MicroCapital, the US-based firm that has published this website and the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper since 2006, is winding down its operations. After 17 years with MicroCapital, Bob Summers (pictured) has launched an NGO called Mesofinance Monthly, which will continue to publish a newspaper on impact investing each month, with daily updates online. The new team has big plans for Mesofinance Monthly, including faster turnarounds for online content and expanded coverage in the newspaper. You are invited to submit news items and questions about the new NGO directly to Mr Summers at [email protected]. You may purchase a subscription to the new newspaper at https://www.mesofinance.org, and Mesofinance Monthly will honor any remaining time on MicroCapital subscriptions. We wish you a prosperous new year, and we thank you for 18 fantastic years!
SPECIAL REPORT: Positioning MFIs to Access Climate Finance – An Interview with Kwashie Agbitor of Accion
A seat next to Kwashie Agbitor (pictured below) was one of the most highly sought-after spots at SAM 2023 in Togo in October. Mr Agbitor has 20 years of experience in Africa and Asia, improving branch operations, credit appraisals, risk management, methodology auditing, product development, client protection and social performance management.
At SAM 2023, Mr Agbitor moderated a discussion titled “Climate funds, an opportunity for financial institutions to scale up sustainable and inclusive financing.” The panelists represented the Tunisian microfinance institution (MFI) Enda Tamweel, the Belgian impact investment firm Incofin, the Kenyan microlender Juhudi Kilimo and the French impact investor Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement et l’Investissement (SIDI).
Bob Summers: How can financial services providers (FSPs) work with climate funds to expand their green lending portfolios?
Kwashie Agbitor: There are numerous opportunities for financial institutions to build their green portfolios with climate funds. Financial institutions can leverage equity, debt and quasi-equity sources of funding from various types of organizations. Climate funds can be used to develop and deploy financial services that support the adoption of green products/solutions and help people recover from climate-related shocks. Given their nature, most climate funders also provide technical support/assistance in addition to funding.
BS: What factors influence whether a climate fund would invest in a particular MFI?
KA: Firstly, the MFI and the investor must
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Invest in Africa Summit; April 16-17, 2024; the Hague, the Netherlands
This annual gathering promotes trade between Africa and Europe, North America and Asia. The agenda will include
MICROFINANCE EVENT: ICT4D Conference; March 19-20, 2024; Accra, Ghana
This annual gathering is intended to promote data innovations that “are making a measurable difference millions of lives” through humanitarian relief, development projects and conservation efforts. The event’s themes include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Issues $8.5m Bond to Fund On-lending to Women, Agricultural MSMEs in Azerbaijan
The multilateral Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently raised AZN 14.5 million (USD 8.5 million) from UK-based Record Currency Management and Germany-based Capitulum Asset Management to fund inclusive finance for women and agriculture in Azerbaijan. The funding is channeled through
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grab Adds MoMo as Mobile Payment Option for Ride-sharing, Deliveries, Digital Financial Services in Vietnam
Singapore-based Grab recently added the payment solution of Vietnam’s MoMo to its “super-app” so that Grab customers in Vietnam have an additional option for making cashless payments for services such as hailing a motorbike, shopping online, ordering meal delivery or buying insurance. MoMo allows users to send funds from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Visa, Oxfam to Expand B-READY to Provide Pre-disaster Cash Assistance in Colombia, Kenya, Puerto Rico
Visa, a US-based payments company, and Oxfam America, an anti-poverty NGO, announced during the recent COP28 meetings in the UAE that they plan to scale Oxfam’s Building Resilient, Adaptive and Disaster-ready Communities (B-READY) project to deliver relief payments in advance of storms and flooding in Colombia, Kenya and the US territory of Puerto Rico. B-READY was launched in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lipa Later Acquires Fellow E-commerce, DFS, Merchant Services Platform Sky.Garden of Kenya for $1.6m
Lipa Later, a Kenyan financial technology (fintech) firm integrating e-commerce, digital financial services and merchant services in four African countries, recently paid KES 250 million (USD 1.6 million) to acquire Sky.Garden, a Kenyan service that was launched in 2017 but had announced it would close during 2023.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp Africa Summit; February 28-29, 2024; Nairobi, Kenya
