Microfinance is the provision of financial services to those who are excluded from conventional commerical financial services since most are too poor to offer much - or anything - in the way of collateral. It presents a series of exciting possibilities for extending markets, reducing poverty and fostering social change.
The concept of microfinance originated in the mid-1970s in Bangladesh through a pioneering experiment by Dr Muhammad Yunus, then a Professor of Economics. His aim was to offer poor people:
* financial services
* entrepreneurship opportunities
* an end to mistreatment by money lenders
* a system where they could produce, manage and maintain their own finances
