Introduction to Islamic Microfinance

On July 5th, two speakers from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the microfinance center of the World Bank Group came to speak to the MPSN class on the new area of Islamic microfinance. Nimrah Karim and Sami Ahmed introduced the general concept of microfinance before delving into the impetus behind the nascent Islamic microfinance movement and the challenges it faces. The topic was presented so that everyone in the class, many of us with little or no finance background, were able to understand the issues being discussed. Nimrah and Sami also showed us how we can contribute to this movement by giving small loans to people in need accross the world through websites such as www.kiva.org.