About:
Belstar Investment and Finance Limited
Description
Belstar Investment and Finance Limited is a non-bank finance company based in Bangalore, India. It is the “microfinance delivery arm” of Hand in Hand, a nongovernmental charitable organization that “aims to reduce poverty through creating jobs in microfinance, education, health, and information.” Hand in Hand acquired Belstar in 2008. Its primary products are loans used for creating microenterprises.
According to The Review, an insurance magazine, the Paris-based reinsurer, SCOR Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in LeapFrog Investments, a microinsurance fund with USD 44 million in equity. A statement issued by SCOR stated, “Our investment in LeapFrog is a demonstration of [our] support of a socially-responsible sector such as microinsurance.” SCOR also said that the “strict investment return criteria applied … to all its investments” was also applicable in this instance. Additionally, SCOR’s CFO, Mr. Paolo de Martin, will be joining LeapFrog’s advisory board.
BASIX Group, which consists of several companies based in India that participate in microfinance and business services to the poor, has begun to provide technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in various African nations such as South Africa, Ethiopia, and Rwanda [1,2]. This comes after BASIX has already provided technical services to MFIs in Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka [1]. MicroCapital reported on Basix’s role as a “technical partner” for a USD 1 million equity investment by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, in the MFI ‘Papua New Guinea (PNG) Microfinance’ [3]. BL Parthasarathy, the Senior Group Vice-President of BASIX, has stated that “To meet the needs of global customers, it is necessary to foray into the least developed countries and emerging [markets]” [1]. He also says that BASIX will begin to “interact with MFIs” in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia this month [1]. In the following three years, BASIX “[hopes] to reach out to over 10 countries” [1].
President Barack Obama has announced that he will nominate Elizabeth Littlefield to become President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ms Littlefield is currently a Director of the World Bank and the CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a multi-donor organization created to help build a the microfinance industry. Ms. Littlefield previously worked with JP Morgan, where she was the Managing Director of the Emerging Markets Capital Markets Division. She has served on the executive board of Women’s World Banking, Profund, Africa International Financial Holding, the Mastercard Foundation, the Calvert Foundation, and E&Co. Littlefield is a graduate of Brown University and also attended Ecole Nationale de Sciences Politiques in Paris.
Overview:
The Bellwether Microfinance Fund is a microfinance investment vehicle, which mobilizes capital for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
The India-based microfinance institution (MFI), Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd, which is part of BASIX, a group of companies that participate in microfinance and other services to the poor, is planning to raise USD 20 to 25 million in equity capital in the next two to three weeks [1,2,3]. This comes after Bhartiya Samruddhi raised USD 9.87 million in equity capital in April of 2009 [1]. This investment was covered by Microcapital and investors included Lok Capital LLC, Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company, and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) [4]. S Ramachandran, Bhartiya Samruddhi’s Chief Financial Officer, has stated that the MFI is “in talks with mainstream [private equity] players” [1]. He has also stated that the MFI may turn to raising debt after this round of equity capital, and may raise even more equity in June [1]. Intellectual Capital Advisory Services (Intellecap), “a social-sector advisory firm” that advised the last round of equity capital for Bhartiya Samruddhi, will advise the coming round as well [1,5].
SKS Microfinance plans to collaborate with three private banks to launch an integrated cash management system (CMS) for 575 of its rural branches. Three hundred of its branches would partner with Axis Bank, 175 branches with ICICI Bank, and 100 branches with HDFC Bank. These branches would “have bank accounts which are integrated to an Internet portal,” said S. Dilli Raj, the chief financial officer of SKS Microfinance, which could enable information on funds and cash availability to be more readily accessible for use in providing financial services.
Name of Organization or Microfinance Investment Vehicle: MicroEnsure
Overview: MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of Opportunity International, was established in 2005 as a microinsurance intermediary.
Description:
MicroEnsure was founded in 2005 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global non-profit microfinance network created in 1974. It was known as the Micro Insurance Agency until 2008. As an insurance intermediary, it provides a range of low-cost products including health, life, property and weather index-based insurance to over 3.5 million poor clients across six countries: Ghana, India, the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. In 2008, MicroEnsure received a USD 24.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help expand its insurance products to the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2009, it won the Financial Times award for Achievement in Basic Needs Financing.
