World leaders put the finishing touches on plans to build a more stable global economy on Sunday but backed away from one-size-fits-all pledges as two years of crisis give way to an uneven recovery.

With our focus so firmly fixed on the tension between the U.S. accent on stimulus and the deficit preoccupations of Canada and Europe, the question of China’s place in the G20 has been pushed a bit to the side of this weekend’s summit.

The G-20 is the premier forum for our international economic development that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.

Asian currencies dropped this week, led by South Korea’s won, as concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen outweighed the benefits to the region of China’s decision to end the yuan’s two-year peg.

Rwanda's leasing industry is expected to grow from $30 million (Rwf17.5 billion) in 2010 to $60 million (Rwf35.1 billion) next year, the President of Rwanda Leasing Association, Sanjeev Anand said during the closing ceremony of the IFC Rwanda Leasing programme.

As world leaders gather for the G8 summit in Canada, Machrine Birungi visits Francis Kamara at his farm in Uganda to see if the promises made at Gleneagles in 2005 have benefitted him and his country.

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of former CGAP CEO Elizabeth Littlefield to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Private equity investments have put a premium on the valuation of microfinance companies when maybe they should be giving them a discount. By Eric Bellman

As Dr. Evil learned in the Austin Powers movies, $1 billion isn't quite what it used to be. The upcoming G8 and G-20 summits in Toronto are expected to top $1 billion in costs. At such a large price tag, it's reasonable to ask if the meetings are worth it. But former top White House aides say that even with the hefty price, the meetings more than pay for themselves in both tangible and intangible ways.

Motivations and initiatives should not be judged on how much or how little they can do. These remain the single most visible sign of a society that is alive.

The micro-finance sector in Ghana and Nigeria has received a boost through a 40 million Euro fund, which was launched by Goodwell Investments of The Netherlands, Alitheia Capital of Nigeria and JCS Investments from Ghana.

Technology-leading African microfinance institution continues its commitment to innovation and delivery of enhanced banking solutions with field-based account origination solution. In keeping with emerging trends in microfinance banking, Women’s World Banking Ghana (WWBG) continues its commitment to innovation with the deployment of a digital writing solution from ExpeData .

Morgan Stanley on June 16 announced microfinance organization Pro Mujer as the winner of the second annual Morgan Stanley Social Enterprise Strategy Challenge. This initiative features teams of Morgan Stanley employees providing pro-bono strategic advice to non-profits and competing for the honor of the best pro-bono advisor. The team developing business strategy recommendations for Pro Mujer was selected as the winner for providing the highest-impact analysis and advice.

Helping women from poor households to establish small businesses is the daily work of the Timorese microfinance institution Tuba Rai Metin (TRM). Their belief is that the prosperity of Timor-Leste has to be built upon the prosperity of the most important structure in society, the family unit.

The global micro finance body set up by World Bank has elected India's Vijay Mahajan as Chairman of its Executive Committee.

As part of efforts to bridge the gap between the banked and the unbanked population of Nigeria, eTranzact in conjunction with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, have embarked on a pilot project for the rural areas in Nigeria called Rural Telephony Project (RTP) MobileMoney.

The Green Plus Sustainable Enterprise Awards were created to help smaller enterprises learn the best practices of triple bottom line sustainability – strong financial, environmental, and community performance – from one another.

Microfinance — making tiny loans to poor people or groups of poor people — has soared in India in the past few years. Before long, it could reach more people in India than the regular banking system.

This is an extraordinary story of women's empowerment in rural India. Women in Satara district in Maharashtra run a bank and a B-school successfully.

Sunny Mahant had been working as a product marketing manager for nine years at Cisco when he experienced an epiphany on a trip to India. On that trip, Mahant and his wife, photographer Geidre Nakutyte, witnessed firsthand the brutish conditions under which very young children work in India, and the extreme poverty suffered by their families. He came home determined to make a difference in the lives of young Indians.

Offbeat financal avenues find buyers slowly but steadily. With the global meltdown behind, European debt crisis ahead, global economists are busy pondering new sectors like microfinance, carbon finance, water credit and so on to find hope for market expansion.

A 29-year-old lawyer is kicking off a new microfinance organization Tuesday that will help others as she herself was helped.

Barclays and international development organisations CARE International (CARE) and Plan have launched Banking on Change in Ghana, a unique and pioneering microfinance initiative aimed at reaching half a million people in ten countries across the world and sixty three thousand people in Ghana.

Grassroots people identify easily with developmental banking, which is the reason they set money aside daily (Esusu) that would be used to grow their business as well as finance their families. So, it becomes a plus for them to have a private institution that provides funding for their business as well as refinance it in case there is misfortune that could prevent them from repaying their loans.

Ghana is on test as it prepares for oil production. But oil endowment itself is not a doom. How it is managed could make it a boom or a doom. While it requires a lot of sacrifice and patience to make the boom work for the economy, the country cannot equally ignore the higher price to pay if the oil resources are not managed well.

