Poverty & Public Policy, a journal published by the Policy Studies Organization (PSO), a US-based policy think tank, has announced the release of a paper titled, “Microfinance, Commercialization and Ethics” by Reinhard Schmidt of Germany’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt am Main.
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Munich Re Foundation, International Labour Organization (ILO) Announce Microinsurance Has Potential to Reach 3 Billion People
Munich Re Foundation, a nonprofit founded by German reinsurer Munich Re, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, announced in advance of a microinsurance conference in Manila, Philippines, that unnamed studies indicate microinsurance has the potential to reach three billion people.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Impact Investment Forum 2010, London, England, November 30 – December 1, 2010
Event Name: Impact Investment Forum 2010
Event Date: November 30 – December 1, 2010
Event Location: The Montague Hotel, London, England
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Water.org, MasterCard Foundation Launch $3.6m Partnership to Boost WaterCredit Program That Uses Microfinance to Increase Access to Clean Water in Africa
Water.org, a nonprofit organization promoting access to clean water in Africa, and MasterCard Foundation, a Toronto-based foundation promoting microfinance and youth education, have launched a four-year, USD 3.6 million partnership to assist microfinance initiatives that relate to clean water in Sub-Saharan Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroSave Launches Social Performance Management Framework for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
MicroSave, an organization that provides technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently unveiled its flagship Social Performance Management framework, which aims to improve MFIs’ social and business performance.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: African Financial Systems: A Review by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, Published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center
by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center, March 2010, 69 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.1.8282/African%20financial%20systems.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Operations in Lebanon Begin to Grow
As microfinance institutions in Lebanon are providing credit to more borrowers that are unserved by commercial banks, Director of Financial Operations at the Central Bank of Lebanon, Youssef Khalil, reports “microfinance is filling – modestly filling – part of this gap.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Venezuela to Implement Universal and Microfinance Banking and De-Commercialize Current Financial System
Venezuela’s new financial infrastructure, recently approved by the National Assembly, will replace the General Law on Banks and establish universal banking, microfinance banking and money exchange offices that will launch at an unspecified date.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Under Pressure from State Government of Andhra Pradesh, Indian Microfinance Institutions Agree to Cap Interest Rates at 24%
Several major microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have agreed to cap interest rates at 24 percent per year after a series of politically-triggered freezes on bank lending to MFIs that followed an uproar regarding debt collector harassment that was linked to a number borrower suicides.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Same Game, Different League: What Microfinance Institutions Can Learn From the Large Banks Corporate Governance Debate
By Maria Giovanna Pugliese, published by World Microfinance Forum Geneva, October 2010, 24 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.48253/Same_Game_Diffe…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Announces Creation of Bankers Without Borders (BwB) Alliance Program to Expand Microfinance Institution (MFI) Volunteering Initiative
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has announced the creation of the Alliance Program, within its Bankers Without Borders initiative, which will focus on increasing volunteerism in the microfinance and development technology sectors in Asia and Latin America.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Microfinance Bank Equity Bank, Telecommunications Company Orange To Launch Mobile Money Program Iko-Pesa
Kenyan microfinance bank (MFB) Equity Bank has reportedly partnered with telecommunications company Orange to launch Iko-Pesa, a mobile-to-mobile money transfer service similar to M-Pesa, another mobile money transfer program headed by telecommunications company Safaricom.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Microfinance Industry on Brink of “Collapse” Due to Credit Freeze in State of Andhra Pradesh
India’s microfinance industry is reportedly on the verge of “collapsing,” according to the UK’s Financial Times newspaper, due to politically-triggered bank freezes on credit in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where outstanding loans reportedly measure USD 2.7 billion distributed to 6.7 million borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Z Zurich Foundation Contributes $3m to International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Microinsurance Innovation Facility (MIF), Call for Proposals is Open
Z Zurich Foundation, the charitable microinsurance arm of Zurich Financial Services, has contributed CHF 3 million (USD 3.08 million) to the Microinsurance Innovation Facility (MIF), an outfit within the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Social Finance Programme, to promote research on using technology and process innovations to protect low-income households.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Government Considers Legislation Banning Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) from Making Multiple Loans to Borrowers
Legislators in India are reportedly considering banning microfinance institutions (MFIs) from multiple lending.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Survey on Kenya’s M-PESA Mobile Transfer Service Shows Increased Impact in 2009
A survey of Kenya’s M-PESA program, a cellphone-to-cellphone money management service, that was conducted by Billy Jack of Georgetown University’s Economics Department and Tavneet Suri of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Sloan School of Management, examines the impact of the service on its users.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: The Impact of International Influence on Microbanks’ Performance: A Global Survey
By Roy Mersland, Trond Randoy, Reidar Oystein Strom, forthcoming in the International Business Review (2010), available for purchase at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2010.07.006
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Campaign Partners With African Microfinance Network (AFMIN) and Plan International to Promote Client Protection Among African and Asian MFIs
The Smart Campaign, an initiative housed at the Center for Financial Inclusion to promote the use of a set of client protection principles, has partnered with the African Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of African microfinance networks, and Plan International, a UK-based children’s development organization, to promote and institutionalize client protection among microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout Africa and Asia.