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Wokai: Microfinance on the ground in China

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Because of its closed monetary system, microfinance, using external funds, has been tricky to deliver into China. So you will notice Kiva does not offer loans there as yet. However, Wokai, which I featured a while ago, has started up and is making great progress in delivering finance to those who are unable to access it through traditional banking channels.

It’s always good to see footage from the field and here is a great video interview with Casey Wilson, the co-founder and CEO, shot by GrubbyLens. These personal stories help build the picture and make the connection more real.

Facebook for Farmers from grubbylens on Vimeo.

Tags: china, connections, lending, microfinance, money, small business, social entrepreneur, stories, wokai | 1 Comment »

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    I’m a Londoner who moved to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2002. After studying economics and finance at Manchester University and a couple of years of backpacking I ended up working in the financial markets in London. I traded the global financial markets on behalf of investment banks for 11 years. In 1998 I decided to explore the underlying financial system in more detail and its impact on society. The results were startling! In 2000 I decided to leave banking and explore new opportunities. I helped start up Trucost, an environmental research company, exploring ways of placing a value on ecosystem services. In 2002 I moved with my family to Christchurch, New Zealand. Since then I have returned to University studying political science and helped start up another company, VortexDNA, which explores the science of human intention and its predictive abilities. I am an active Angel investor, mainly in clean tech and web 2.0, and also volunteer for local community organisations in the areas of finance and mentoring. I am always keen to make new connections and hear about new ideas. Contact me directly on raf AT sustento.org.nz

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