microcredit

Social entrepreneurship is an attempt to use business tools and strategies to solve social, economic and environmental problems.  Then, instead of measuring success only in terms of monetary profit, success is measured in terms of social capital. Read a great definition of social enterprise and social entrepreneurs here. It's an exciting movement that Dsenyo is proud to take part in.  However, if you have kept an eye on this topic over the past few months, the media has uncovered some not so pretty sides of some of the social entrepreneurship movement's biggest success stories.  Take a quick read of this article from the Harvard Business Review about the current downfall of leading social entrepreneurs and what it should have people like myself reflecting on. Namely, we as social entrepreneurs have a great responsibility to our patrons, customers and the public in general to not overstate our impact.  The whole movement is based on transparancy and accountability and those high principles need to be honored.

Lessons for Social Entrepreneurs from the Microfinance Crisis

Posted by Timothy Ogden on Friday Apr 22nd at 10:09am
Are you sowing the seeds of your own ignominious end?

"Two of the most inspirational stories in social entrepreneurship have taken quite a beating recently. The microfinance industry has in just a few years gone from making headlines for the Nobel Peace Prize to stories about limited impact, allegedly abusive tactics, client suicides, government crackdowns, major lenders struggling with insolvency and the forcible removal of Mohammed Yunus as Managing Director of Grameen Bank. Just this week, Greg Mortensen came crashing down as investigative reporters documented exaggerations, inaccuracies, and shady financial practices. These reversals may seem sudden, but they were years in the making. In both cases, the blame can be laid at the feet of the protagonists of the stories.... (read full article here)"

I am traveling with Tamara Banda, a driven, talented and confident young business woman. With Dsenyo's support, Tamara has started KAFUTARO Import & Export. Dsenyo will contract with Tamara's business to provide services like coordinating between our different producer groups, managing quality control, delivering materials, collecting finished goods, and serving as translator during training sessions. In the past, Tamara was one of the leading female soccer referees in the Northern Region and a long distance runner for the Malawi Police College.