by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Pondicherry University’s 2009 International Conference on Indian Microfinance

JANUARY 21 TO JANUARY 23, 2009, PUDUCHERRY, INDIA

Pondicherry University’s Commerce Department will host an “International Conference on Microfinance” with support from various Indian agencies, including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD). The conference will be held at the Department of Commerce in the School of Management of Pondicherry University in Puducherry, India.  University researchers, banking professionals, and representatives from non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) are welcome to attend. 

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Women Advancing Microfinance of New York hosts speaker Chagit Rubinstein of the Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF) and SAWA

DECEMBER 4, 2008, NEW YORK CITY, USA

The New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM-NY), an international organization dedicated to advancing and supporting women in microfinance, will hold the next installment of its Voices from the Field series: “Microfinance in Israel: Supporting Bedouin Women.”  Chagit Rubinstein will speak about her experiences with two key players in Israeli microfinance—Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF) and SAWA microfinance institution—from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the Microsoft Center located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, Studio 54.  Ms. Rubinstein will discuss how and why SAWA has enabled Bedouin women to become micro-entrepreneurs, KIEDF’s challenges in Israel, and the future prospects for Israeli microfinance.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indonesia’s MBK Ventura, Egypt’s Al Tadamun, and Grameen Bank’s Nurjahan Begum Recognized at Grameen Foundation 2008 Awards

The achievements of the Grameen Bank‘s Nurjahan Begum, Indonesia’s Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, and Egypt’s Al Tadamun were recognized on November 12, 2008 at the Grameen Foundation’s 2008 Awards in Washington D.C. The awards were held in conjunction with its annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable discussion, which this year discussed the implications of the global financial crisis on microfinance. Nurjahan Begum received the Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in microfinance for over 30 years, including her efforts to organize women in Bangladesh’s poorest villages and leading the fight for the rights of disadvantaged women. MBK Ventura of Indonesia received the Excellence in Microfinance Award for its leadership its efforts to ensure that Indonesia’s poorest citizens receive financial services, and Al Tadamun of Egypt was awarded the Pioneer in Microfinance Award in recognition of its program to provide financial services to Cairo’s poorest women.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Nirantara Community Services, Arohan, and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services Win National Awards at the PlaNet Finance India’s 2008 Microfinance Process Excellence Awards

The nineteen awardees of the Royal Bank of Scotland and PlaNet Finance India’s Microfinance Process Excellence Awards were announced recently at a conference in Delhi. They were the third annual awards and the winners for the awards were selected from a pool of 67 nominees, which were shortlisted after receiving applications from the initial pool of applicants. The award winners were announced at the Microfinance India Summit 2008, held Nov. 11th to 13th in New Delhi. National winners for the three categories of awards were Nirantara Community Services, Arohan, and Sanghamithra.

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: USAID Note from The Field, Greening Microfinance to Turn Waste Into Wealth

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently published a note about efforts in India to provide an integrated approach in addressing poverty alleviation, global health and energy. Shortage of cooking fuel is a key problem in India where approximately 260 million of the country’s total 1.2 billion population live below the poverty line. Some households burn cow dung cakes as an alternative fuel source, creating environmental hazards and causing harmful health consequences, including acute respiratory infections in children. According to a 2006 Shell Foundation Report, deaths linked to biomass smoke exposure compete with malaria as the leading cause of death in adults in developing nations every year.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microfinance and Climate Change: Can Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Promote Environmental Sustainability?

NOVEMBER 18 TO NOVEMBER 20, 2008, INTERNET FORUM BY MICROLINKS

Over the course of three days, MicroLinks will host a “Speaker’s Corner” entitled “Microfinance and Climate Change: Can Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Promote Environmental Sustainability?”  Speaker’s Corner events are online conferences or forums for the purpose of engaging current microenterprise and microfinance issues.  This forum will be hosted by Dan Lundmark, a documentary producer and director currently working on a film highlighting the environmental policies and impacts of MFIs and microenterprises in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.  Several panelists will join the forum from GreenMicrofinance: Joan Hall, Elizabeth Israel, Thomas Israel, Kathleen Robbins, Betsy Teutsch, and Bela Vora.  Panelists from Indian MFIs will include Manab Chakraborty from MIMO Finance, Paul Moonjely from Wesco Credit, and Paul Thomas from the Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF).

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications

NOVEMBER 18 TO 20, 2008, INTERNET CONFERENCE HOSTED BY CGAP

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) will host a three-day virtual conference entitled “The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications.”  CGAP hopes that virtual participants will share their experiences and insights on the financial crisis and its effects on microfinance and the global poor, and that the discussion will involve all types of microfinance players—microfinance institutions (MFIs), clients, and donors and investors. 

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Outdated Regulatory Frameworks and Inadequate Business Models Identified as Key Challenges to Financial Inclusion at World Economic Forum’s Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda

The redesign of regulations, development of innovative business models that promote inclusion, financial literacy, expansion of delivery channels, and lowering of transaction costs were highlighted as key challenges for expanding the inclusivity of the global financial system by the World Economic Forum‘s Global Agenda Council On Financial Empowerment. The inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda recently assembled 700 of the world’s leaders from academia, business, government and society to set priorities on key global challenges, the outcomes of which will be integrated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 for further discussion.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium

NOVEMBER 30, 2008, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium is a day-long event focusing on microfinance as an emerging asset class and investment opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.  The symposium will take place on November 30 at the Godolphin Ballroom of the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it will be co-hosted by Grameen-Jameel, a social-oriented business based in Dubai, and BlueOrchard, a microfinance investment manager located in Geneva, Switzerland.  Aramex and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have signed on as sponsors.   The symposium has been marketed to asset managers, bankers, high net-worth individuals, family businesses and other interested investors. 

by Diana Yang -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: CGAP Virtual Conference: The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications (November 18-20, 2008)

Join Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and industry experts at a Virtual Conference to discuss the impact of the financial crisis on microfinance and poor people.

Over the course of three days (November 18-20), participants will share their experiences and insights and discuss how to respond to upcoming challenges. The Virtual Conference will focus on microfinance institutions and their clients, and on donors and investors.

To register for this conference, please click here, or copy and paste the following URL in a new browser window: http://nutshellurl.com/24c.

For further information on CGAP click here.

To visit the event website visit here.