The MIX Market has released an analysis of Russian microfinance data entitled “Russia Microfinance Trend Report 2008-2009,” which states that the peak of the crisis in the Russian microfinance sector occurred at the end of 2008 and in early 2009.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) and Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) Commit Total of $11.6m to Goodwell West Africa to be Invested in Microfinance Sector in Ghana and Nigeria
Goodwell West Africa, a branch of Goodwell Investments, a business development company based in the Netherlands, has received commitments of EUR 8 million (USD 9.7 million) from KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a German development bank, and EUR 1.6 million (USD 1.9 million) from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a strategic partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that invests in and provides support for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. The funds will be invested in established MFIs as well as emerging MFIs in Ghana and Nigeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Announce Winners of 2010 Sustainable Banking Awards – Recipients Include Co-operative Financial Services, Itau Unibanco, One Acre Fund, Financial Information Network and Operations (FINO) and Global Environment Fund
The Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the winners of the 2010 Sustainable Banking Awards. Co-operative Financial Services, a British financial group with GBP 1.1 billion (USD 1.6 billion) in total revenue in 2009, was named as the Sustainable Bank of the Year, while Itau Unibanco, a publicly quoted bank in Brazil with USD 356.3 billion in total assets in 2009, was named the Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The European Investment Bank, The International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Entwicklungsbank, The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Incofin Investment Management Launch Rural Impulse II, a Rural Microfinance Fund
The European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Entwicklungsbank, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) have joined together to launch Rural Impulse II, a rural microfinance fund and successor to Rural Impulse Fund I. Several unnamed private banks and investors will also participate. The fund is an initiative of Incofin Investment Management, which has USD 36.2 million in under management and will act as fund advisor. The goal of the fund is to improve access to finance for poor rural communities around the world.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: MicroSave and Financial Access Initiative (FAI) to Hold Two Day Virtual Conference “Reimagining Microfinance Around the World: Implementing Lessons from ‘Portfolio of the Poor'” June 8-9, 2010
Event Name: Reimagining Microfinance Around the World: Implementing Lessons from ‘Portfolios of the Poor’
Event Date: June 8 to June 9, 2010
Event Location: Online
Event Website: http://www.microsave.org/static/content/VC-on-portfolios-of-the-poor
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PlaNet Finance China Reports One Third of Chinese Have No Access to Financial Services
A report released by PlaNet Finance China, a nonprofit acting to promote development of the microfinance sector, suggests that one third of China’s people have no access to financial services [1]. According to population data from the CIA World Factbook, this would total roughly 446 million people, a segment greater than the total population of all but one other nation, India [2].
SPECIAL REPORT: Interview with Dirk Reinhard, Vice Chairman of the Munich Re Foundation and Member of the Executive Committee of the Microinsurance Network
Thank you to the Microinsurance Network for permission to reprint its recent interview with Dirk Reinhard, instigator of the International Microinsurance Conferences:
In light of the upcoming 6th International Microinsurance Conference taking place between 9-11 November in Manila, Philippines, Dirk Reinhard, Vice Chairman of the Munich Re Foundation and member of the Executive Committee of the Microinsurance Network, answers a few questions regarding the past, present and future of this pioneering conference.
Microinsurance Network: How did the first International Microinsurance Conference come about in Munich? What were the aims of this conference and who were behind it?
Dirk Reinhard: Munich Re – which founded the Munich Re Foundation in April 2005 – concerns itself with the great challenges facing the world today – population growth, globalisation, diminishing resources, environmental pollution and climate change.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Andhra Pradesh Government to File Criminal Cases Against Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Using Coercion
The government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh recently announced it would file criminal cases against any microfinance institution (MFIs) found to have used coercion to recover loans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Seeks Nominations for Social Performance Reporting Awards 2010
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) is seeking nominations for the Social Performance Reporting Awards, established in 2009 by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), the Ford Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), a group aimed at defining social performance for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases 2009 Brazilian Microfinance Report
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released the 2009 benchmarking report on the microfinance sector in Brazil, available in Spanish.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Business Daily Africa Article Claims Kenyan Insurance Companies are Looking to Microinsurance to Boost Profits
A recent article in the Nairobi-based Business Daily Africa newspaper stated that insurance companies in Kenya are increasingly looking towards microinsurance ventures to boost their profits.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Current and Former CEOs of ACCION International Discuss Role of Microfinance and Capital Markets in Fighting Poverty
In response to the upcoming IPO (initial public offering) of SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) with more than 3.5 million borrowers, Mr Michael Schlein, President and CEO of ACCION International, and Mr Michael Chu, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and former CEO of ACCION, discuss the role of microfinance and the capital markets in fighting poverty in a Forbes magazine article.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases 2009 Benchmarking Report on Africa
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released the 2009 benchmarking report on microfinance in Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Investments Microinsurance Fund Raises Additional $25m in Commitments from New Investors Including J.P. Morgan and TIAA-CREF
LeapFrog Investments, an international for-profit microinsurance fund, recently announced its final close raising USD 25 million for a total fund size of USD 137 million for investments in Africa and Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases 2009 Benchmarking Report on Eastern Europe and Central Asia in Russian
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released the 2009 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report in Russian.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Winners of CGAP’s (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor’s) 2009 Microfinance Photography Contest Announced
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center, recently announced the winners of its 2009 Microfinance Photography Contest.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroSave Releases Podcast on the 2007 Initial Public Offering of Mexican Microfinance Lender Compartamos
MicroSave, a technical assistance, training and technical resource center for microfinance organizations, has released a podcast discussing issues surrounding the controversially lucrative 2007, USD 458 million initial public offering of the Mexican microfinance bank, Compartamos.
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.