Economy

Sanja Ivandić After suffering some of the most degrading and cruel aspects of the war, twenty years ago, women of all nationalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have managed to stay equally interested in the country's development, to invest in their education, to develop the most creative ways of self-employment through rural agriculture, crafts, arts, as well as to become change-makers through civil society initiatives.

By Rajendra Senchurey Nepal’s counterparts in Asia have progressed dramatically in these decades. But since the advent of multiparty democracy, Nepal has not achieved anything significant. Quite surprisingly, in terms of economic progress, Nepal exhibits the characters of a Sub-Saharan economy. Then what is the cause of Nepal’s stagnation?

By Lykke Andersen A lousy little loan, which seemed like a good idea at the time, doomed Micky to a life in extreme poverty and heavy indebtedness, while Savvy, who couldn’t get a loan, did very well. So, if you thought micro credit will help solve the problem of poverty, you might want to do a bit of math to understand the astonishing power of compound interest.

By Deanna Morris Microlending programs have been around for 25+ years and as new players have entered the market creating even more competition, interest rates still remain high, which begs the question: is increased competition spurring greed and encouraging investment in microfinance for the wrong reasons?

“That’s not to say that microfinance won’t help the very poor, rather that there needs to be a recognition that microfinance isn’t the only thing that can work", argues Oxford Microfinance Initiative’s President Vicente Solera Deuchar.

By Winston Mwale Leaders from 26 East and Southern African countries are meeting in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe to make final touches to an agreement that may see the formation of what could prove to be Africa's largest free trade area.The proposed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is touted to improve the economic and social welfare of the citizens of the COMESA-EAC-SADC region.

Janakpur Handicraft Centre supports economically backward women in Nepal by giving them training, employment and other opportunities to get empowered.