The English-speaking Caribbean has its own particular brand of microfinance. Microentrepreneurs in these countries tend to rely on personal savings and informal sources of funds to finance their businesses, rather than the microcredit that is favored in the rest of Latin America. Savings rates in the English-speaking Caribbean average more than 90%, significantly higher than … [Read more...] about Jumpstarting Sustainable Microfinance in The Bahamas
Targeting, partnerships, and flexibility are building blocks to provide basic services in Haiti
by Winsome Leslie and Ralph Denize It is widely accepted that access to basic services is a key aspect of improving the lives of individuals at the base of the economic pyramid in any country. Unfortunately, basic services in Haiti are an outlier in two respects when compared with the rest of the Americas: … [Read more...] about Targeting, partnerships, and flexibility are building blocks to provide basic services in Haiti
The MIF in Jamaica: Small businesses, small country, small projects… large impact
Three years ago, I and my MIF colleagues who focus on Jamaica made a deliberate decision to target access to finance for Jamaican SMEs--a critical area of need in the country, and one in which we could make a difference. Today, the MIF portfolio in Jamaica includes a group of mutually reinforcing projects that offer support to small and medium firms through a range of models. … [Read more...] about The MIF in Jamaica: Small businesses, small country, small projects… large impact
Get Up, Start Up: Local and global partners help launch young entrepreneurs in Jamaica
Recently, I spent a few hours in a conference room with 60 young tech entrepreneurs in downtown Kingston. Their excitement was palpable. This was the final day of the Start-Up Jamaica boot camp, led by coaches from Oasis500, a Jordanian company that provides entrepreneurship training, business incubation, mentoring, and seed funding to help turn new tech ideas into … [Read more...] about Get Up, Start Up: Local and global partners help launch young entrepreneurs in Jamaica