Microfinance is an innovative banking system that provides small loans to poor people (often women) to help them start their own businesses and gradually work their way out of poverty. A notable example is the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh who, along with its founder, Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. For more information on microfinance see the Grameen Foundation, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest, or Kiva.
Microentrepreneurs from ESAF, an MFI in Southern India
