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Gates: Businesses need to embrace the poor |
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Written by Jared Maynard
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
In two separate speeches on Friday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made the case that businesses need to see serving the poor as part of their mission and that governments need to see private businesses as potential partners. One of the big topics for both audiences was the notion of microfinance--improving the access to credit and banking to the poor.
"The idea of how they create loans for the poorest is part of it," he said at the Government Leaders Forum. But although today microfinance has focused on loans, there is more to it. "We need to get savings and even some insurance products."
Gates talked about how technology can play a role, noting that when payment is tied to the cell phone, it offers the potential for lower interest rates..." ~news.com
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