> Posted by Holly Padgett

In my opinion, blogs provide a great way to stay involved and up-to-date with current discussions about topics of interest. However, if you ever feel bombarded with information (and how does anyone have time to follow all the interesting blogs?), I understand. After all, at last count, Technorati was tracking over 100 million blogs.

With the idea of zeroing in on some of the most valuable resources out there, I recently took on the quite extensive project of creating a visual map of blogs related to financial inclusion.  I started with three relevant blogs and mapped connecting blogs (based on blogrolls) to get a better idea of the blog community surrounding CFI. While the map was definitely not exhaustive, it was very informative.

If you’re interested in blogs related to financial inclusion and international development, I hope this post will act as a good resource.

Here’s a short list of blogs I uncovered that I, personally, find very interesting (this list is also not exhaustive – there are so many other great blogs I could add):

  • David Roodman’s Microfinance Open Book Blog – This blog was an important part of the creation of Roodman’s new book Due Diligence (which looks incredibly interesting).  Now that the book has been released, I hope he will continue to blog on relevant issues.
  • Creating a World Without Poverty – This blog, by Grameen Foundation, discusses microfinance, financial inclusion, and the foundation’s initiatives, and gives a great overview of some of the toughest problems facing the world’s poor.
  • CGAP Microfinance – Many of CGAP’s blog posts are related to advancing access to financial services. They also highlight other relevant projects and current events. This is one of many great places to keep up with the progress towards financial inclusion.
  • India Development Blog – This blog is written by staff at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) and the posts are very interesting and easy to understand.
  • NextBillion – “Development through Enterprise” is the focus of this blog. The posts highlight current news and events and put forth some very neat ideas about connecting business and entrepreneurship to development.

Beyond tapping into these resources, I’ve found that setting up RSS feeds in your email or with Google Reader  is a great way to stay organized and reduce the info-gathering work for you.

In our comments space, please let me know of any relevant blogs that you find especially interesting!

Have you read?

Books for Inspiring and Educating Social Entrepreneurs – Alex Counts Book Project

Report Review: M-CRIL Assesses India’s Hard Year in Microfinance

5 Great Books About Microfinance and How the Poor Use Money