The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation recently carried out a pilot project in Uganda engaging financial services providers (FSPs) in serving refugees and their host communities. The goal is to support FSPs in adapting their products to the needs of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) – “adapting” because new products are not generally needed – and rolling them out to prove the business case for serving these populations. Despite early reluctance from FSPs, their portfolio-at-risk ratios turned out to be under 5 percent – sometimes better than their overall portfolios. As a result, two of the foundation’s FSP partners have
Category: Refugees
MICROFINANCE EVENT: X Conferencia Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas; March 20-22, 2023; Antigua, Guatemala
The tenth Central American and Caribbean microfinance conference is themed “Resilience and recovery of financial inclusion in the new reality.” The first morning is a forum for showcasing new technologies. The remaining two days will cover themes such as digital transformation, gender equity,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Themed “Inclusive Growth in a Digital Era,” Financial Inclusion Week 2022 Offers 180 Virtual Sessions, October 17-20
For the eighth year, the Center for Financial Inclusion, a program of the US-based NGO Accion, is organizing Financial Inclusion Week, an opportunity for all stakeholders to attend virtual sessions – both live and on-demand – at no charge. The theme for 2022 is “Inclusive Growth in a Digital Era,” with sessions covering 14 topics such as Climate Change, Client Protection,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kiva Lends $2m to Migrante, Provider of Vehicle Loans to Migrants from Venezuela to Chile
Kiva Capital, a unit of the US-based NGO Kiva, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 2 million to Migrante, a lender to migrants and refugees in Chile, through its Kiva Refugee Investment Fund. Founded in 2018, Migrante is a financial technology (fintech) firm with 27,000 borrowers, mainly
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Leveraging Digital ID and e-KYC for the Financial Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced Persons: Risks and Opportunities;” Published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion
The authors of this paper discuss the use of electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) procedures and digital forms of identification (ID) to support financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) in Eswatini, Mauritania and Rwanda.
In Eswatini, refugees and asylum-seekers may apply for refugee ID cards and non-Swazi ID cards, respectively. After acquiring IDs, individuals may access
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFC, UNHCR to Convene Working Group on Access to Microfinance, Business Development for Refugees in Europe
The Microfinance Centre (MFC), a network of 95 microfinance providers in Europe and Central Asia, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently launched a project to support refugees in Europe by helping them become self-reliant via access to microfinance and business services. The partners will build a working group of financial services providers, regulators and other stakeholders
SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (the French Acronym for African Microfinance Week) in Progress in Rwanda Until October 22, 2021
Get an overview of the five-day SAM from the ADA press release or follow the proceedings on our Twitter feed!
This feature is part of a sponsored series on the SAM 2021, which is organized by the Luxembourgish NGO ADA, the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), with the support of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg and the Government of Rwanda. The event is taking place from October 18 to October 22 in Kigali, Rwanda. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and document each of the SAMs since 2015.
SPECIAL REPORT: CRECER, Dreamlopments, Fonkoze in Finals for European Microfinance Award 2021 on Inclusive Finance & Health Care
From 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 22nd and 23rd September 2021, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2021 (EMA 2021) on “Inclusive Finance & Health Care” chose the three finalists who will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 117,000) prize: CRECER IFD from Bolivia, Dreamlopments Limited from Thailand and Fonkoze from Haiti.
Access to quality health care underpins everything else: it allows education to play its role in opening new opportunities; it allows people to earn, invest and employ others; it lets groups and societies prosper. But paying for health care is the single biggest
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week – Online November 17-19, 2021 – Registration Now Open
Despite the pandemic, 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) once again presents one of its flagship activities, European Microfinance Week (EMW), online this November. While the detailed agenda has not yet been released, it will include the presentation of the EUR 100,000 European Microfinance Award, as always. Over three days, last year’s EMW included 130 speakers reaching 500 attendees via the internet. Registrations fees vary from EUR 40 to EUR 200. More details appear at https://registration.european-microfinance-week.eu/website/27793/.
This notice is part of a sponsored series on EMW, the next iteration of which will occur online from November 17 through November 19, 2021. This event is held annually by e-MFP, a Luxembourg-based network with approximately 130 members. MicroCapital has been engaged to cover the event each year since 2012.
