PSD Blog - World Bank Group

Small Business Finance - What Works, What Doesn't?

May 5 and 6 saw an interesting research conference here in DC on Small Business Finance, looking at which banking practices and government interventions help foster small businesses' access to external finance. Twelve interesting papers and a stimulating panel discussion addressed an array of issues, ranging from banks' lending techniques over competition, government policies to informal and trade credit. Many papers and speakers questioned conventional wisdom on what we know and what policies are helpful.

Comparing businesses' environmental commitments

Climate Change, an environmental interest group, released a new ranking of "green" companies. The survey purports to measure how serious companies are about climate change in comparison with their sector competitors. 

The survey, which is updated annually, uses 22 criteria to analyze whether companies measure their climate footprint; reduced their impact on global warming; supported progressive climate legislation; and publicly disclosed their climate actions clearly and comprehensively.

A (LED) light at the end of the tunnel

Close to 75 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans, about 550 million people, do not have access to electricity. Lighting Africa, a conference in Ghana that ended today, is tackling how to mobilize the private sector to supply modern off-grid lighting such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to over more 250 million people living in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. This is a timely effort given surging oil prices and the fact that Africa spends about $17 billion on inefficient lighting fuels such as kerosene lamps and paraffin yearly.

Credit crunch: Wall Street only, not Queens

Just a few months after opening for business, Grameen Bank America has loaned somewhere between $500 and $3000 to about 175 borrowers.  About a month ago, The New York Times published an article asking weather Muhummad Yunus's  scheme would work in the United States as well as it worked in countries like Bangladesh. The paper may have answered its own question on its City Room blog. The answer seems to be yes, thanks to low income immigrants. To reach the immigrant market, Grameen America just opened its new headquarters to Jackson Heights, a neighborhood flourishing with new immigrants.