Engaging the Private Sector in Microfinance

Engaging the Private Sector in Microfinance

A book signing with Elisabeth Rhyne, author of Microfinance for Bankers and Investors/ Understanding the opportunities and challenges of the market at the Bottom of the Pyramid

The next Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) meeting will feature Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, Elisabeth Rhyne.

Elisabeth Rhyne

Over the last six years, the microfinance sector has grown at an average rate of 30%.  Certainly this type of growth does not only encourage social justice advocates, it also attracts business-minded investors.  The recently published book Microfinance for Bankers and Investors/ Understanding the opportunities and challenges of the market at the Bottom of the Pyramid uses case studies to explore successful solutions in product design, last-mile delivery to remote villages and urban slums, and technological innovations that reduce costs and provide liberating new means of payment and remittance to populations previously tied to a cash economy.  Citibank, Visa, and Sequoia Capital have already taken the plunge into investing in microfinance.  Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International and author Elisabeth Rhyne will discuss just how warm the water is!

Copies of the book Microfinance for Bankers and Investors will be available for purchase at the event.

Register early online!  At-the-door admission is $10 more.

Speaker Bio:

Elisabeth Rhyne

Elisabeth Rhyne is managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, where she works to bring together leaders in financial services to address challenges facing the microfinance industry today (www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org). As senior vice president of ACCION International from 2000-2008, Ms. Rhyne led ACCION’s initial entry into Africa and India, directed the organization’s research efforts to develop new financial products, and managed ACCION’s publications and educational activities.

Ms. Rhyne has published numerous articles and five books on microfinance, including Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia (Kumarian Press, 2001). She was also co-editor of The New World of Microenterprise Finance (Kumarian, 1994), which provided the introduction to microfinance for many of the field’s current professionals.  Her most recent book, Microfinance for Bankers and Investors, was published by McGraw-Hill in June, 2009.

Ms. Rhyne was director of the Office of Microenterprise Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1994 to 1998, where she developed and led USAID's Microenterprise Initiative.  Ms. Rhyne’s experience includes eight years living in Africa (Kenya and Mozambique), consulting on microfinance policy and operations for governments, international organizations, and microfinance institutions.

Ms. Rhyne holds a master's and Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and humanities from Stanford University.