Asia PR News

REDMOND, Wash., July 28 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ –

Microfinance Partnership Will Empower 1 Million of India’s Poor by 2009

Unitus (www.unitus.com), an innovative nonprofit organization that helps
alleviate poverty by accelerating the growth of microfinance institutions
(MFIs) worldwide, today announced a microfinance partnership with Bandhan in
Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Through the partnership, Unitus will provide
capacity-building consulting, $1.1 million in catalytic debt, and a $100,000
grant for management information systems and human resources, all targeted at
helping Bandhan grow from 52,000 to 1 million poor clients by 2009.

"We are privileged to work each day to help the world’s very best
microfinance institutions become even better," said Unitus President and CEO
Geoff Davis. "Bandhan clearly fits this group — their growth to date, loan
methodology, board of directors and operating systems are all world-class. In
fact, during the months we were discussing the partnership, they increased
their access to an additional 20,000 poor individuals!"

Bandhan operates in West Bengal, one of India’s poorest states, using an
individual lending methodology that differs from the group lending methodology
used in most of India. This methodology helps them serve their clients in a
highly personalized, efficient manner. Bandhan also serves very poor rural
borrowers while achieving branch profitability, another industry-leading
accomplishment. Only 14 percent of the poor people in West Bengal who could
use microfinance services to improve their lives currently have access.
Bandhan hopes to help fill that gap.

"With Unitus’s assistance, we are excited to pursue our aggressive growth
targets. Together we will be able to scale to new heights!" exclaimed Mr.
Ghosh, Bandhan’s founder and Executive Director.

Despite a long, successful history, MFIs still only reach an estimated 16
percent of the 500 million people who could use their services. The
microfinance field’s challenge is to scale this high-potential industry to
fill the enormous supply shortfall. Unitus was created to help transform this
opportunity into reality. During 2004, existing Unitus MFI partners doubled
the total number of clients served, growth rarely seen in the microfinance
industry. Bandhan joins Unitus alongside MFI partners ASA-GV, BSS, Grameen
Koota, and SKS in India, Pro Mujer in Mexico, and Jamii Bora Trust in Kenya.

About Unitus
Unitus is a global microfinance accelerator, acting as a social venture
capital investor for the microfinance industry. Unitus identifies the
highest-potential microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and
helps accelerate their growth through capital investments and
capacity-building consulting, thus empowering them to help exponentially more
poor people worldwide. In doing so, Unitus aims to demonstrate that MFIs can
be run as profitable, large-scale, poverty-focused businesses with links to
local capital markets. As of June 2005, Unitus has seven MFI partners
worldwide serving more than 399,000 poor clients. Based in Redmond,
Washington, USA, and with offices in Bangalore, India, Unitus is a nonprofit
organization that relies on innovative financial instruments, and the
financial resources of like-minded individuals and foundations, to fulfill its
mission.

About Bandhan
Bandhan — meaning "togetherness" — offers a variety of microfinance
services including microcredit loans, savings, and loan repayment insurance to
poor women in both rural and urban areas in India’s West Bengal state. Beyond
microfinance, Bandhan provides services in micro entrepreneurship, health,
education, and disaster management to the disadvantaged community of the
society, specially women and children, to help break the vicious circle of
poverty.

Contact:
David Schappell
425-881-2793
dschappell@unitus.com

SOURCE: Unitus

CONTACT: David Schappell of Unitus,
+1-425-881-2793, or
dschappell@unitus.com

Web site: http://www.unitus.com