How agency banking aids financial inclusion, reduces unemployment in Nigeria

Earlier this month, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed new rules to regulate payday lending – the business of offering high-cost short-term loans to Americans on terms that many consumer advocates consider predatory.

Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status. It helped them form and manage community savings cooperatives, secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

Despite the looming competition from Amazon, independent bookstores in New York are finding ways to innovate and create bookstore experiences that go beyond the books. The Lit. Bar is a bookshop-wine bar in the Bronx that hopes to instill a love of reading while customers shop and drink. By selling non-book products, new iterations of bookstores can increase their profit margin to remain sustainable. Many even succeed with creative financing, from crowdfunding to finding local investors.

In the Navajo Nation, more than 70 percent of local income leaves the tribal area, but one effort is helping native-owned businesses expand their reach. Change Labs, a business incubator, helped birth Rez Rising, an app that helps people find and shop with native-owned businesses, which often find obstacles to entrepreneurship like listing a physical address or operating a website.

After an initial shock to business-as-usual, some independent booksellers are trying new methods to get their products in the hands of readers. Home deliveries, online sales, and fundraising efforts are keeping some longstanding institutions afloat, at least for now.

Teens selling water on the sweltering streets of Atlanta are typically dealt with by police officers who often crack down on "unpermitted sales of water by youth." In a new approach, city officials convened a council to offer alternatives to police action and suggested ways to promote and develop the entrepreneurial spirit in teens through a variety of programs. The council looked to a similar program in Baltimore that re-engaged windshield-washing teens in school and re-directed others to full-time jobs.

The Business Center for New Americans, a nonprofit that offers loans with a focus on immigrant-run businesses, is going above and beyond to make sure its lenders get through the COVID-19 economic crisis. They are offering tailored support on how to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, sharing other grant and loan opportunities, and using its status part of the SBA’s Microloan Program to offer new loans.

A group of female entrepreneurs created a market for other enterprising women who can’t afford to pay standard shop and licensing fees to access a safe place to sell their wares. The group connects women to train them in entrepreneurship, provide networking opportunities and inform people about the market and upcoming events via social media to drive more customers to the marketplace.

The GIRL-H program provides skill training and business assistance to youth from marginalized communities. Participants receive education and training in an area of their choosing and once they complete the training, they receive start-up capital to help them start their own businesses. The program has helped over 6,000 youth learn a new skill and start an entrepreneurial venture.

Following the success of New York City's divestment of pension funds from fossil fuels, a process that started in 2015, other cities around the US are exploring ways to achieve net-zero portfolio emissions. In most cases, the divested pension funds have performed at least as well financially as a city’s non-divested funds.