Yoco, a South African point-of-sale payment enabler, recently raised USD 16 million through its Series B funding round, which was led by US-based venture capital firm Paratech.
Category: European Microfinance Week
SPECIAL REPORT: Registration Opens for European Microfinance Week; November 14 – November 16, 2018; Luxembourg
Event Summary: On November 14, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) ten Action Groups will meet in person to work on their respective topics of focus, such as rural outreach and innovation, investors, and green-inclusive and climate-smart finance.
On November 15 and 16, more than 80 organisations will be represented in over 25 sessions addressing topics including the following: making insurance markets work for the poor, the business case for gender-lens investing, crowdfunding, financial services for refugees, financing clean energy, meeting the financial needs of smallholder farmers, financial education, youth finance, microfinance and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, social performance management, financial inclusion through technology, regulation realting to digital financial services (DFS), and client protection relating to DFS.
Also on November 15, we will learn what organization wins this year’s EUR 100,000 (USD 115,000) European Microfinance Award, which will be for
SPECIAL REPORT: Your Comment Requested on Draft: “Assessments of Social and Environmental Performance of Small, Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance Institutions;” by Lucia Spaggiari
This is a summary of a draft paper by Lucia Spaggiari, published by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), May 2018, 18 pages, available at: https://sptf.info/images/ES_performance_of_SME_finance_institutions_Draft_May_2018.pdf.
The draft report lays out the following steps for investors to gauge and help improve the environmental and social (E&S) performance of financial institutions that serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs):
1. Identify the SMEs: The definition of an SME can be based on national norms, sector type, or metrics specific to the SME finance institutions under consideration.
2. Identify the SME finance institutions: The approach to defining what lenders qualify as SME finance institutions can be the same across an investor’s portfolio or tailored case-by-case.
3. Classify each SME finance institution by E&S category: Establish E&S risk categories warranting more or less scrutiny based on
SPECIAL REPORT: Lucia Spaggiari, Laura Foose on Sustainable Performance Management for SME Lenders
MicroCapital
: How is it different evaluating lenders to SMEs versus microlenders?
Lucia Spaggiari: One difference is the language used. For instance, SME lenders speak of “sustainable performance” more than “social performance.” Beyond language, a key difference is scale. By definition, SME lending requires a larger balance sheet, and this means complying with prudential regulation and attracting investors expecting to earn (at least) market returns.
Laura Foose: Based on investor demand expressed at the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Investor Action Group meeting at European Microfinance Week 2016 and the March 2017
SPECIAL REPORT: May 30 Is NEW Deadline to Apply for $123k European Microfinance Award for Financial Inclusion Through Technology
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP):
The 2018 Award “Financial Inclusion through Technology” is intended to highlight how financial services providers can use technology innovations to expand outreach, broaden product offerings, improve the client experience, and increase operating efficiency, all guided by an unwavering focus on socially responsible finance. All applications must be supported in writing by an e-MFP member. The closing date for applications has been extended to the 30th of May 2018, 23:59 CET.
The European Microfinance Award is
SPECIAL REPORT: Q & A on the $120k European Microfinance Award for Financial Inclusion through Technology
MicroCapital: Each year, the European Microfinance Award covers a different theme. Why technology and why now?
Christoph Pausch: We are at a fascinating time in the evolution of financial inclusion. A whole new range of technology-enabled solutions has the potential to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, facilitate communication and remove artificial borders for people who have been excluded from the formal economy. These solutions include credit, insurance, savings, payments and transfer services. As a strengthening alternative to cash, mobile money can have special benefits for women, rural communities and the very poor. Among the Award applicants, we hope and expect to see a real diversity of financial services providers beyond traditional MFIs, such as
MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Microfinance for Housing; Female Smallholders in Mozambique, Tanzania; Client Protection for Savings Groups That Go Digital
“Microfinance for Housing: Building New Foundations in Housing Microfinance;” by Sam Mendelson, Katarzyna Pawlak, Ewa Bankowska, Gabriela Erice and Daniel Rozas; published by the European Microfinance Platform; April 2018; 40 pages; available at http://www.e-mfp.eu/sites/default/files/resources/2018/04/European%20Dialogue%20no_12_web_0.pdf
This report presents the status, trends and potential of the housing portion of the microfinance sector, including case studies of the 10 semi-finalists for the 2017 European Microfinance Award. In addition to content specific to the eight past European Microfinance Awards, the authors outline the status of low-income housing globally and discuss why housing microfinance has been slow to develop.
