Articles in Responsible finance

Branchless banking in Nepal: Hello Paisa

21 May 2013

This article is part of a series of three about branchless banking. After having explored the benefits of branchless banking and the importance of understanding the customer’s behaviour, we now look at Hello Paisa in Nepal. Manager Bank 2.0 at Laxmi Bank Limited Nikesh Ghimire explains how this successful example of branchless banking came about. read more

Responsible finance

Eugenio is convinced that he would have lost money, if he would not have participated in the course. The reason: lack of knowledge. Thanks to the course the carpentry’s results are now improving.

Creating healthy businesses in Paraguay

21 May 2013

Responsible finance

The value propositions of branchless banking

16 April 2013

Branchless banking is not new: at the end of 2012, there were 150 live mobile money services around the world. However, around 90 percent of these have failed to be taken up by the market which they were intended to serve – customers may sign up, but then never or rarely use the service. Why has this happened? And indeed, why has it continued to happen? Can this trend be reversed, so that deploying Alternative Delivery Channels for financial services show ongoing returns that exceed the cost of their implementation, and simultaneously offer measurable benefits for the low-income clients who they are intended to serve? read more

Responsible finance

Fundamental shift in banking

16 April 2013

On 13 March 2013, the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), a network of the world’s leading sustainable banks, issued a declaration in Berlin outlining how the banking system should be transformed. The declaration calls for a fundamental shift in how banks operate in order to make them more transparent, sustainable and diverse. read more

Responsible finance

Banking beyond branches

25 March 2013

Banks in emerging and developing countries are increasingly recognising the potential of the low-income market segment. However, setting up and running a bank branch is an expensive business. This is where branchless banking comes in. Read the first article in an insightful series of three on how banking beyond conventional branches creates financial inclusion for all. read more

Responsible finance

A corporation should be more than a money cow

28 February 2013

We need a new market system according to Pavan Sukhdev, founder/CEO of GIST Advisory. A market that is not set on just financial success but for once focuses on the whole picture. And the former banker is getting a head start. By putting a value on impacts on natural and human capital, for example. read more

Energy & Climate | General | Responsible finance |

Dr. Wendy Luhabe’s mission to boost social entrepreneurship

28 February 2013

In addition to a successful career in South Africa’s corporate boardrooms, Wendy Luhabe has been a pioneer in championing the economic empowerment of women to become active participants in the South African economic landscape. She co-founded Women Investments Portfolio Holdings, the first female-owned company to be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and pioneered another first for South Africa by launching the multi-million Private Equity fund for women-owned enterprises. She is an avid advocate of social entrepreneurship and strongly believes in the potential of human capital. Wendy Luhabe: ‘Financial institutions need to re-evaluate their role and responsibility in society.’ read more

Responsible finance | Sustainable development

Boosting Family Businesses

17 January 2013

Tuninvest-Africinvest Group is a leading private equity investor, that is committed to investing in growing African SME’s. Executive partner Khaled Ben Jilani shares his vision on how to successfully turn family businesses into thriving companies. read more

Responsible finance | Sustainable development