Fijian micro-entrepreneurs in the village of Viesese

A team of four MBA students from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business traveled to Fiji during August and September to conduct market research for South Pacific Business Development’s upcoming expansion into the country. According to Phil Powell, MBA Program Chair, the team members Rocio, Melanie, Matt and Jacob

“will survey women micro-entrepreneurs about their credit and savings needs, speak with banks and government agencies about current micro-credit offerings in Fiji, and recommend how [SPBD] can position its brand and products to insure a sustainable nonprofit business model.”

Read more about the team’s adventures on the Kelley School of Business Blog. Many thanks to Phil Powell for laying the groundwork in Suva and for the students’ willingness to travel on such short notice.

From the IFC’s press release:

The initiative will improve the ability of microfinance institutions and other financial service providers to efficiently deliver financial services to Pacific Island communities lacking access to money, loans, and business banking services. Estimates suggest that less than 20 percent of adults in the Pacific have access to financial services.

“Together with the Australian government, IFC will help expand loans, savings, and other basic financial services in the Pacific,” said Karin Finkelston, IFC Director for East Asia and Pacific. “The goal is to allow households and businesses to transition from every day survival to establishing businesses that are sustainable in the long term.”

The South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Network anticipates that it will significantly broaden its outreach over the next few years from its current 12,000 member base by developing new products and expanding credit, savings, and insurance services.

The full press release is available here.

Click here for ABC Radio Australia coverage of the announcement.

The Hon. Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni

The Hon. Misa Telefoni, Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa, recently nominated Greg for a CNN Hero Award.  Here’s an excerpt of his nomination:

“SPBD Foundation has made a profound and enduring impact on the lives of its Samoan women members.  It recently began operations in Tonga, and has plans for a Fiji operation.

Most significantly, it has raised the self-esteem of our women and made them more independent.  Making women financially literate who are now able to assert themselves more substantially and have a great impact on not only their own lives, but also the lives of their families, especially their spouses and partners.”

Read the full article here.

In Samoa we celebrated a new major milestone – the disbursement of ST$30M (about US$12M) of unsecured credit to poor but aspiring micro-entrepreneurs in Samoa since inception. We had a little event, at which I gave a talk, we gave out two ceremonial loans to two inspiring members, and the Acting Prime Minister, Misa Telefoni, gave a talk. The local media (TV and newspapers were there). It was a great event. When we get a copy of the video I will post it.  You can read about it in the Samoa Observer.

In Tonga we are off to a fantastic start. You may recall that we launched in Tonga in September 2009. Since then we have already trained and financed over 1400 micro-entrepreneurs. On Friday morning we gave out first loans to another batch of 60 ladies. They are all terrific. I also sat in on a training session for about 15 new lady SPBD micro-entrepreneurs. They were learning how to develop a mini-business plan for their micro-business. It was great stuff.

Tonight I fly to Fiji and will spend most of next week there laying the groundwork to launch SPBD Fiji. The plan is to get established and work with our first groups of women prior to year end.  As always, the MicroDreams Foundation will play a critical role in getting us up and going.

That’s it for now.  Your man in the Pacific.

Greg

Read the full article from the Samoa Observer