Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia

* Tells the success story of how microfinance in Latin America lifted whole populations into the financial mainstream
* Offers a non-technical, in-depth analysis of the microlending debate

Some people tout microfinance as the most important tool now available for fighting poverty while still others doubt its contribution to the "truly" poor. This volume offers a reasoned, moderate voice on the virtues and problems of microfinance. Drawing on the success story of Bolivia, Rhyne traces the transformation of NGOs into formal financial institutions, and examines microfinance under the conditions of commercialization and competition that have altered the dynamics of the new industry.

Using participant interviews, Beth Rhyne details how Bolivia’s special breed of social entrepreneurs found the keys to unlock the huge unmet demand of informal clients. She explores how these social activists shaped the character of the institutions that now dominate Bolivia’s microfinance sector, and traces how these institutions proved that lending to microenterprises could become a commercial business. Rhyne investigates the transformation of NGOs into formal financial institutions, led by the creation of BancoSol, and closely examines microfinance under the conditions of commercialization and competition that have altered the dynamics of the new industry.

Elisabeth Rhyne is the Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion. As senior vice president of ACCION International since 2000, Ms. Rhyne was responsible for ACCION’s initial entry into Africa and India. She directed the organization’s research efforts to develop new financial products and managed ACCION’s publications and educational activities. Recognized as a leading thinker and writer in the field of microfinance, Ms. Rhyne has published numerous articles and four books on the topic, 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.