Arc published and disseminated in depth research on new financial products that MFIs are developing to blend financing with energy and water around the world. The creation of these financial products - including lending, savings, remittances and leasing products - resulted in new alliances between MFIs and other entities such as energy and water enterprises to provide livelihood enhancement products to the poor.
The Buksh Foundation
The Buksh Foundation’s Solar Loan Initiative — Sparking a “Clean Energy Movement” in Pakistan
The Buksh Foundation, a Pakistani MFI, takes a unique approach to addressing a critical need that is faced by virtually all of its business clients: lack of access to reliable and affordable electricity. In 2010, the organization began to explore clean energy finance as a solution to this escalating challenge. Today, Buksh Foundation’s solar loan program is taking direct aim at the problem, and has emerged as the fastest growing area of its portfolio. View PDF ►
A Vision for Energy Access in Rural Pakistan — a Conversation with Fiza Farhan, CEO of the Buksh Foundation
The Buksh Foundation is a microfinance institution based in Lahore, Pakistan. In 2010, the organization piloted a clean energy loan program to help business clients better cope with Pakistan’s escalating electricity crisis. In this episode, CEO Fiza Farhan discusses the MFI’s vision of expanding energy access, and the diverse activities – including product design –that it engages in to realize it. http://arcfinance.org/audio/fiza.mp3 Download this Podcast ►