Summary of Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic

In this well-sourced and highly readable memoir, investment banker Hugh Sinclair – who worked in the microfinance sector from 2002 to 2012 – offers a scathing indictment of how microfinance institutions (MFIs) really operate. His exposé arises from his experiences working deep inside the $70 billion microfinance industry and from his exploits traveling around the world for various MFIs and the funds that invest in them. In short, Sinclair knows what he’s talking about, and he has learned that the microlending world does not take warmly to criticism. He’s received numerous complaints from insiders that his relentless criticism borders on blasphemy and risks undermining any good the industry is doing for the poor. Sinclair even received a death threat for bringing this information to light. Though acknowledging that not all MFIs are guilty of injurious activities, getAbstract recommends this insightful but damning report to policy makers, regulators, activists, industry insiders, investors, and readers with an economic interest in microfinance and a social interest in addressing global poverty.