Microfinance is a tool for financial inclusion and aims at delivering appropriate and affordable financial services to populations formerly unserved. A wide range of financial service providers offers numerous products covering the need for safe saving, money transfer, insurance and credit. Additionally many microfinance institutions provide non-financial services, such as financial education or business training. After a period of euphoria during the first decade of this century, the sector has faced several challenges in recent years which fostered new developments. The seminar focusses on the theory of microfinance and its practical implementation in the field. It covers current trends in the sector (like e.g. mobile banking) and discusses the ongoing debates such as over-indebtedness among clients. The seminar language is English. Evaluation is based on a presentation and an essay on a given topic. close