Nearly every country in Africa utilizes microfinance. Why, then, does the continent’s microfinance sector show little development? This question was recently explored at the Diagnostic to Action: Microfinance in Africa Multi-Stakeholder Conference hosted by Women’s World Banking and Africa Microfinance Action Forum (AMAF) in Nairobi, Kenya on June 4th.

Women's World Banking (WWB), the world’s largest network of microfinance institutions and banks, has just concluded its 14th Global Meeting and its 7th annual Microfinance and the Capital Markets Conference. Both meetings focused on how to manage financial risk in an uncertain economic climate while continuing to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs.

April 2009: WWB in the Spotlight, Then and Now. The international media has long recognized Women’s World Banking as an industry pioneer. Time magazine first singled out WWB nearly 20 years ago in its June 4, 1990 issue, not long after we celebrated our 10th anniversary. That story praised WWB as “unlike any other financial institution” and credited us with “a tight budget but . . . a sterling record.” Just last spring, Time again turned to WWB for its June 16, 2008 edition, citing our study “Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift” in an article examining the current state of microfinance. But while we have continued to remain at the forefront of our field throughout our history, the world around us has undergone many seismic shifts, with some of those reflected by the very issues of Time featuring WWB.