Blog

A new report by Babson College on the Goldman Sachs "10,000 Women" initiative has found that training and education for women entrepreneurs positively affect emerging economies by increasing revenues and creating jobs.

Richard Kohl from the Center for Large Scale Social Change presented findings from interviews with USAID’s recommendations and observations tracked closely with lessons learned at Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation (FTF-PI).

USAID’s Jim Yazman offers recommendations on how to implement a highly integrated approach to value chain development in the livestock sector, which is needed to meet an increasing demand for meat and dairy products from people in urban areas.

After nine years, the FIELD-Support LWA comes to a close with a two-day conference devoted to advancing the field of development.

Across a wide spectrum of society, there is growing recognition of the central role that women play in the world economy.

The Community-Owned Finance Institution (COFI), is a Sharia-complaint Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO), established under the Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Program (KDLDP), funded by USAID and implemented by CNFA.

USAID’s Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy recognizes that the disempowerment of women is one of the underlying systematic causes of malnutrition.

USAID’s Microenterprise and Private Enterprise Promotion (MPEP) and Food for Peace (FFP) offices are excited to come together to co-sponsor the Push/Pull track at SEEP’s 2014 Annual Conference. Read the blog post to learn more!

Equity-based crowdfunding emerges as a promising opportunity to empower female entrepreneurship and to emancipate investment.

Women’s World Banking (WWB) finally closed its first private equity fund to invest in microfinance enterprises that support women.

The SME Survey 2014, an annual study of factors behind the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa, has found that a small business owned by a woman has a better chance of being profitable than one run by a man.

About 63 percent of women in the non-agricultural labor force are self-employed in the informal sector in Africa, more than twice the worldwide rate, according to World Bank data.

According to an Asia Foundation study of the business environment in Bangladesh, male- operated small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) far outnumber those led by women SME entrepreneurs, and only 69 of the 3,800 firms in the sample have at least one female owner.

USAID press release: Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in driving economic growth and job creation.

The Gender-GEDI Index provides key insights designed to help countries advance female entrepreneurship and ultimately bolster the global economy.

It has been a pleasure to read this blog series on microfinance. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and experiences on the evolution of the microfinance field. USAID is fortunate to have partnered with the best and brightest...

We know that part of the solution to tackling extreme poverty is helping micro and small enterprises and entrepreneurs access the financing they need to grow their businesses. USAID has long been a champion of facilitating this access...

Access to finance remains one of the most common and most intractable development challenges. Whether your work focuses on improving agricultural yields for smallholder families, extending the reach of critical services

Interview with Jason Wolfe, Senior Household Economic Strengthening Advisor with USAID's Office of HIV/AIDS, where he supports PEPFAR programs to improve the economic circumstances of households affected by HIV/AIDS.

As NGO microfinance providers around the globe continue to transform, it is important to remember the BancoSol example and the various roles people played to ensure success, including the role of letting go.

This leap into the digital future has been made possible through a progressive alignment between the Kenyan government, the mobile industry, banks, and microfinance institutions.

Jacqueline told me her story about the 15 remarkable years of USAID’s microfinance achievements in Uganda.

The story of how the agency, together with its partners, transformed development assistance is remarkable; one that can teach about an agency operating at its finest and about the kinds of investments needed.

John Owens reflects on his work as the Chief of Party for Chemonics in the Philippines for most of the four phases of the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) project.

Part Two of the interview with Kimanthi Mutua, CEO of the K-REP Group and a leading proponent of financial inclusion in Africa, reflecting on the future of microfinance in Africa.