“Microfinance for Housing: Building New Foundations in Housing Microfinance;” by Sam Mendelson, Katarzyna Pawlak, Ewa Bankowska, Gabriela Erice and Daniel Rozas; published by the European Microfinance Platform; April 2018; 40 pages; available at http://www.e-mfp.eu/sites/default/files/resources/2018/04/European%20Dialogue%20no_12_web_0.pdf
This report presents the status, trends and potential of the housing portion of the microfinance sector, including case studies of the 10 semi-finalists for the 2017 European Microfinance Award. In addition to content specific to the eight past European Microfinance Awards, the authors outline the status of low-income housing globally and discuss why housing microfinance has been slow to develop.
To help service providers address the lack of affordable housing worldwide, they identify the following factors of successful housing programs: (1) commitment to technical assistance; (2) use of partnerships; (3) flexibility in product design; (4) income-generation opportunities; (5) new approaches to collateral; (6) new approaches to calculating household income; and (7) a holistic vision that reflects the complexity of the challenges and varied customer needs.
“Female Smallholders in the Financial Inclusion Agenda;” by Emilio Hernandez, Yasmin Bin Humam, Riccardo Ciacci, Niclas Benni and Susan Kaaria; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); April 2018; 4 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Brief-Female-Smallholders-in-the-Financial-Inclusion-Agenda-Apr-2018.pdf
The authors of this paper find that female smallholder farmers in Mozambique and Tanzania are less financially included in formal financial services than men. These women also have lower income levels, educational attainment and economic diversification. The disparity is higher in wealthier households than in poorer ones. The researchers’ recommendations include helping women address “discriminatory social norms, lack of…IDs…, agricultural productivity, and so forth.”
“Protecting Savings Groups Reached Through High-Tech Channels: Guidance from the New Client Protection Principles for a Digital Savings Product;” by Bonnie Brusky, Bobbi Gray, Christian Loupeda, Megan Gash and Valerie de Briey; February 2018; 42 pages; available at https://uncdf-cdn.azureedge.net/media-manager/84615
Based on a case study of an effort to merge client protection into digital group savings for women in rural Burkina Faso, the authors identify the following challenges and risks: (1) limited client knowledge; (2) high costs; (3) network downtime; (4) potential misuse of client information by mobile money agents; (5) insufficient agent liquidity; (6) lack of client dispute mechanisms; and (7) various cultural and technical barriers.
Similar Posts:
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Driving Digital Financial Services in Africa Through Merchant Acceptance of Digital Payments,” published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Women Agents for Financial Inclusion: Exploring the Benefits, Constraints and Potential Solutions,” by Emilio Hernandez et al, Published by CGAP
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Green Energy Finance and Gender Disparity: The Case of Mountain Areas in Bangladesh,” by Sakib Bin Amin et al, Published by Copenhagen Business School
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Gendered Investment Differences Among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from a Microcredit Programme in Western Kenya,” by Keiji Jindo et al
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Agritech and Fintech Providers in East and Southern Africa: A Landscape Assessment;” published by IFAD, SAFIN
