Wednesday Linkblogging

• We didn't notice a few weeks ago when we linked to an August 20th Contra Costa Times piece about disabled entrepreneurs featuring one of our graduates, that the same journalist had published related article about the difficulties faced by disabled entrepreneurs. It's a good piece, too, so there's the link!

• Nigerian university students will benefit from a new effort of the Nigerian Social Security Network to offer microcredit to the students to support themselves during holidays and after graduation.

The aim of the organisation according to him was to improve the life of the average Nigerian and students. The bottom line of which was the banishment of hunger and frustration, promotion of peace and harmony, as well as encouragement of productivity and a saving culture.

Given the cost of an American education, and the massive debt under which American students are released into the wild, let's hope that someone stateside gets this bright idea soon, too!

• Here's the Canadian Gateway to Microfinance. A very comprehensive site.

• Our beloved Muhammad Yunus was given an honorary doctorate from Ewha University in Seoul, the most respected women's university in Korea. He spoke of gender inequality in lending practices and how microcredit tends towards gender equity.

"If you lend money to 7.3 million men, nobody will ask you why you give loans to men. But if we do it to women, everyone will ask you why you are working with only women,’’ Yunus said. "Before we began micro credit project, we questioned why women borrowed only one percent of bank money in the country and made a goal to lend women up to 50 percent of our money.’’

Yunus cited many positive things that have happened as a result of the tiny-loan program for women. In the past Bangladesh mothers had an average of 6.5 babies but the average had decreased to less than three over the last 25 years making the birth rate of the country the lowest among neighboring countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The article also gives stats on the decline of poverty in Bangladesh since the introduction of microcredit.

• This site for "The Woman's Advantage" itself needs some marketing help, since it doesn't make clear exactly what it is: a book? a motivational speaker? a website? But the site is clearly dedicated to inspiring women small business owners, and you might want to check out this page of inspirational stories about successful women entrepreneurs.

• Some good advice from the Springfield Business Journal about building wealth for your retirement outside your business.

• Empower Women Now, a women-owned small business marketing site, has a blog post about rekindling your "entrepreneurial passion."

• And finally, a fun article about a Kansas woman entrepreneur who started her small business inspired by Britain's legendary tribal queen Boadicea.