Mr Joseph Grenny, CEO of Unitus Inc., a US-based international nonprofit organization, recently responded to concerns regarding its announcement that it will be discontinuing its microcredit operations and regarding the use of its proceeds from the initial public offering of SKS Microfinance.
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MICROFINANCE WRAP-UP: Microfinance Synergies and Trade-offs: Social versus Financial Performance Outcomes in 2008, by Adrian Gonzalez, Published by The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX)
By Adrian Gonzalez, published by the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), August 2010, 15 pages, available at http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/MIX%20Data%20Brief%207.pdf.
Adrian Gonzalez, a lead researcher for the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), conducted an econometric analysis to investigate whether there is a tradeoff between social performance (SP) and financial performance (FP) among microfinance institutions (MFIs) that reported data to MIX for the year 2008.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Transparent Pricing Initiative in Colombia on September 1-2, 2010, in Bogota and Medellin, Hosted by Microfinance Transparency
Event Name: Microfinance Transparency’s (MFTransparency’s) Transparent Pricing Initiative in Colombia
Event Date: September 1 and September 2, 2010
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: John Cookson of Big Think Argues Socially Responsible, Profit-Maximizing Microfinance Are Mutually Exclusive; Cites Muhammad Yunus’ Appearance on “The Simpsons” as Proof of Mainstreaming
John Cookson, a writer for an online “forum for connecting people and ideas,” Big Think, recently wrote a blog entry entitled “Microfinance: For Community or for Gain?” which questions the present-day motives of microfinance institutions (MFIs) quoting Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vijay Pratap Singh, Co-founder and CEO of Ekgaon Technologies, Discusses the Future of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
Mr Vijay Pratap Singh, co-founder and CEO of Indian information and communication technology (ICT) provider Ekgaon Technologies, recently was interviewed by microfinance news website, MicrofinanceFocus.com concerning the impact of ICT on microfinance. Mr Singh claims that up to now, new technology has been “reluctantly received” and “half-heartedly implemented” by microfinance institutions (MFIs). Of impediments to progress, he notes that some MFIs have been unwilling to modify operational models to accommodate the new technologies. More importantly, he claims that MFIs are unable to utilize the full potential of ICT because they are unwilling to invest in operational efficiency, specifically in human resources.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Calculates Total Loan Disbursements at $1.08b
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), a development bank in India that promotes the development of microfinance activities in the rural sector, recently reported that it disbursed loans of INR 3,700 crore (equivalent to USD 801 million) to 581 microfinance institutions (MFIs) for the year ending March 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance IPO Experiences Strong Demand, Total Share Offer 13 Times Oversubscribed
When SKS Microfinance launched India’s first initial public offering (IPO) on July 28, 2010, the total share issue received bids for 13.55 times the overall shares on offer, with the institutional share offer oversubscribed by 20.3 times.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Consultant, Adam Sorensen, Questions Unitus’ Decision to Cease Microfinance-Related Activities
Microfinance consultant and Seattle native, Adam Sorensen, recently commented on the closure of the nonprofit organization Unitus, which is based in the US city of Seattle. As MicroCapital reported on July 8, 2010, Unitus has recently announced that it will discontinue its microfinance-related activities and will direct its remaining assets to ‘new early-stage, poverty-focused philanthropic activities.’ Mr Sorensen recently commented in the Seattle Times Newspaper about the closure of Unitus’ offices. He argues that Unitus represented a different kind of nonprofit in the microfinance industry, one that advocated for commercial capital. He notes that in 2009 roughly 50 percent of total funding for the microfinance industry came from donors and investors. Given Unitus’ preference for commercial capital, Mr Sorensen asserts that it “promised better results by bringing commercial discipline and business practices cultivated by the leading companies that it often recruited [staff] from.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unitus Equity Fund Investment in SKS Microfinance Valued at $60m, Partial Exit Expected This Week
Unitus Equity Fund, a privately-funded microfinance investment fund affiliated with Unitus Inc., a United States-based nonprofit, is reportedly expected to reduce its shareholdings in SKS Microfinance this week by selling approximately 1 million shares during SKS Microfinance’s initial public offering (IPO), which has been covered by MicroCapital several times since March 29, 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases French Edition of 2009 Arab Microfinance Report
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) in partnership with Sanabel, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Arab microfinance, and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently released the French edition of its 2009 Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ThoughtWorks to Provide Software Services in Support of The Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Microfinance Technology Platform
ThoughtWorks, a global technology company based in the US state of Illinois, has announced that it will provide software engineering services for The Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Platform, a software platform launched in 2006.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “Brazil Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report” in Portuguese
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, has recently released the Portuguese version of its most recent report on microfinance in Brazil, entitled “The 2009 Brazil Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Monica Brand of ACCION International’s Frontier Investments Group Discusses Emerging Sectors in Microfinance Investment
In a recent interview, Frontier Investments Group Managing Director Monica Brand discusses the sub-sectors within the microfinance investment industry in which Frontier Investments seeks to invest.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vineet Sukumar of the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Capital Defends Microfinance Securitization
Vineet Sukumar of the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Capital has recently written a counter-argument to an article written by Daniel Rozas and Vinod Kothari and published by Microfinance Focus which argued that “microfinance securitization does not, in reality, separate ‘pool risk’ from ‘originator risk’ and hence should not be rated very differently from the originator of the portfolio.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases, “Microfinance Funders Profiles – A Short Guide for Young and Small Institutions Still Looking for a Match,” by Adrian Gonzalez
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Lead Researcher, Mr Adrian Gonzalez, recently authored a report published by MIX discussing the funding sources for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the lowest quartile in terms of size, age, profitability and portfolio quality.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Announces 300 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) So Far Registered to Submit Performance Record to “Second Annual Social Performance Reporting Awards” in 2011
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) recently announced that approximately 300 microfinance institutions (MFIs) plan to submit their performance record to the “Second Annual Social Performance Reporting Awards,” an event to take place in 2011 that is being put together by CGAP, the Ford Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) to promote transparency of MFIs and display their achievements.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press Releases “The Economics of Microfinance,” Second Edition, By Beatriz Armendriz and Jonathan Morduch
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press has released the second edition of “The Economics of Microfinance,” by Beatriz Armendriz and Jonathan Morduch. The first edition, published in 2007, provided an overview of microfinance by addressing a range of issues, including lessons from informal markets, savings and insurance, the role of women, the place of subsidies, impact measurement and management incentives. It endeavored to integrated theory with empirical data, citing studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America and introducing ideas about asymmetric information, principal-agent theory and household decision-making in the context of microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citigroup Considering Opening Shariah-Compliant Banks in Pakistan
Citigroup is considering opening Shariah-compliant banks in the Pakistan market to serve the Muslim population whose beliefs prohibit paying interest on loans.