To help service providers address the lack of affordable housing worldwide, they identify the following
SPECIAL REPORT: $123k European Microfinance Award for Financial Inclusion Through Technology: Application Period Open Through May 23, 2018
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP):
The 2018 European Microfinance Award on “Financial Inclusion through Technology”
The 2018 Award intends to highlight how financial services providers can use technology innovations to expand outreach, broaden product offerings, improve the client experience, and increase operating efficiency, all guided by an unwavering focus on
SPECIAL REPORT: As Application Period for 2018 European Microfinance Award Nears, e-MFP Releases 2017 European Microfinance Week Report
The 
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) recently released its report on European Microfinance Week 2017. The next iteration of European Microfinance Week will take place from November 14 through November 16, 2018, at the Abbaye de Neumunster in Luxembourg. This event includes the presentation of the annual European Microfinance Award, which includes a cash prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 123,000). The application period for the award will open
SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP to Hold European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg November 14 – 16, 2018
SPECIAL REPORT: Clients Come Clean on Sneaking Contraception, Practitioners Move from Serving Women to Empowering Households as European Microfinance Week Closes
During the closing day of European Microfinance Week
, Imran Matin of the US-based nonprofit Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) stressed the importance of not just whether women will use financial services, but “what account ownership will translate into in terms of achievement.” Foreshadowing a theme of the session, he added that “intra-household dynamics is very important and also particularly difficult to measure.”
Bdour Al-Hyari of Jordan’s Microfund for Women (MFW) described a long-running insurance product offered by her microfinance institution (MFI). The coverage provides cash to clients who are hospitalized or have a family member who is. While health issues were a major cause of default in the past, women who got “hospital cash” from MFW reportedly repaid their loans at a rate of
SPECIAL REPORT: Zemidjam Motorbike Drivers in Benin, Civil Service Retirees in Senegal Participate in Human-centered Design of Mobile Money Products
During the closing day of European Microfinance Week, Karima Wardak of the UN Capital Development Fund argued that copying digital financial services from country to country is not working. The same is true of country-specific “products that were designed in board rooms,” she said. Gilda Zarate Chabluk of Innate Motion, a consultancy with staff in 27 countries, launched the discussion of how concepts of human-centered design can sidestep these problems. All staff involved in a project should observe and talk to end-users early in the design process. She suggests a meeting at the home of the end-user that lasts about two hours, with most of that time focused on the user’s life rather than the product. The idea is to create the product with the users not for the
SPECIAL REPORT: Finding Markets First, Adding Value Post-harvest to Engage Youth in Agriculture
At European Microfinance Week on Thursday, Ken Lohento of the Netherlands-based Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation described successes engaging youth in agriculture through technology, even those with limited literacy. This can take the form of business tools to track spending or marketing as well as apps that help with pest management, for example. Even older “feature phones” can be used to receive information on markets and tips to optimize production. Among other efforts, Mr Lohento cited Agribusiness TV, which provides mobile-optimized video examples of youth profiting from agriculture, and a service in Senegal that connects owners of underused land with young people looking for acreage to till.
Dr Jonathan Agwe of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stated that youth rarely are motivated to engage in the planting and weeding of primary agriculture. “Certain elements of the value chain are more interesting to youth than others,” he said. Youth are more interested in secondary activities that are less labor-intensive, such as using machinery to process crops or vehicles to get products to market. Dr Agwe suggests first “locating a market that is paying premium prices” and then
SPECIAL REPORT: Registering Property, Charging Up to 3% Monthly Interest, Promoting Local Currency for Housing Loans at European Microfinance Week
At the session titled “Building an Enabling Environment for Low-Income Housing Finance,” R V Verma, former Chairman of the National Housing Bank (NHB) (India) and consultant to the World Bank Group, said that “pushing the formal financial system to reach out to the informal sector [presents] a lot of challenges, but also huge opportunities. As part of financial inclusion, housing microfinance has a very important role.” Mr Verma went on to describe the market in India, which has an outstanding mortgage balance of INR 13 trillion (USD 200 billion) but a shortage of 24 million housing units. He also explained efforts to mitigate risk for housing lenders – both credit risk and issues with land title. Among the tools in use is a central registry of outstanding property loans. Mortgage insurance is also available even to informal workers – when lenders are willing to issue them loans.