This annual gathering focuses on “sustainable” development in Africa, including as can be promoted via entrepreneurship and impact investing. Attendees will engage on themes such as renewable energy,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity EduFinance Partners with 7 FSPs to Invest in Education in Africa, India
Opportunity EduFinance, an affiliate of the US-based NGO Opportunity International, recently brought on seven new financial services provider (FSP) partners, with whom it plans to invest in affordable private education in India, Nigeria and Rwanda. Although the FSPs have not been identified publicly, they are expected to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 3k Displaced Persons, Returnees, Hosts Access Loans, Guarantees, Business Training in Iraq
The UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Central Bank of Iraq have partnered with the Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees and three commercial banks over the past two years to provide a range of services to forcibly displaced people, returning refugees and host communities in the Dohuk and Ninewa regions of Iraq. These services include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s World Banking Offering 5-month Leadership Program for Regulators
The Saïd Business School at the UK’s Oxford University and the US-based NGO Women’s World Banking are conducting a program from April to August 2024 intended to improve financial inclusion by boosting the leadership skills of financial regulators. Senior banking and regulatory officials of all genders are invited to attend alongside a “high-potential woman leader from their institution.” Over the course of the program, the two will develop policies that promote financial inclusion for women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Verdant Capital Facilitates $2.5m in Lending for Enable Capital to Support SMEs Building Internet Infrastructure in South Africa
The African firm Verdant Capital recently opened a revolving credit facility of USD 2.5 million for South Africa’s Enable Capital, which funds small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that build fiber telecommunications infrastructure, especially outside of wealthy areas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships, Goodwell, Oikocredit Invest $8.5m in Equity in Good Nature Agro to Boost Profits of Small Farms in Southern Africa
Zambia-based Good Nature Agro recently raised USD 8.5 million in Series B equity from US-based Global Partnerships and two organizations with offices in the Netherlands, Oikocredit International and Goodwell Ventures. Good Nature Agro supports small-scale farmers with: (1) seed selection; (2) financing; (3) access to technology;
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: L-IFT Studying Fairness of Presumptive Taxation in Ethiopia
Low-income Financial Transformation (L-IFT), a firm with teams in 13 countries in Africa and Asia, recently reported on a study it is performing with data being collected over one year from 140 small businesses in Ethiopia. The study addresses the way the Ethiopian government taxes enterprises that bring in less than ETB 500,000 (USD 8,900) per year. Rather than asking the businesses to submit financial data, the Ministry of Finance estimates their income based on external characteristics. The goal of the study is to investigate “the accuracy of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Climate Funding for Smallholder Farmers Drops from $10b to $5.5b in 2 Years
A recent study documented a 44-percent decline in climate finance for small-scale agrifood systems from the average levels of the years 2017 and 2018 to the average levels of 2019 and 2020. This type of finance can include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: JuST Institute Preview of Training on Delivering Climate, Biodiversity & Inclusive Finance to Smallholder Farmers Available Online December 12, 2023
The France-based NGO Just Sustainability Transitions (JuST) Institute is holding an online session December 12 to educate potential participants about a mentoring and training program for financial services providers (FSPs) looking to orient their work toward “climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.” The program, which is for loan officers and managers employed by microfinance institutions (MFIs), takes place online over a period of four to six months. Participation can be part of an MFI becoming certified for
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Women Agents for Financial Inclusion: Exploring the Benefits, Constraints and Potential Solutions,” by Emilio Hernandez et al, Published by CGAP
Based on data collected from projects in India, Ghana and Pakistan that aim to improve financial inclusion for rural women, the authors examine the interplay between gender dynamics and the employment of women as agents supplying in cash-in and cash-out (CICO) services. This includes the impact these agents can have on communities, the challenges faced by women in becoming and succeeding as agents, and possible solutions to these challenges.
While training to become CICO agents,