As applicants await approval to operate mobile payment in Nigeria, stakeholders complain that the issue of low awareness must be addressed to ensure success

Business confidence fell unexpectedly in the second quarter of this year, led by a plunge in retail trade and the vehicle industry and suggesting that economic growth has slowed, a leading survey showed yesterday.

Lack of sufficient capital to support Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) is said be responsible for the failure of microfinance banks in the country, just as the management of TechnoGlass Industries Limited(TGI) lamented the huge monthly electricity bill paid to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) without getting the desired services from PHCN.

The conditions for investment and growth in Peru prompted IBM to develop a center to provide microfinance services in this South American country. Jaime Garcia Echecopar, general director for IBM in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay, announced the launch of this project.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with six Microfinance Banks on the provision of micro credit for small and medium scale enterprises in the country. The pact will also enable business owners in the country to benefit from entrepreneurship training programmes put together by SMEDAN and the microfinance banks.

Despite the challenges that the board and management of Integrated Microfinance Bank, IMFB, have been faced with, it is determined to come out stronger and bigger. In this interview, IMFB's Managing Director, Mr. Adamu Ibrahim, takes us through the events of the past 9 months, steps being taken to regain public confidence and the recent injection of funds by an investor.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to increase the minimum paid-up capital of Unit Micro-Finance Banks (MFBs) by 500 per cent to N100 million. It also increased that of State MFBs by 100 per cent to N2 billion. Under the micro-finance bank policy introduced in 2006, there are two categories of MFBs -State MFBs and Unit MFBs.

For little Nkamere Precious, Opayemi Toluwani, Ebuka Uba, Umoh Uwana and Miss Ngozi Ogudu, the 2010 Children’s Day will ever be remembered for the impact it is going to make in their lives. It was the day they were rewarded for their outstanding performance and achievements for the year with a minimum of between 10 As and 14 As out of 12 to 16 subjects they sat for in their various schools.

Ten years ago, it was not fashionable for social enterprises to take loans. Even if they wanted to, nobody would lend them money... Many small social investment firms have emerged recently.

Grameen Foundation announced it is expanding its technology for microfinance initiative to provide enhanced support to high-growth, mid-size microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving up to one million clients.

If Atlanta was the crucible from which these two movements sprang forth, why shouldn't Atlanta also be the place where a third movement will also originate - a third movement that will complete the sustainability triad and anoint Atlanta as the birthplace of sustainability?

CGAP, Deutsche Bank, Grameen-Jameel and Islamic Development Bank have joined forces to challenge the Islamic microfinance industry to develop new ideas for business models.

Even as financial inclusion emerges as one of the top goals of government and Reserve Bank of India, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), which are the pioneers of financial inclusion, are finding themselves in a bit of soup, strangely enough for fats growth and for big profits. So are MFIs doing too much too fast?

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Sheetal Mehta is founder of Shanti Microfinance, which is a social enterprise charity that provides access to technology and capital for entrepreneurs in slums and villages in Gujarat, India.

CGAP, an independent microfinance center based at the World Bank, today announced a new partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to expand ongoing global efforts to use information and communication technologies (ICT), especially mobile phones, to increase access to basic financial services for the poor. In addition to a 2006 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CGAP funding, DFID will provide GBP 8 million to the CGAP Technology Program.

Slum-dweller Krustin bin Juri lost everything when floodwaters swept through his home and shop on the banks of Jakarta’s filthy Ciliwung river two years ago. But when the next flood hits, and it will because Jakarta sees frequent floods in the rainy season, bin Juri may have a modicum of protection thanks to a low-cost insurance policy that he purchased this month. He is among millions of the world’s poor who are covered for natural disasters by cheap insurance, or microinsurance, as commercial firms recognise that insuring the poor is not just good public relations but also profitable.

Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. By helping them to accumulate usably large sums of money, this expands their choices and reduces the risks they face. Suggested by the name, most transactions involve small amounts of money, frequently less than US$100.

Silicon Valley company Bloom Energy revealed its heavily hyped and closely guarded solid oxide fuel cell on Wednesday, heralding the technology as a likely clean-tech game-changer. The system is already in use by companies like Google, eBay, FedEx, Staples and Wal-Mart.

Once upon a time, Sumitra used to roam the streets of the Indian city of Ahmedabad, collecting discarded caps which could be recycled and sold back to manufacturers such as Coca-Cola.

Clickatell, a vendor of messaging, is providing in-country SMS alert services to Satelite Microfinance Bank.

A permanent Calendar about the events of the FWA. The Financial Women’s Association brings together high achieving professionals from every sector of the financial world.

In reaction to the financial crisis, the U.S. banking industry and its regulators have been forced to seek new consumer protections that will put the industry on stronger ground. In marked contrast, one global subsector of the financial industry is moving proactively to ensure that client protection remains at the core of its business model. That subsector is microfinance, the provision of loans and other financial services to the poor worldwide.

Kiva President Premal Shah on the company's mission to fight poverty by lending to entrepreneurs. Video at Forbes.com

Ladi Smith, director, SIAO, in this interview with Daniel Obi, says Credit Awareness Nigeria Initiative is geared towards sensitising lenders on the need for credit information to avoid non-performing loans.