Adedeji Adesemoye of the Central Bank of Nigeria described his institution’s efforts to address Nigeria’s shortage of 17 million housing units via resources including a loan package of USD 300 million awarded by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) in 2012. While much of this package was for refinancing mortgages, USD 15 million of it was earmarked for housing microfinance. That portion was disbursed to nine microfinance institutions to test lending to existing (non-housing) clients for land acquisition, incremental construction and
SPECIAL REPORT: Cooperativa de Ahorro y Préstamo Tosepantomin (Mexico), Winner of the 2017 European Microfinance Award
From the European Investment Bank: The 2017 European Microfinance Award honours a microfinance institution, based in a developing country, that implemented innovative solutions to support access to better quality residential housing for low income, vulnerable and excluded groups, with no or limited access to housing finance in the mainstream sector.
The Cooperativa de Ahorro y Préstamo Tosepantomin helps marginalised rural Mexican communities with their residential housing building projects by offering savings and home loan products paired with technical support. The cooperative is also recognised for its promotion of eco-friendly building techniques.
This award, a EUR 100,000 prize from the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, was given at a ceremony held at the European Investment Bank, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duchess and the Hereditary
SPECIAL REPORT: Scaling Up Implementation of Social Performance Management at European Microfinance Week
On the first day of conference sessions at European Microfinance Week, experts in the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) discussed how tools developed over the last ten years have reached a level of maturity warranting their wider rollout.
Cecile Lapenu of France-based Cerise described SPI4, the fourth iteration of a set of Social Performance Indicators intended to simplify reporting and provide a common language for different stakeholders to discuss social performance management (SPM). SPI4 incorporates the Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principles and the Social Performance Task Force’s Universal Standards for SPM. It also includes optional modules on poverty, gender and the environment. To date, 432 SPI4 audits have been completed on institutions in 88 countries.
Jurgen Hammer of the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation explained his organization’s use of the SPI4/ALINUS (Aligning Investors’ Due Diligence to the Universal Standards) framework to evaluate and benchmark the social performance of its partner MFIs. The foundation was meeting or exceeding the benchmark data in all categories except
SPECIAL REPORT: Rural Outreach and Innovation Action Group Highlights Apps, Soil Test Kits, Funding Agricultural Cooperatives
On the first afternoon of European Microfinance Week, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Rural Outreach & Innovation Action Group presented a range of services that are reaching rural areas today.
Amsalu Alemayehu of Ethiopia’s Wasasa Microfinance explained that his organization has been financing agricultural cooperatives for about five years and how this can be an efficient method for serving a large number of people. However, the number of cooperatives Wasasa serves remains small. Mr Alemayehu explained that many of the 78,000 cooperatives in Ethiopia are member-managed and need significant capacity building to become creditworthy.
Marina Kortenbusch of Switzerland’s Business & Finance Consulting (BFC), who is also the chair of the Action Group, spoke passionately about
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Opens: Microfinance and Environment Action Group Celebrates Rollout of Solar Products in Central America, Ethiopia, Philippines; Turns Eye to Scaling Up
On the opening day of European Microfinance Week, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Microfinance and Environment Action Group met to review its successes and make plans for the next two years.
Carla Palomares of ADA, the Luxembourgish nonprofit formerly known as Appui au Développement Autonome, explained her organization’s work with the 60-member Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) and Red Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF), a network of networks serving 139 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Dominican Republic and six Central American countries. ADA helped MCPI develop a team dedicated to supporting its member MFIs in offering loans for clients to buy solar lamps. MCPI is now working with six additional MFIs to roll out solar loans. The program with REDCAMIF is similar, but involves microleasing for agricultural equipment and support regarding environmentally sustainable farming practices as well as