Gina Harman, President and CEO of ACCION USA, an affiliate of ACCION International, a private, US-based nonprofit organization with a global network of microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently argued on the Huffington Post website that microfinance now offers an unprecedented opportunity for job creation in the US.
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vice President of the Economic Commission of Nicaragua Urges the Passing of a Microfinance Law in Wake of “No Pago” Movement, Liquidation of Microfinance Institution Banco del Exito’s (Banex)
The Vice President of the Economic Commission of the National Assembly of Nicaragua, Freddy Torres, reportedly warned Nicaragua’s citizens in November 2010 that the country may lose up to USD 400 million if a microfinance law promoting regulation is not approved before year’s end.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Bank Compartamos Banco, Researchers Dean Karlan of Yale University and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth University to Study How Customers Use Microfinance Products
Compartamos Banco, a microfinance bank based in Mexico, and researchers Dean Karlan of Yale University and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth University have announced that they will conduct a four-year study to determine how microfinance bank customers use financial products and to quantify the impact these products have on customers’ lives.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Payment Strike Hits India’s Andhra Pradesh State As Local Governments Urge Microfinance Borrowers Not to Repay
In India’s Andhra Pradesh state, local government officials are reportedly telling microfinance borrowers to stop repaying lenders even if they have the money to do so. The state government there has begun to increase restrictions on interest rates and arrest thuggish lending agents for fear that high rates and harassment from lenders has contributed to an overwhelming debt burden on microborrowers and suicides in the region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Serbian Government Reviews Microfinance Law Aimed to Improve Lending to Low-Income Citizens
Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Delic of Serbia recently announced that the Serbian government is reviewing a law that will allow for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the country to lend directly to their clients instead of lending through the current framework, which only allows lending through local banks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Calls for ‘Deeper’ Reform of Industry
Christoph Pausch, Executive Secretary of the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) of Luxembourg, recently argued in the Financial Times newspaper for “deeper” reform of the microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Backed by G20, Ashoka Changemakers Announces 14 Winners of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance Challenge
Ashoka Changemakers announced this month that it has selected 14 proposals as the winners of the SME Finance Challenge, which is hosted by Ashoka, a US-based nonprofit organization that invests in social entrepreneurship, and backed by the G-20, a group of financial ministers and central bank authorities representing 20 major economies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Namibia See 24% Increase in Business in 2009 According to Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA), Concerns Persist Regarding Irresponsible Lending
It has been reported that the – so far unreleased – Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority’s (NAMFISA’s) 2010 annual report indicates that Namibians borrowed 24 percent more than in 2008 and approximately 120 percent more than five years ago.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microfinance Investment Summit Hong Kong to Be Held December 2-3, 2010
Event Name: Microfinance Investment Summit Hong Kong
Event Date: December 2-December 3, 2010
Event Location: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hotel, 70 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative Set Standards for Microfinance Investment Vehicle Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a policy and research center dedicated to providing financial access for the world’s poor, and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), a network of international investors created to promote the practice of responsible investing, have partnered to create the following criteria for measuring the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Set to Open Microfinance Bank (MFB) Advans Bank Tanzania in December 2010
Advans SA, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) registered in Luxembourg that mobilizes funds for microfinance institutions (MFIs), has announced that it has scheduled the opening of the first branch of its sixth microfinance bank (MFB), Advans Bank Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam in December of this year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), LuxFLAG, United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), Eurosif Partner to Award Three Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center dedicated to providing financial access for the world’s poor, has teamed up with the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), a network of international investors created under the auspices of the UN to promote the practice of responsible investing; LuxFLAG, an organization that certifies that microfinance vehicles (MIVs) actually invest in the microfinance sector; and the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif), a pan-European network aiming to foster sustainable development through European financial markets, to create the CGAP Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CARE, Barclay’s, Oxfam, EcoBank, Others Collaborate to Expand Financial Services to Sub-Saharan Africa’s Poor
In its article “Innovations in Savings Services in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa,” the Microfinance Gateway, a service of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), highlights the collaboration between private and public sectors to connect Sub-Saharan Africa’s rural poor with financial services.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Survey Market Data and Peer Group Analysis: The 2010 CGAP MIV Survey, by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor)
By Symbiotics, published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), August 2010, 42 pages, available at:
http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.47373/CGAP_2010_MIV_Survey_Report.pd…
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) has recently published its fourth annual survey of microfinance vehicles (MIVs) offering two levels of analysis: (1) key market trends from 90 microfinance investment intermediaries (MII) and (2) market data, benchmarks and performance analysis of 73 MIVs, a sub-group of the MIIs, organized into six peer groups.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwandan Government Launches 7-year Program for Economic Recovery, Aims to Reach 80% of Population with Financial Services
Rwanda’s government has reportedly launched a 7-year program to bolster its economic activity, including increasing electricity generation and providing financial services that reach at least 80 percent of the country’s population.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Gives Provisional Approval for 121 New Microfinance Bank (MFB) Licenses
After announcing that Nigerian microfinance banks (MFBs) would have to fulfill stricter capital requirements in order to obtain licenses, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has begun to grant provisional approval for new licenses to approximately 121 out of the 224 MFBs whose licenses were revoked earlier this year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) Releases $1.5m in Grants to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fonkoze and Gheskio of Haiti
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF), a disaster relief organization founded to alleviate the effects of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, has announced the release of approximately USD 1.5 million in grants to Fonkoze, a microfinance institution established in 1995 in Haiti, and Les Centres Gheskio (Gheskio), an NGO established in 1982 to fight fatal diseases in Haiti.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wall’s Street Advisor Services Releases “Listed Microfinance Institutions’ Shareholder Valuations and Their Stocks’ Results”
Wall’s Street Advisor Services (WSAS), a US-based consultancy, has released a report, “Listed Microfinance Institutions’ Shareholder Valuations and Their Stocks’ Results”, which considers how publicly-traded shares of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are valued.