MEDIA RELEASE

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced USDA is seeking applications to support the development and ongoing success of rural microentrepreneurs and microenterprises.

The Central Bank of Kenya has issued a second license to a deposit taking microfinance institution further enhancing financial reach to the Kenyan populace. Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) Deposit Taking Microfinance (DTM) which provides credit to women clients, has been granted a license to carry out nation-wide deposit-taking microfinance business.

CGAP-DFID Report Finds Government Payments Could Help Kick-Start Financial Services for the Poor

WASHINGTON DC, February 2010 -- More than 170 million poor people worldwide receive regular payments from their governments, but the potential to use these payments to increase financial inclusion is largely untapped, according to Banking the Poor via G2P Payments, a new report by CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, and the U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID).