microfinance
Noun
Meaning
microfinance (usually uncountable, plural microfinances)
(finance) Finance that is provided to unemployed or low-income people or groups.
Synonyms
Related terms
Examples
We developed microfinance to fight loan sharks - I was telling people don't go to loan sharks - not trying to take advantage and make money for myself. I would be a junior loan shark if I did... It is not a panacea.
Microfinance is the best example of success in the kinds of systemic institutional areas.
I believe in microfinance because it isn't just a path out of poverty. It's the road to self-reliance. By allowing people to team up and literally become their own bank, you can mobilize people and resources and alleviate poverty on the global scale.
The moment you say microfinance everybody wants to help you.
In 1989, I started the National Association of Business Women. We incorporated microfinance and different job training for women. We did a survey, with USAID, that found women lacked training, credit and information.
Because microfinance is so manageable in terms of the size of the loan, people have made it the cornerstone to lifting women out of poverty.