Event Name: Microfinance Investments in Asia: Capturing the Untapped Potential of Asian Markets & International Investors
Event Type: Conference
Event Description: This conference is intended for “central banks, policy makers, commercial banks, asset managers, private and institutional investors, multilateral investors, foundations, and family offices” to come together and gain exposure to opportunities for investments in microfinance in Asia. Attendees will gain such exposure through being presented with case studies and project results, as well as through the networking aspect of the conference. Specific opportunities through sessions are as follows:
Name of Organization or Microfinance Investment Vehicle: LeapFrog Investments
Overview: LeapFrog Investments is a for-profit, private equity fund focused on microinsurance and financial inclusion
Description:
LeapFrog Investments was founded in 2007 by Dr. Andrew Kuper. It is a for-profit, private equity fund aimed at earning large returns by investing in and supporting microinsurance initiatives. LeapFrog has raised USD 44 million from a range of public and private investors, including the European Investment Bank, the Omidyar Network, FMO, Triodos-Doen and Hivos-Triodos, ACCION International, Calvert, and Felipe Medina (a senior Goldman Sachs wealth manager). The LeapFrog team has also committed USD 1 million of their own personal money into the fund. The fund focuses on ventures in Africa and Asia, with initial target countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Pakistand and the Philippines.
Overview:
The ACCION Gateway Fund, LLC invests directly in regulated microfinance institutions or non-profit organizations that are transforming into regulated microfinance institutions.
Event Name: Milagrow World Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Conference 2009
Event Description: The World SME Conference will bring together will bring together SME shareholders from around the world, including Government bodies and SME Associations, to discuss challenges, policies, enhancing competitiveness, innovative financial products, IT solutions, management, marketing, and improvement of quality standards. The theme of the conference is entitled “My Way, My Vision : From Giant Ideas to Giant Corporations.” Workshops and panel discussions will be held with the stated purpose of taking businesses from “Grassroots to Global.”
Event Date/Time: December 16, 2009: 8:30 am – 5:35 pm, December 17, 2009: 8:30 am – 6:50 pm
Dr. Andrew Kuper is President and Founder of LeapFrog, the world’s first microinsurance fund, which he founded in 2007. He was previously a Managing Director of Ashoka, a support organization for social entrepreneurs. He has worked with microfinance institutions Grameen and BRAC, and is the author of two books on globalization. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
Regulators and microfinance institutions (MFIs) have resources available to them in order to implement the supervision of microfinance activities within their purview. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), located at the Worldbank Group, has a reference library which lists supervisory tools geared towards the regulation of microfinance activity. This article will focus on a few examples of the supervisory resources available to regulators and MFIs through the reference library at CGAP. In addition to the examples discussed below, the reference library brings together a wealth of information regarding current practices in microfinance regulation and supervision, how-to guidelines and a discussion of the broader issues affecting microfinance regulation.[3] For additional microfinance resources at CGAP, Microcapital.org has previously reported on other resources available on the CGAP website in an article titled, “WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: The Microfinance Gateway (www.microfinancegateway.org), Provided by World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).”[1]
Source: Microfinance Insights.
The 5th International Microinsurance Conference wrapped up last week in Dakar, Senegal. The conference was organized by the Munich Re Foundation, the charitable arm of Germany-based insurance and reinsurance company Munich RE, and the Microinsurance Network. The Microinsurance Network is a member-based network providing a platform for information sharing and stakeholder coordination. Its central aim is to promote the development and proliferation of insurance products for low-income persons. The conference was held to discuss trends and recent developments in cost-effective insurance for the poor, with particular focus on health microinsurance (HMI) [1].
Event Name: 6th Asian Conference on Healthcare and Health Insurance
Event Date: November 24 – 25, 2009
Event Location: The Orchard Hotel, Singapore
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
Event Name: “Payment in Emerging Countries” as part of CARTES & IDentification 2009
Event Location: Paris, Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition centre – France
Event Description: Conference
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events