by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) of Luxembourg, MicroEnergy of Germany, Partner With Peruvian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) FONDESURCO, CMAC Huancayo to Finance Clean Energy for Microentrepreneurs

As part of their newly established Energy Inclusion Initiative, Luxembourg-based nonprofit organization Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) and Germany-based partnership MicroEnergy International (MEI) have recently teamed up with Peruvian microfinance institutions (MFIs) Fondo de Desarrollo Regional (FONDESURCO) and Caja Municipal de Ahorro y Crédito de Huancayo (CMAC Huancayo) to deliver “green energy solutions” for microentrepreneurs.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Union Bank of India (UBI) Launching Microfinance Schemes Under “unioninclusions”

Union Bank of India (UBI), a nationalized bank with approximately USD 44 billion in total assets, recently announced the launch of “unioninclusions” in an effort to deepen financial inclusion. Announced in Mumbai by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Finance Minister, the initiative includes the following five schemes: 1) the opening of 11 specialized financial-inclusion branches; 2) biometric card-to-card remittance facility for migrant laborers; 3) mobile van banking to serve unbanked villages in the state of Odisha; 4) publication of a comic book series intended to spread financial literacy among illiterate people in rural areas; 5) funding solar power for Union Adarsh Gram, a program launched by UBI in June 2010 to adopt 101 rural villages across India to offer development and modernization.
by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kiva Intermediates “Green Loans” From Individuals to Promote Clean Energy Efforts Worldwide

To commemorate Earth Day on April 22, 2011, online microfinance intermediary Kiva announced the introduction of “Green Loans” to provide opportunities for individuals to lend as little as USD 25 to businesses and individuals looking to fund clean energy efforts [1].

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Shahid Khandker, Hassan Zaman Argue that Microfinance Has Advanced Bangladesh But Can Not Eliminate Poverty in Any Country

Shahid Khandker and Hassan Zaman, senior economists at the World Bank, recently reviewed published studies such as The World Bank’s 2008 Poverty Assessment and the records of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), a government-backed microfinance funder, an effort to determine the role that microfinance has played in the economic development of Bangladesh since the 1970s.

by Medha Ravi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Promote Energy Efficiency Through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Government of Bulgaria, $9.7m Loan to Moldovan Bank BCR Chisinau

In its effort to boost energy efficiency in Eastern Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Bulgaria and loaned EUR 7 million (USD 9.7 million) to BCR Chisinau, a Moldovan commercial bank.

by Matthew Castner -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Speaker’s Corner on Microfinance and Energy to Be Hosted Online From May 11 to May 13, 2010

Event Name: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Speaker’s Corner 37: Microfinance and Energy: Scaling Up Energy Access Through Enterprise-Based Approaches and Innovative Financing

Event Date: May 11 to May 13, 2010

Event Location: Online forum

Event Website: http://microlinks.kdid.org/events/speakers-corner-37-microfinance-and-energy-scaling-energy-access-through-enterprise-based-app

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Cost: Free

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: The Merger of Microfinance and Carbon Finance – A Mechanism for Small-Scale Technology Transfer

As world leaders haggle over emissions cuts and financial obligations to promote technology transfer to developing nations, a vanguard of microfinance institutions (MFIs) have silently financed purchases of clean energy technologies such as solar panels, biogas digesters, micro hydro dams and clean energy cook stoves in some of the poorest regions of the world. The prevalence of small-scale clean technologies could contribute to the displacement of rapidly expanding coal powered electricity grids to rural areas. Furthermore, it could replace dirty fuels – firewood, animal dung and charcoal – which have significant consequences for human health.

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UAP Insurance of Kenya, Safaricom and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture to Expand Mobile Microinsurance Program in Kenya

A recent article in The Economist weekly magazine brings attention to the expansion of a new microinsurance scheme in Kenya, known as Kilimo Salama, or “safe farming,” which uses mobile phones and automated solar-power weather stations to provide crop insurance to low-income farmers.

by Radhika Chandrasekhar -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG BRIEF: Chinese Association of Microfinance (CAM) Calls for Microfinance Reform in Country

During the China Microfinance Summit Forum 2009, Secretary General of the China Association of Microfinance (CAM) Bai Chengyu, stated that microfinance institutions (MFIs) must refine their systems of assessing social impact by enforcing better regulations and decision-making processes. Mr. Bai argued that in order for domestic MFIs to truly cater to poverty alleviation, they should not require borrowers to provide collateral in exchange for loans. He cited data from the People’s Bank of China (PBC), which details that 87.1 percent of total loans issued by the end of 2008 were collateral loans, whereas 12.9 percent of total loans were non-collateral loans.

by Elizabeth Southworth -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: SEWA, SKS Microfinance and The Aryavart Gramin Bank Provide Alternative Power to the Rural Poor

A number of Indian MFI’s now provide loans for cost effective alternative power to people who have little or no access to electricity. With heavy reliance on kerosene and firewood, millions of homes have little or no light after dark. And the time spent collecting firewood or waiting in line to purchase kerosene leaves little time for income generating activities. This makes it difficult for many of the rural and urban poor to elevate themselves out of poverty.

by Diya Chopra -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Inc. of the Philippines

The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Inc. was established in December 1986 as a social development fund. In 1997, it became the first NGO to transform into a licensed rural bank. CARD was founded by Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, and organized by 15 rural development practitioners as a response to the growing poverty rate in Regions IV and V of the Philippines. Their vision was to establish a bank created for, and owned and managed by landless rural women. In 1989, a group-lending pilot was launched by CARD, based on the Grameen Bank’s methodology. A year later, CARD launched its credit arm, the Landless People’s Development Fund (LPDF) [1].

by Diya Chopra -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Microfinance Institutions Jamii Bora Trust and Unitus Team Up to Build Eco-Friendly Town in Kenya

Jamii Bora Trust, a Kenya-based microfinance institution (MFI), has teamed up with Seattle, Washington-based non-profit MFI Unitus to launch an ecologically friendly town in Kenya, Africa. It is estimated that approximately 2, 500 families will purchase homes with microloans in Kaputei, a 160-hectare plot of land located 22 miles (36 kilometers) away from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. In June 2009, 700 homes had been built, or in the process of being built. By the end of the project, 2, 000 homes are expected to be constructed.

by Uyen Tran -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen Foundation of Washington, DC, Google of Silicon Valley, and MTN Uganda Launch Mobile Services for Microenterprises in Uganda

Grameen Foundation, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization, announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda (MTN) that will deliver services and information in Uganda. Google, a Silicon Valley-based internet search engine and services provider, will provide human and technology resources towards the development of the application solutions. MTN Uganda, a part of the MTN Group based in South Africa, is the telecom operator that will provide the communications infrastructure and local marketing support. The services are SMS-based and designed to work with basic mobile phones. SMS (short message service) enables short text messages to be sent between mobile phones. This is the first available suite of applications resulting from a Grameen Foundation project initiated 18 months ago called the Application Laboratory (AppLab). The service allows individuals to use either their own mobile phone or a shared mobile phone to access information relating to agriculture, healthcare, and market information that can match buyers and sellers.