“The Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Excluded and Underserved;” Published by MasterCard; May 2014; 18 pages; available at http://newsroom.mastercard.com/asia-pacific/documents/the-road-to-inclusion-a-look-at-the-financially-excluded-and-underserved
This report, published by US-based financial services corporation MasterCard, seeks to shed light on how people manage with limited financial services in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will enter into an advisory services agreement with Airtel Zambia, a subsidiary of the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel.
Mentors International, a US-based nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) that seeks to help poor people in developing countries become self-sufficient, recently has signed on to use the banking software of Mambu, a Germany-based technology company that offers cloud-based banking solutions.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has committed USD 15 million to EuroMena III, a 7-year closed-end private equity fund that aims to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
Opportunity International (OI), a US-based nonprofit providing microfinance in 22 countries, has selected Mambu, a German firm offering a cloud-based banking platform, to provide banking software for OI’s lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China.
The Acumen Fund, a New York-based nonprofit venture fund, and the Adolf H Lundin Charitable Foundation, a Liechtenstein-based nonprofit organization, have invested an aggregate sum of USD 1.5 million in an unspecified combination of equity and debt in Esoko Networks Limited (Esoko) of Ghana, a technology platform that aims to strengthen the connection between farmers and markets in Africa with the use of mobile phones.
Azerpoçt, Azerbaijan’s government-backed postal service provider, reportedly intends to apply for a license to provide microcredit services from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB), a commercial bank in Tanzania, recently signed an agreement worth USD 75 million to support financing to small businesses in the country, particularly agribusinesses and companies owned by women.
The Global Systems for Mobile Association (GSMA), a London-based association of 1,000 mobile operators and associated companies, recently announced that its mWomen programme has awarded the Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization, its Innovation Fund grant of an undisclosed amount.
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit policy and research center that aims to facilitate the provision of financial access to poor people, is accepting applications for the Branchless Banking Challenge Fund, a contest to encourage development of innovative solutions to challenges faced by the branchless banking market in West Africa.
MasterCard Incorporated, a US-based payments and technology company with operations in 210 countries and territories, reportedly has signed a deal with EcoBank Transnational Incorporated, a Togo-based bank with operations in 20 African countries, to provide MasterCard payments cards to EcoBank’s customers in 23 countries in Africa.
At today’s session on gender at European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg, panelists eschewed the idea that lenders have a moral obligation to serve a greater proportion of women. Instead, Anne-Marie Chidzero of South Africa and Anna Gincherman of the US-based Women’s World Banking (WWB) network both argued strenuously that lenders are leaving money on the table by failing to reach out to women.
Micro Pension Foundation, an Indian nonprofit that helps low-income households gain access to microsavings products, and Visa Incorporated, a US-based payments technology company, reportedly are partnering to establish the “Micro Pension Financial Inclusion Lab” [1].
LeapFrog Investments, a Mauritius-based investor in financial services for poor people in emerging markets, has raised USD 204 million for its second equity fund.
Blue Label Telecoms Limited (Blue Label), a South Africa-based distributor of financial transaction services, and MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, are partnering to provide 22,000 small traders and rural shop owners in South Africa with point-of-sale (POS) devices that will allow businesses currently operating on a cash-only basis to accept card payments [2]. Blue Label set up POS terminals throughout South Africa, but the partnership with MasterCard will allow the distributor to reach more small- and medium-sized retailers and service providers.
The Tanzania Postal Bank (TPB), a Tanzania-based financial services organization, recently partnered with the World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI), a Switzerland-based international banking association, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a US-based nonprofit organization, to launch a new mobile banking service called “TPB Popote” that aims to increase the financial inclusion of low-income people in rural regions of Tanzania.
By Harvey Koh, Ashish Karamchandani and Robert Katz; published by Monitor Group and the Acumen Fund; April 2012; 68 pages; available at: http://www.mim.monitor.com/downloads/Blueprint_To_Scale/From%20Blueprint%20to%20Scale%20-%20Case%20for%20Philanthropy%20in%20Impact%20Investing_Full%20report.pdf
Old Mutual Group (OM), a South Africa- and UK-based insurance and banking institution, reportedly has purchased a majority stake in Kenya’s Faulu Company, a deposit-taking microfinance company founded in 1992.