Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, has reportedly announced that Grameen America, a nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) based in the US state of New York City, will open additional branches in California, Michigan and Nebraska.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Transactions International of Zambia Receives $3.2m Equity Investment from Omidyar Network, ACCION
Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm, and ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs), have invested USD 3.2 million in equity in Mobile Transactions International, a Zambia-based mobile financial services company, to expand financial access to poor and underserved populations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UK’s CDC Group Invests $10m in Progression Eastern African Microfinance Equity Fund (PEAMEF)
The CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development, has announced that it has invested USD 10 million in the Progression Eastern African Microfinance Equity Fund (PEAMEF), which will support microfinance institutions in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance Completes Securitization Deals Totaling $122m
SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS), a non-banking finance company (NBFC) regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reportedly has raised INR 354 crore (USD 72 million) from an undisclosed public-sector bank and INR 243 crore (USD 49.6 million) from an undisclosed source.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FirstBank of Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, GLO Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria to Partner On Mobile Money
FirstBank of Nigeria PLC (FirstBank), a financial service provider in Nigeria, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel Nigeria), Globacom Limited Nigeria (GLO) and Etisalat Nigeria, three mobile phone service providers, to work together in an effort to provide secure, affordable and user-friendly mobile financial services in Nigeria.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: The Debate on Outreach & Impact: What do We Know and How do We Know It, by David S. Gibbons, Published by Global Microcredit Summit
By David S. Gibbons, Commissioned Workshop Paper, 2011 Global Microcredit Summit, June 2011, 16 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.1.13634?cid=PSD_MFGatewayBulletinEN_W_EXT
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Suffers $85m Loss as Norway’s Government Pension Fund – Global Buys 1% Stake
During the quarter that ended on December 31, 2011, Indian commercial microfinance institution SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS) suffered net losses of INR 4.28 billion (USD 85.3 million), 11 percent higher than net losses in the previous quarter.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Nairobi, Kenya, March 7-8, 2012
Event Name: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) 2012
Event Date: March 7 – March 8, 2012
Event Location: Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi, Kenya
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel Launches Mobile Money Platform in Uganda
The Ugandan arm of India’s Airtel launched its mobile money platform on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, allowing its customers to use e-money to pay bills, pay for mobile credit, and receive money via mobile network.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lok Capital Closes Venture Fund, Lok II, at $65m
Lok Capital LLC, an India-based microfinance investment firm, has closed its second venture capital fund, Lok II, at USD 65 million.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011
By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36453519.
This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011. The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Poverty Scorecard for Afghanistan, Implementing Microfinance Information Systems, Improving Client Value from Microinsurance
“A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Afghanistan” by Mark Schreiner; published by Microfinance Risk Management LLC; January 2012; 117 pages; available at http://www.microfinance.com/#Afghanistan
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 84% of New Cellphone Users in Kenya Signing Up for Mobile Money Transfer
Mobile payments in Kenya reportedly are out-pacing debit and credit cards, as 83.9 percent of customers who signed up for mobile phone services between July and September 2011 also signed up for money transfer services.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Role Reversal Revisited, Microinsurance Profitability Business Case, Trends in Cross-Border Funding
“Role Reversal Revisited,” by Damian von Stauffenberg and Daniel Rozas, published by MicroRate, 2011, 22 pages, available at http://microrate.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Role-Reversal-Revisited-…
This paper reviews the roles of development finance institutions (DFIs) and private lenders in funding microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ICRA Raises Rating for Arohan Financial Services Pass Through Certificates For $1.4m Securitization of Microfinance Loans
ICRA, an Indian investment information and credit rating agency, has conditionally raised the rating of a pool of pass through certificates (PTCs) for loans provided by Arohan Financial Services Private Limited, an India-based microfinance institution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Crowdfunding Platforms Including Peer-to-Peer Model Lead to Increased Reach, Reduced Transaction Costs in Microfinance
Crowdfunding platforms, intermediary services that act as an interface between “the public” and the “crowdfunded” project, can offer increased audience size, reduced transaction costs and decreased “legislative complexities,” reportedly says Daniela Castrataro, co-founder of UK-based social media consulting agency “twintangibles” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Development Seed, Key2Flex Offer Geospatial Technology Services to Analyze Availability of Financial Services in Developing Countries
Geospatial mapping is being used to show the geographic distribution of banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) and banking agents in relation to low-income and other population groups, thus giving an indication of the accessibility of financial services to those groups.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Switzerland’s Azure Partners Launches Azure Global Microfinance Fund
Azure Partners, a Swiss company specializing in “socially responsible investments,” has launched Azure Global Microfinance Fund, a microfinance-focused “fund of funds” that will accept investments from both private and institutional investors [1].