 2011 was not particularly easy for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA).  Though overall many managed to overcome crisis, many MFIs have not yet returned to their pre-crisis growth rates, and delinquency levels were still higher last year than in 2007. One of the issues commonly faced has been [...]

2011 was not a good year to be in the headlines in microfinance. So for Latin America flying under the radar last year was probably more good luck than bad publicity. However, in 2012 with the focus shifting away from “hot-spots” and yes/no debates on microfinance, and hopefully towards greater product diversity and complete financial [...]