Additional Resources
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) information on European Microfinance Week 2020
http://www.e-mfp.eu/european-microfinance-week-2020
MicroCapital coverage since 2012 of European Microfinance Week, including each European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance); October 18-22, 2021; Kigali, Rwanda
This year’s SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) includes five days of conference sessions, an investors’ fair, an “Innovators’ Village,” research presentations, training sessions and workshops under the theme “Resilience of the African Inclusive Finance Sector.” The two-day conference portion of SAM includes sessions on topics such as how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, financing agricultural value chains, risk management, serving youth, digital infrastructure and post-crisis reconstruction. The other days of SAM include workshops on topics such as social performance,
SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience for Microfinance Clients – the SAM 2021 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22
MicroCapital: How will the theme resilience be addressed during the SAM 2021?
Yombo Odanou: The EU has defined resilience as “the capacity of an individual, household, community, country or region to resist, adapt and recover quickly from crises and shocks.” The dual climate and COVID-19 crises and their effects on the global economy are forcing institutions to find new ways to take advantage of this austere environment.
Christophe Hebting: We believe the discussions at the SAM can build the resilience capacity of all actors in the inclusive finance sector. This includes addressing questions such as: How can resilience be increased through structural change? In the face of climate change? Through technological innovations?
MC: How are you addressing concerns attendees may have regarding the potential transmission of COVID-19 during the event?
YO: Since the beginning of this pandemic, MAIN has initiated actions to enable its members to minimise the risk of infection, allowing them to continue
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Zeepay of Ghana, Dutch Government, SNV, UNCDF Partner on Financial Education, Remittances via EU-funded GrEEn Program
Zeepay, a financial technology (fintech) company with offices in Ghana and the UK, recently partnered with the embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana, the Dutch NGO Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as part of the EU-funded Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) program. The goal is to serve “youth, women and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kiva Refugee Investment Fund Closes with $32m to Scale Lending to Forcibly Displaced Persons, Host Communities Via Microfinance Institutions
The Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF), an entity controlled by the US-based NGO Kiva Microfunds, recently completed its first close, with USD 32.5 million raised from
SPECIAL REPORT: Financial Inclusion for Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) – Part 2: Regulatory Barriers, Segmenting Needs
(This 
is the companion feature to an earlier piece on a European Microfinance Week conversation on serving refugees.)
Swati Mehta Dhawan of Germany’s Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt argued for building up legal frameworks to allow forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) to escape “infinite limbo” by accessing documentation for identification purposes, working legally and integrating with host populations. She offered the example of a person displaced to Kenya, who has been there for 15 years without being allowed to work. Hans-Martin Zademach, also of Catholic University, noted many are “stuck in survival mode,” more in need of a reliable income source than methods for managing money.
However, Ms Dhawan explained that FDPs’ needs for financial services often increase as years go by. A common trajectory is
SPECIAL REPORT: Working with Central Banks to Extend Microfinance to Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs)
At Thursday’s European Microfinance Week session on serving forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), Mariam Jemila Zahari of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a Malaysia-based network of financial regulators from 90 countries, described her organization’s work in Afghanistan, Mauritania and Rwanda. The Central Bank of Mauritania, for example, used AFI’s peer-learning model to
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Registration Open for Virtual Conference; November 18-20, 2020
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): It has been a difficult few months, and during this time we at e-MFP have engaged with our members and friends to mobilize resources and adapt our activities to best mitigate the effects this pandemic brings to our sector and the vulnerable people we as a community serve.
One of our flagship activities is European Microfinance Week (EMW), held annually in November, and with it in mind we have been closely monitoring the public health situation globally. Now more than ever it’s vital to connect and
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: Refugee Youth from South Sudan Build Skills to Benefit from Microfinance Lending in Uganda: Agricultural, Financial, Social
This 3-minute video shows how ICCO Cooperation, War Child and ZOA are partnering to help youth “improve their social and economic wellbeing through psychosocial and livelihoods support in Africa’s biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi.”
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Most Refugee, Host Savings Groups in 2 Uganda Districts Continue Meeting, Saving Despite Loss of Income Due to Pandemic
VisionFund Uganda, a microfinance institution (MFI) subsidiary of VisionFund International, recently conducted a survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on refugee and host-community savings groups. The 417 respondents are members of savings groups in the Yumbe and Obongi districts of Uganda, to which many refugees from South Sudan have relocated. The results are divided into