I am delighted to report that we have just returned from India and will be expanding our work to Gujarat. 

Word has it that SKS, the Hyderabad-based microfinance institution (MFI), has been granted approval by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and will IPO between 28th and 30th July.  This will be the first MFI IPO in India......... It is thought that SKS will enter the primary market with 1.69 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each and expects to raise funds in the range of Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1,300 crore!

Olly Donnelly (Executive Director) and Brooke Johns (Secretary) will be travelling to India on Monday 19th July for a variety of meetings and a host of reasons.  One of the big concerns in microfinance is that the beneficiaries start up enterprises but demand is limited and they are not at all lucrative. 

We have now disbursed 262 loans in West Bengal and the enthusiasm amongst other potential borrowers is enormous.  The next loan disbursements are not due until the beginning of September but we are re-thinking the strategy to ensure we can reach as many borrowers as possible within our capabilities and in a sustainable way.

We are receiving positive feedback all the time from SARS's staff in Hasnabad.  More and more women are coming forward wanting loans and a way out of poverty.  The local team disbursed a further 50 loans in the last ten days.  One of the most striking findings from the social impact assessments is that very few of our borrowers have "toilets" at home and/or access to clean water.  We aim to include this into our future plans.

Olly spoke at the VSO conference "Diaspora: Impacting lives across the globe" on 9th June.  The talk was titled: "Making an impact through corporate partnerships".  The conference had a great mix of speakers and organisations and Shivia would like to tap into diaspora communities to work with our teams on the ground.  If anyone knows of a Bengali or Nepali speaking accountant or IT guru who can go on from secondment from his/her company for 6 months - 1 year, please let us know!

I have just returned from West Bengal.  Our local partner SARS is delighted.  This is the first time in 18 years that they have received funds on time from donors and twice in a row!  As a result, since the Shivia-Apax project started on 1st March 2010, we have disbursed 212 loans and completed corresponding social impact assessments.  And the greatest thing of all is the enthusiasm of the borrowers and the motivation of the local staff living amongst the communities we are working with.
 

I am delighted to hear from our local team in West Bengal that the first installment of the Apax funds has been completed.  Over the last three months, we have conducted 174 social impact assessments to document the beneficiaries' socio-economic situation now, so we can do the same in a year's time, and hopefully see the improvements due to these loans.  All 174 of the beneficiaries have also received their loans now.............. Onto phase two!

Tim Neslen (Director) and I will be heading to Kolkata on 27th May to visit the Shivia India team and visit the project site where our first social impact assessments have been carried out and our first loans in West Bengal deployed.  Unfortunately, we cannot go to our project site on Hasnabad on 29th May as planned since elections to the 81 civic municipal bodies in West Bengal will be conducted on 30th May, leading to likely unrest in the sensitive border areas.  Our partner for this project, the Apax Foundation, will be visiting on 4th June whereby we