eBay is taking steps to address poverty. It has launched a site to allow people to extend loans to the disadvantaged, in an attempt to change living standards:
“…The website, called MicroPlace, acts as a broker between ordinary investors and microfinance organisations.
For as little as $100, US investors will be able to help entrepreneurs in poor countries, be they coffee sellers in Cambodia or hairdressers in Ghana.”
link: New eBay site helps finance poor
It is not surprising that eBay focuses on a major social issue. Under Meg Whitman’s direction, eBay has not only been a major financial force. The company has been sensitive to people issue. Hopefully, this will become a trend with other technology companies, especially development such as the hundred dollar laptop almost ready for public release.
Catherine Forsythe
[tags]ebay, microplace, poverty, financing, meg whitman, one laptop per child, the next wave[/tags]