Mr Ahmed El Bardai, founder and chief executive of the Egyptian for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) Reefy, expects the country’s next government to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost the economy that is facing a huge budget deficit and declining gross domestic product [1].
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MICROFINANCE EVENT: Cloud Computing and Financial Services for The Poor: Promise and Perils of a New Computing Paradigm in Washington DC, USA, and Online, September 16, 2011
Event Name: Cloud Computing and Financial Services for The Poor: Promise and Perils of a New Computing Paradigm
Event Date: September 16, 2011; 9:00 am – 10:30 am EDT
Event Location: QED Group, 1250 Eye Street, NW 11th Floor, Washington DC, USA or online
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tameer Microfinance Bank, AsiaCare Health and Life Insurance Partner to Launch Microinsurance in Pakistan
Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited of Pakistan reportedly is partnering with AsiaCare Health and Life Insurance Company, a Pakistani managed care health insurer, to offer “Tameer Sehat O Sukoon”, a health microinsurance product designed for low-income individuals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP Reports State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Removing Regulatory Barriers to Branchless Banking
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) reports that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central banking authority, recently announced modifications to its branchless banking regulations that include: removal of the requirement to have one’s fingerprint scanned to open an account; increases in transaction limits and the elimination of the maximum balance; and introduction of “Level 0” accounts that can be opened electronically, without physical paperwork.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microsavings and Payments Innovation Initiative (MPII) Offering Research Grants on Savings Products, Payment Channels in Developing Countries
The Microsavings and Payments Innovation Initiative (MPII), a program administered by Yale University of the United States and its nonprofit sub-grantee Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), is accepting expressions of interest for grants to conduct field research on savings and payment innovations and their impact on poverty alleviation.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Microsave Publish Deposit Assessment Reports for Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently commissioned “The South Asia Deposit Assessment” studies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio Loans $5m to Mongolian Microfinance Institution XacBank
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a Belgian fund manager that invests in microfinance, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned USD 5 million from the Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio to XacBank, a community development microfinance institution (MFI) in Mongolia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: After Farmers Reject Bank Cards, China’s Harbin Bank “Cash Caravans” Bring Microfinance to Villagers
Harbin Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, has designed a mobile operation to facilitate access to finance for farmers. A three-vehicle fleet, which consists of an armored jeep accompanied by a police car and a mobile loan station, carries some CNY 10 million (equivalent to USD 1.54 million) in bank notes to rural locations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Expands in Rural Kyrgyzstan as Lending Shifts to Agriculture
Kyrgyzstan’s microcredit sector reportedly has been growing in recent years and extending to outlying regions. The growth of microcredit in rural regions has corresponded to an increase in agricultural business following the June 2010 ethnic riots in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance Reconsidering Business Strategy to Rebuild Reputation
SKS Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) that serves groups of impoverished women in India, is reportedly considering new business growth avenues in an attempt to increase revenue and improve its reputation. Along with collateral-free loans, four new products would be offered: loans using gold as collateral, housing loans, loans to buy mobile phones and loans to local grocery stores in a supply arrangement with the cash-and-carry chain, Metro. “The pilot projects have been yielding very encouraging results,” says Vikram Akula, chairperson and founder of SKS Microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Union Bank of India (UBI) Launching Microfinance Schemes Under “unioninclusions”
Union Bank of India (UBI), a nationalized bank with approximately USD 44 billion in total assets, recently announced the launch of “unioninclusions” in an effort to deepen financial inclusion. Announced in Mumbai by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Finance Minister, the initiative includes the following five schemes: 1) the opening of 11 specialized financial-inclusion branches; 2) biometric card-to-card remittance facility for migrant laborers; 3) mobile van banking to serve unbanked villages in the state of Odisha; 4) publication of a comic book series intended to spread financial literacy among illiterate people in rural areas; 5) funding solar power for Union Adarsh Gram, a program launched by UBI in June 2010 to adopt 101 rural villages across India to offer development and modernization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroInsurance Centre Launches Microinsurance Learning and Knowledge (MILK) Project with $2m Grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The MicroInsurance Centre, a for-profit initiative of the MicroSave technical assistance company, recently announced the launch of the Microinsurance Learning and Knowledge (MILK) Project, supported by a USD 2 million grant from the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank Group Publish “Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills, and Investments” Report
African Development Bank (AfDB), a development finance institution that gives loans and grants to governments and private companies in Africa, and the World Bank Group, a Washington, DC-based group of five institutions with a shared mission to improve living standards for people in the developing world, have jointly published a report titled “Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills, and Investments.”
MEET THE BOSS: Isabelle Levard, Deputy CEO of MicroCred, a member of the PlaNet Finance Group
Isabelle Levard is Deputy CEO of MicroCred, a member of the PlaNet Finance Group.
MicroCapital: Please describe MicroCred.
Isabelle Levard: MicroCred is an investment company founded by PlaNet Finance that creates, builds and manages microfinance institutions.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Developments in the Past Year of Microfinance Regulation Coverage by Microcapital.org
Microfinance regulation has provided rich fodder for reporting over the past twelve months of coverage by Microcapital.org. Nearly twelve months ago, in November 2008, Microcapital.org reported on the World Economic Forum’s Inaugural Summit on the challenges posed by regulatory frameworks as policy makers grappled with the question of how to advance microfinance. Since that time, there have been a number of international agencies as well as developed country governments involved in researching and collaborating on guidelines for the strengthening of microfinance regulation. On the other hand, there have also been doubts about the relevance of regulation to microfinance sector:
NEWS WIRE: United States: In Harvard International Review, Eric Thurman Argues “Africa Needs Microfinance”
Source: Harvard International Review.