The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group; the government-backed Netherlands Development Finance Company (which is also known by its Dutch acronym FMO); and Singapore-based SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund recently placed equity investments totaling USD 22 million in Sri Lankan-based Sanasa Development Bank (SDB Bank).
Search Results for: measure
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: GIIN Impact Investor Survey; Financial Inclusion in Humanitarian Emergencies; Green Index 2.0
“Annual Impact Investor Survey 2017, The Seventh Edition;” by Abhilash Mudaliar, Hannah Schiff, Rachel Bass, Hannah Dithrich; published by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), May 2017, 84 pages, available at https://thegiin.org/knowledge/publication/annualsurvey2017
The authors of this paper discuss the results of primary and secondary research on the latest trends and challenges of the impact investment sector, which they define as investments that “target social and / or environmental impact objectives”[1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Lending $49m to Mongolia’s XacBank in Partnership with Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, IFC
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently agreed to loan USD 49 million to XacBank, a microfinance institution in Mongolia, to support lending to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: With Certification of al Amana, Attawfiq, 64% of Microfinance Clients in Morocco Covered by “Smart” Campaign for Client Protection
Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating recently certified two Moroccan microfinance institutions (MFIs), al Amana and Attawfiq Micro-Finance, as operating within the Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principles. With a third institution, Tamwil El Fellah (TEF), having received certification in 2016, 64 percent of
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investing Conference: Addressing Climate Change and Social Development; April 26, 2017; Kirchberg, Luxembourg
Event Name: Impact Investing Conference
Event Date: April 26, 2017
Event Location: Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Kirchberg, Luxembourg
Event Organizers: Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) will organize the event in partnership with Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency (LuxFLAG), European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).
Cost: The fee to attend is EUR 400 (USD 427) with a discount of EUR 50 (USD 53) available for members of ALFI, LuxFLAG, e-MFP and GIIN. Additional discounts of EUR 100 (USD 107) and EUR 50 (USD 53) are offered to those registering by March 17 and April 13, respectively.
Summary: This conference will focus on issues including how impact investing supports climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, the role impact investing is playing in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the growth of impact investing in general.
SPECIAL REPORT: Realizing Potential and Minimizing Risk through Client Protection and Developing Financial Capability in Southeast Asia
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diverse set of panelists at this session of the Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum agreed that providing financial education can be expensive and yet often fails to produce measurable outcomes. Jayshree Venkatesan, a financial inclusion consultant, stated that “results from financial literacy campaigns are at best mixed.” Shane Nichols, Program Director for Good Return, said that the rise of randomized controlled trials has helped his organization discover that although “we used to do pre- and post-tests showing people gained knowledge…sustained behavior-change was virtually non-existent.”
Ms. Venkatesan explained that “there are a number of things that limit these efforts. They cost a lot of money. Most of these tend to be
SPECIAL REPORT: Policy and Regulation in the Mekong: Developing Strategic Frameworks for Financial Inclusion
The assembled regulators and trade group leaders offered a litany of current and soon-to-be-released strategies to create a nurturing environment for pro-client financial services. It is critically important to
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: How the Private Sector Can Boost Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa; the Role of Impact Investing in Achieving SDGs in Africa; Documenting Reforms to “Doing Business”
Entreprenante Afrique; by Jean-Michel Severino and Jérémy Hajdenberg; published in French by Odile Jacob; September 2016; 288 pages; available for purchase at: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=_vslDQAAQBAJ&rdid=book-_vslDQAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_buy&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_atb
Jean-Michel Severino and Jérémy Hajdenberg argue that the 5-percent average annual growth rate Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced since 2000 is being driven significantly by the region’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SPECIAL REPORT: Financing the Excluded: Innovations for Last Mile Financing in the Mekong
Organizations serving people at the “bottom of the pyramid” are using solar lighting, doorstep savings services and mobile banking to reach potential customers still untouched by formal financial services. Gaurav Bhandari, Greenlight Planet‘s Senior Global Partnerships Manager for Asia, described his firm’s products, which he reports have prevented 10,000 house fires, increased homeworkers’ productivity by
SPECIAL REPORT: A Preview of European Microfinance Week’s “New Frontiers on SPM: Measuring Client Outcomes”
MicroCapital: What is the value of social performance management (SPM)?
Lucia Spaggiari & Amelia Greenberg: Financial service providers (FSPs) do not achieve their social goals without deliberately managing their social performance. Providing access to financial products and services can have a neutral or even harmful effect when it is not done responsibly. Even the best-intentioned FSPs have been shocked upon seeing their first data about client outreach, satisfaction and exit. Simply put, they were not reaching their target clients; their products were not well adapted to clients’ needs; and they were not achieving their missions.
MC: What social performance outcomes are you measuring?
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Announces $1.1m Senior Loan to Kosovar Microfinance Institution AFK to Reduce Energy Consumption in Homes, Businesses
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle that supports energy-efficiency (EE) initiatives in Eurasia and North Africa, recently announced a senior loan in the amount of EUR 1 million (USD 1.1 million) for Agjencioni për Financim në Kosovë (AFK), a non-banking microfinance institution operating in Kosovo.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MIF, Swiss Government Partner to Launch Social Impact Bond Fund to Improve Urban Employment in Colombia, Repayment to Be Contingent on Successful Client Outcomes
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is partnering with the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Colombian government’s Department for Social Prosperity (DPS) to launch a social impact bond fund aimed at increasing urban employment in Colombia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Funds Managed by C-Quadrat Loan $17m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines
Austria-based C-Quadrat Asset Management recently issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 17 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics, UBS Close $50m SME Finance – Loans for Growth Fund
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment intermediary, and UBS, which is formerly known as the United Bank of Switzerland, recently closed their SME Finance – Loans for Growth Fund with USD 50 million in investments. The fund will provide credit to financial institutions focused on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in “frontier and emerging markets.”
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Role of Impact Investing in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals; Microfinance Investment Vehicle Survey; Lessons from Tanzania’s Digitization Efforts
“Achieving The Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Impact Investing;” published by The Global Impact Investing Network; September 12, 2016; 9 pages; available at https://thegiin.org/knowledge/publication/sdgs-impinv
This report profiles impact investors that have leveraged the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the following purposes: (1) as a framework to communicate their social impact goals; (2) to develop new or realign existing investment strategies and; (3) to attract capital from private investors that are new to impact investing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippines Implementing Microfinance NGOs Act
Philippine officials recently finalized the implementing rules and regulations of the Microfinance NGOs Act, a measure signed into law on November 3, 2015, by then-President Beigno Aquino III that: (1) calls for the establishment of a microenterprise development strategy; (2) creates a microfinance NGO regulatory council that will accredit NGOs that offer financial services to microentrepreneurs and small-business owners.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Symposium on Innovative Financial Inclusion, September 21-22, 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Event Name: Global Symposium on Innovative Financial Inclusion: “Harnessing Innovation for Inclusive Finance”
Event Date: September 21 – September 22, 2016
Event Location: Sasana Kijang, Number 2, Jalan Dato’ Onn, 50480, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippine Government Institutionalizes Steering Committee to Oversee National Strategy for Financial Inclusion
The Philippine government recently issued an executive order institutionalizing a Financial Inclusion Steering Committee (FISC) to oversee implementation of the country’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI), which was launched in July 2015 to “raise awareness, appreciation and understanding of financial inclusion and enable coordination among various stakeholders.”