Grameen-Jameel, a joint venture of the US-based Grameen Foundation and the UK-based Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation, recently announced in its first “partners’ meeting” that it has reached 1.5 million clients through its partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) [1].
Search Results for: yunus
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Worldwide Grants $540k to Grameen Foundation to Launch Mobile Agricultural Data Service in Colombia
MasterCard Worldwide, a Canadian global payments and technology company, recently disbursed USD 540,000 grant to the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation to launch mobile services that will provide agricultural and financial information to farmers in the cities of Urabá and Santa Marta, Colombia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladeshi Government Provides Interest-Free Microfinance Loans to Livestock Farmers
The Bangladeshi government has launched a service providing interest-free loans to benefit livestock and fishery farmers in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haitian Microfinance Institution Fonkoze Using “Progress out of Poverty Index” to Monitor Economic Progress of Clients in Disaster-Affected Areas
A recent study by the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation titled “Rapid Response in the Wake of Disaster: Using the PPI to Design and Support Fonkoze’s Earthquake Recovery Program,” describes how Fonkoze, a Haitian microfinance institution (MFI), is using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), a country-specific poverty assessment tool, in disaster affected areas to monitor and evaluate the progress of its clients [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA) of Philippines to Join Grameen Foundation’s Bankers without Borders Alliance, Organize Volunteer Consultants Working with Microfinance Institutions
Bankers without Borders (BwB) Alliance, a volunteer initiative of the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation, recently announced that Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA), a microfinance consulting and advisory firm in the Philippines, will become the fifth member of the alliance [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Calgary Microcredit Conference 2011, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, October 1, 2011
Event Name: Calgary Microcredit Conference 2011 – “Microcredit and Beyond – The Emerging Wave of Social Business and Social Entrepreneurship”
Event Date: October 1, 2011
Event Location: Danish Canadian Club, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Norwegian Centre for Microfinance Research Hosts “International Conference, Practice Meets Theory,” University of Agder – Kristiansand, Norway, September 2, 2011
Event Name: International Conference, Practice Meets Theory: What is the future of microfinance in the post Yunus era?
Event Date: September 2, 2011
Event Location: University of Agder – Kristiansand, Norway
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Articles From UK’s The Guardian, Nigeria’s Business Daily Online Praise Potential of Mobile Banking, Microfinance Across Africa
According to a recent story published by The Guardian, a British newspaper, the African continent is now home to more than 500 million mobile phones and is experiencing a wave of innovation in the field of mobile banking.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dutch Microfinance Investor Oikocredit Names Sharlene Brown National Director of US Arm
Oikocredit USA, the United States arm of Dutch cooperative investor Oikocredit, announced today that it has named Ms Sharlene Brown as its new national director.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen Fund, Grameen Foundation Make $1.7m Quasi-Equity Investment in Kenyan Microfinance Institution Juhudi Kilimo
The Acumen Fund, a US-based nonprofit venture fund that invests in entrepreneurial approaches to reduce poverty, recently partnered with Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization that works with microfinance institutions (MFIs), to make a quasi-equity investment totaling USD 1.75 million in Juhudi Kilimo Company Limited (Juhudi Kilimo), a Kenyan MFI.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microcredit Summit Campaign 2011, Valladolid, Spain, November 14-17, 2011
Event Name: Global Microcredit Summit 2011
Event Date: November 14 – November 17, 2011
Event Location: Valladolid, Spain
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Prisma is First Fully Certified User of Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has announced that “Asociacion Benefica Prisma”, a Peru-based microfinance institution (MFI), has become the first fully certified user of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Analyzes Profitability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
Data collected by Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the US-based nonprofit data provider, contradicts the idea that the commercialization of microfinance is increasing the vulnerability of low-income households [1] [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman Calls for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to Ensure Transparency
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman has reportedly called upon microfinance institutions (MFIs) to ensure transparency in their lending operations [1]. Dr Rahman, who also serves as the Chairman of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA), Bangladesh’s primary regulator over microfinance activities, reportedly made the following statement at the opening of an MRA-organized training workshop on loan amortization for the personnel of microfinance institutions (MFIs): “The main task of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority is to keep an eye on the interest rate, [and] other charges relevant to loan[s] and services extended by the MFIs. The MFIs must inform the MRA about their operational and administrative costs so that the borrowers are not confused [1].”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Announces Increased Focus on Human Capital Management Practices in India
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has announced that it will increase its efforts to improve human capital management strategies at socially-focused microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India with USD 550,000 in funding from Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of global financial services provider Citigroup; The McGraw-Hill Companies, a US-based owner of rating agency Standard and Poor’s; and The Capital Group, a US-based group of investment management companies [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Summit Campaign Releases State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011, Reports 128m Poor People Received Microfinance Loans in 2009
The Microcredit Summit Campaign, a project that was launched in 1997 by US-based nonprofit advocacy group RESULTS Educational Fund (REF), recently released the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011, a plenary account of the recent trends, challenges and achievements in the microfinance industry, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The report indicated that 128 million poor people received microloans in 2009, more than was recorded in any of the organization’s previous reports. In 1997, 7.6 million were estimated to have received microloans.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Re-engineering Microfinance: Need for New Products & Policies, New Delhi, India, March 15-16, 2011
Event Name: Re-engineering Microfinance: Need for New Products & Policies
Event Date: March 15 & March 16, 2011
Event Location: Hotel Ashok, New Delhi, India
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand’s Ministry of Finance Launches Community Banking Program Based on Microfinance Model of Grameen Bank, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) Sets Aside $321m for Lending, Staff Training
As part of its five-year financial sector development plan, Thailand’s Ministry of Finance along with the Bank of Thailand (BOT), the central banking authority in Thailand, has launched a community banking program that mirrors the model of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The program, which aims to improve access to finance for poor people in rural areas, is set up so that each community bank will be partly owned and run by members of the community, with financial support provided by state-owned banks when required. Personal guarantees offered by other members of the community will serve as collateral for the loans extended.