Category: Events

NEXT GENERATION ACCESS TO FINANCE: GAINING SCALE AND REDUCING COSTS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND CREDIT SCORING – SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2007, WASHINGTON, D.C., USA

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group dedicated to private sector development and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a consortium of public and private development agencies working together to expand access to financial services for the poor in developing countries, are working together with VISA International, a global card services and payment processing provider, to organize a microfinance technology conference entitled, “Next Generation Access to Finance: Gaining Scale and Reducing Costs with Technology and Credit Scoring.”

LDM Productions, a French production company, and the United Nations Development Programme, a multilateral development assistance network, are working together to produce a full-length feature film that explorers the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

OCTOBER 3-5, 2007, SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR

This tenth annual event is organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador. The conference targets practitioners in Latin America and the Caribbean, but is also open to those from other regions. It will offer four categories of technical sessions: 1) “Microfinance” sessions will focus on microfinance products and services, as well as exploring new technologies and methodologies on how to expand access to financial services; 2) “Financial Markets” sessions will be centered on new financial market development that allow micro-enterprises and low-income groups to access financial resources; 3) “Entrepreneurship and Markets” will explore new models and partnerships to serve low-income markets and create opportunities for business growth; 4) “Business Environment” will target public sector strategies to advance regulation, improve formalization and tax regimes and secure transparency in the micro-enterprise sector.

Source: Financial Times

Article available here.

Microfinance is quickly becoming a popular corner of the capital markets as more investment banks and wealthy philanthropists such as George Soros and eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar see the business of providing small loans to low-income individuals in poor countries as potentially profitable as well as a powerful tool for development.

GlobeFunder is a global online lending engine for small loans scheduled to launch in October 2007. The concept of the company is as follows: to assist consumers globally with lower borrowing costs while providing a new marketplace for investors to earn profitable returns. GlobeFunder‘s leadership focus is as a scalable provider of loan funding at market-driven interest rates (see interview with GlobeFunder Co-founder and CEO Brian Mullally at P2P-Banking.com blog).

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: New Online For-Profit Microfinance Lending Engine GlobeFunder Closes Seed Round of Funding at USD 1.5 Million”

Grameen Foundation has succeeded into the quarter-finals of the American Express Members Project Contest, an online competition sponsored by the US-based credit card company. Surviving through the second round of voting, Grameen Foundation, leader of an international microfinance network, is now within the top 25 organizations entering into the contest’s semi-finals.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: American Express Cardholders Put Grameen Foundation in the Top 25 of the American Express Members Project Contest”

MICROINSURANCE CONFERENCE 2007

NOVEMBER 13-15, 2007, HYATT REGENCY IN MUMBAI, INDIA

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Working Group on Microinsurance, international research organization Munich Re Foundation, and Indian government-run Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have scheduled the third annual Microinsurance Conference. The cost to attend is USD 490; representatives of non-profits from developing countries, however, are eligible for the USD 100 discount price.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Working Group on Microinsurance, Munich Re Foundation, and India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Host Microfina”

Software developer AESX Platforms AVV plans to announce the creation of MFDAQ, a capital trading exchange for the share capital of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The announcement will take place at the Microfinance Conference at the London Stock Exchange on July 13, 2007 (see June 22, 2007 story),

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Alternative Electronic Stock Exchange Platforms AVV (AESX) to Publicize Creation of Microfinance Capital Market MFDAQ at Microfinance Conference in London”

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of India (NABARD) is launching a new arm to target the microcredit sphere in the country. The new institution, a non-banking financial company (NBFC), called Nabard Financial Services (Nabfins), will have an authorized capital of Rs 1 billion (USD 24.7 million) and an issued capital of Rs 200 million (USD 4.9 million).
Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Creates New Initiative to Target Microfinance”

SCALING MICROFINANCE: THE SKS ACCELERATION MODEL

JULY 9, 2007, 6:30-8:30 PM, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES

Bear, Stearns & Co., a US investment, trading, and brokerage company, will host this presentation led by Vikram Akula, founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI). The event will focus on “the SKS Acceleration Model,” a business strategy that Mr. Akula argues has led to his company’s growth over the past several years.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bear, Stearns & Co. and SKS Microfinance’s Vikram Akula, Bring Microfinance Event to New York City on July 9, 2007”

GrameenPhone, the largest provider of cell phone services in Bangladesh, confirms the launch of an initial public offering (IPO) of shares on domestic and overseas stock exchanges next year. This is a move made to fund network expansion. GrameenPhone is owned by Telenor, a Norway-based communications, IT, and media company (62%), and Grameen Telecom (GTC) (38%). Grameen Telecom is owned by Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, and currently provides the GSM 900 cellular mobile phones to villagers. It is a not-for-profit company that provides telecommunication services in the rural areas in Bangladesh and also acts as a sales agent for mobile phones for individual urban subscribers. Basic objectives of Grameen Telecom are to ensure universal telecommunication access for the villagers and provide other value added services, with organizational & infra-structural support from Grameen Bank.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Public Sale in Microfinance Telecommunications Sector: GrameenPhone of Bangladesh Announces IPO set for 2008”

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Fredericks Foundation Offers Discount Price for Microfinance Conference at the London Stock Exchange”

Sofia will host the 10th edition of the international microfinance conference from May 31 to June 2.

More than 500 representatives of microfinance institutions from 50 countries will take part in the forum, Focus news agency reported.

The main purpose of the event is to attract the attention on the sector of microfinancing and micro crediting.

A forum took place from May 22^nd to May 23^rd, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, at the Kimbima Hotel. Organizations involved include KFW, a German Microfinance Institution (MFI), UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund), Cordaid (Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid), and the Government of Sierra Leone.

The forum met to evaluate the microfinance project ‘Development of Sustainable Pro-Poor Financial Sector in Sierra Leone 2004-2009,’ which aims to aid with the Millennium Development goals by “increasing sustainable access to financial services for poor and low-income people in Sierra Leone. The program will contribute to this goal by developing a competitive and sustainable inclusive financial sector that provides access to financial services to poor and low-income people in general and micro and small businesses in particular.” For further information and details, refer to the UNCDF’s Document on the project.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: UNDP (United Nations Development Program) holds National Microfinance Forum in Sierra Leone”