MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance and Microenrepreneurship: A Glocal Perspective, October 26-27, 2016, Sonepat, India

Event Name: Microfinance and Microenrepreneurship: A Glocal Perspective

Event Dates: October 26-27, 2016

Event Location: Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyala (BPS Women’s University), Sonepat, India

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Funds Managed by C-Quadrat Loan $17m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India, Kenya, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Including $3m for Education Lending

Austria-based C-Quadrat Asset Management recently issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 17 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, Kenya, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru and Romania.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata, Vijay Kelkar, R.Venkataramanan Announce the Start of New Microfinance Company, Avanti Finance

Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys Limited; Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons; Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of India’s National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; and R. Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, recently announced the launch of Avanti Finance, “a technology enabled financial inclusion vehicle.”

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sa-Dhan Association to Host National Conference, September 14-15, 2016, New Delhi, India

Event Name: Sa-Dhan National Conference 2016: “Financial Inclusion on Path to Sustainable Development Goals”

Event Date: September 14-15, 2016

Event Location: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 110003

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Innovations in Building Financial Capability; BBVA Microfinance Foundation Social Performance Report; Growth, Evolving Trends in Financial Inclusion in India

“A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability”; published by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion; April 2016; 47 pages; available at http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/fi2020/roadmap-to-inclusion/innovations-in-financial-capability

This document describes research aimed at identifying effective interventions for building the financial capability of microfinance customers, specifically as administered by three groups: financial service providers, governments and social service providers.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), MicroSave Launch Financial Education Pilot Program for Self-Help Groups (SHGs)

The Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), a program of the local government’s Rural Development Department, and MicroSave, a financial inclusion consulting firm headquartered in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, recently launched a financial education pilot program in the Bero, Khuntipani and Manoharpur blocks of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDFC Bank Acquires India’s Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance

The Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank, an Indian for-profit private company providing banking and other financial services, recently acquired Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance, a microfinance institution (MFI) headquartered in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, increasing its rural and semi-urban customer base by 1.2 million.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Suryoday Microfinance Raises $15m in Equity as Aavishkaar Goodwell Exits

Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited , a non-banking finance company providing microfinance services in India, recently raised INR 1 billion (USD 15 million) from investors including the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank; ASK Pravi; the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Standard Life Insurance; Arpwood Investment Advisors; Kiran Vyapar, the investment arm of LN Bangur Group; Polaris Banyan Holding and Dr. Aravind Srinivasan [2].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Developing World Markets Closes Debt Investments Totaling $8.3m in Armenia, Colombia, India, Nicaragua

Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based asset manager and investment bank, recently announced that it issued loans in February and March 2016 to four unidentified financial institutions serving microentrepreneurs, including a Colombian bank and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) in Armenia, India and Nicaragua.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Group Issues “Impact” Finance Bonds of $9m for India’s Fusion Microfinance Private Limited, $7.5m to Sri Lanka’s LOMC, $3.5m to India’s Saija

Symbiotics Group, a Switzerland-based for-profit investment intermediary, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued local-currency bonds

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Investing Up To $70m in Debt in India-based Microfinance Institutions Grameen Koota, Janalakshmi Financial Services

The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it will invest up to INR 1.4 billion (USD 20 million) in Grameen Financial Services Private Limited and INR 3.4 billion (USD 50 million) in Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), Bangalore-based microfinance institutions (MFIs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IntelleGrow Raises $20m in Debt, Equity to Fund Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises in India

IntelleGrow Private Limited, an India-based nonbanking financial company specializing in venture debt that was founded by India’s Intellecap Capital Advisory Services, recently announced that it has raised INR 134 billion (approximately USD 20 million) in equity and debt.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Participation for Harmonious Development Workshop, July 15-16, 2016, Fortune Institute of International Business, Delhi, India

Event Name: Participation for Harmonious Development: 1st Annual International Microfinance Research Workshop 2016

Event Dates: July 15-16, 2016

Event Location: Fortune Institute of International Business, Delhi, India

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SKS Microfinance Changes Name to Bharat Financial Inclusion, in Apparent Continuing Reaction to 2010 Microfinance Crisis in Andhra Pradesh

SKS Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) headquartered in Hyderabad, India, recently announced it will change its name to Bharat Financial Inclusion [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Funds Loan $9.6m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Paraguay, Zimbabwe

During April 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management GmbH issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 9.6 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Paraguay and Zimbabwe. USD 2 million of this total was invested in an MFI based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which has 181 service points and provides financial services to clients in rural regions of the country. Financial information on the organization is not available.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fairassets, Owner of Indian On-line Peer-to-Peer Lender Faircent, Sells Equity Stakes to Investors Including JM Financial, Aarin Capital, M&S Partners

JM Financial Limited, a financial services firm based in India, recently announced that it has acquired, through its subsidiary, JM Financial Products Limited, a 9.84-percent equity stake in Fairassets Technologies India Proprietary Limited, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending company.