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The Mifos Project Makes Software To 'Accelerate Microfinance' (Video)
You think you have problems getting a bank loan? It's much harder for a small-town woman in Uganda or India. But Indian microfinance provider ASOMI has more than 50 branches and over 40,000 clients, and is an active Mifos user. The loans ASOMI makes are absurdly small by U.S. bank (or Indian bank) standards. Ugandans in the same "I just need a little bit of money to start (or expand) my business" predicament can turn to RedMutual Microfinance. And so on around the world, with the bulk of microfinance operators who use open source Mifos concentrated in S. and S.E. Asia and India. "But," you say, "I'm an IT person. I don't want to go into the microfinance business, and one of the little loans (often less than $100) they deal with wouldn't help me." True. But you can become a Mifos Specialist, which Mifos defines as "a consulting firm that provides technical support and consultation for microfinance institutions evaluating and deploying Mifos, and for ongoing use and customization." You won't get rich doing this, but it looks like there's a decent living (by Kenyan or Indonesian standards) in working with Mifos. They can use volunteer help, too. So check out Mifos and see if it has anything to offer you -- or if you have anything to offer Mifos. Either way, you can help poor people in poor countries become entrepreneurs and break the cycle of poverty that holds them down. (Alternate video link)
I've been researching microfinance and microlending for a couple of years during the early stages of my PhD program in a related field, and have been unable to find peer-reviewed research supporting claims that microfinance initiatives create positive outcomes for their recipients. There is certainly anecdotal evidence, but little to no hard data in the hundreds of papers and articles I've read on the subject. That's not to say I'm opposed to the efforts of such lenders.
However, I am a little concerned that the aim/objective is almost always to create entrepreneurs out of the poor. I have also seen very little evidence to support this emphasis as the primary objective of said lenders.