Will SKS’s Improvements Be Enough?

SKS’s troubles do not seem to be coming to an end soon. In addition to increased microfinance sector regulations driven by Andhra Pradesh state politics, the company recently saw their founder and chairman, Vikram Akula, leave the organization. Market rumors suggest that issues with the management team led to Akula’s resignation.

Nightmare At SKS Microfinance

Andhra Pradesh state politics in India concerning the MFI sector are continuing to hurt the performance of the sector in the country. According to Credit Suisse, India’s leading MFI, SKS Microfinance is seeing loan recoveries in the state to be as low as 12% compared with the industry’s average recovery rate of 22%. SKS’s bad

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Capitalism 2.0: Rationality

Here are two more passages from Ayn Rand: “Rationality is man’s basic virtue, the source of all his other virtues. Man’s basic vice, the source of all his evils, is the act of unfocusing his mind, the suspension of his consciousness, which is not blindness, but the refusal to see, not ignorance, but the refusal

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Vision India 2020: Bioscope

Professor Raj Reddy at Carnegie Mellon University first urged me to look at micro-franchise as a vehicle for economic development. Today, micro-finance has become a world-renowned phenomenon, especially with Dr. Yunus’ Nobel Prize two years back. [You can read my interview with Raj here.]

Forbes Column 08: Mobile Microfinance

My new Forbes column, Mobile Microfinance discusses how startups are trying to use the cell phone to bring banking to the under-banked.

Deal Radar 2008: SKS Microfinance

Microfinance is slowly becoming a mainstream financial service category, and with the recent IPO of Mexican MFI, Compartamos, interest in the segment has been growing. SKS Microfinance was launched in 1998 by Vikram Akula, who is now recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In the last

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India’s Development – Not the Tata Nano

Many of you have been ranting on my previous Tata Nano post about equal opportunity. I will go on record and synthesize my point of view here: I have no problem if people own cars and don’t drive them. Rich or poor. If the car is a status symbol that they need to show off

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Kiva Needs Businesses to Fund

This holiday season, if you are looking to make a contribution, find a micro-entrepreneur to fund through Kiva. Kiva brings together microlenders with microentrepreneurs at 0% interest. MFI’s can access this debt capital to finance businesses in their portfolio. Watch this video. Or if you need someone really persuasive explain the concept to you, listen

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