PlaNet Finance Group plans to expand its microinsurance schemes throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), following the implementation of a microinsurance program in Egypt with First Microfinance Foundation (FMF) and global insurance company Allianz.
Search Results for: india
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Hyderbad-based Spandana Microfinance Seeks to Raise Rs 300 Crore (USD 63.7 million) by June
According to a press release in The Economic Times of India, Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd. is set to raise Rs. 300 Crore (USD 63.7 million) in equity funding and is currently in talks with over two dozen investors. The deal would raise the company’s valuation to Rs. 1,800 Crore (USD 382.2 million). Spandana intends to use the funds to expand and strengthen its capital adequacy ratio. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its capital adequacy requirements (CRAR) for non-bank financial institutions last August, requiring institutions to meet a 12 percent CRAR by April 2009 and a 15 percent CRAR by April 2010. Spandana’s CRAR stood at 19.5 percent last fiscal year. To read a MicroCapital story on the RBI’s new regulations, click here. Currently Mumbai-based JM Financial holds an 18 percent stake in the microfinance institution, private equity fund Valiant holds 11 percent, Lok Capital has a 5 percent stake and another 15 percent is held by senior employees, with this round of funding their stakes will be diluted.
NEWS WIRE: United States: Poverty Action Lab Study Indicates Microfinance “Comes Up Short”
MICROCAPITAL STORY: State Bank of Pakistan Adds Incentive to Micro Credit Guarantee Facility
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued a new circular that it will provide a 25 percent first loss guarantee for loans under its Micro Credit Guarantee Facility (MCGF) to further encourage commercial banks to provide wholesale funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs). The Facility was introduced last December but was met with an unenthusiastic response by banks despite the SBP’s 40 percent principal guarantee on loans. According to the press release in the Daily Times of Pakistan, only one loan has been granted so far under the MCGF. Banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) now will have the option of choosing either the 40 percent principal guarantee (pari passu), or the 25 percent first loss guarantee. The first loss guarantee will cover gaps in repayment of a loan’s principal, up to 25 percent of the principal value of the loan, whereas the 40 percent principal guarantee will cover 40 percent of the actual loss incurred. In essence the first loss guarantee covers a bank’s smaller losses upfront completely, while the 40 percent principal guarantee would require the bank to share in the losses but covers a larger percentage of loss.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Share Microfin Seeks to Raise USD 50 Million From International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Others
SHARE Microfin, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Hyderabad, India, has announced that it intends to raise USD 50 million in equity funding. According to the press release on VCCircle, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering investing, and the MFI is currently in talks with other investors. If the transaction proceeds it will be one of the biggest Indian microfinance transactions after SKS Microfinance‘s USD 75 million deal in November last year. To read a MicroCapital story about that deal, click here. With the funding, SHARE will expand in states such as Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttranchal, and West Bengal. No other information regarding the deal or potential investors was available at the time of this release.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 3rd Asian Conference on Microinsurance, 22 – 23 July 2009, Beijing, China
Event Name: 3rd Asian Conference on Microinsurance
Event Description: This conference will focus on the opportunities and challenges that microinsurance is facing, not only in China, but across Asia.
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
Cost: Early Bird Special until 26 June 2009 – Subscribers (USD 800); Non Subscribers (USD 980). Normal Rate (after 26 June) – Subscribers (USD 1,280); Non Subscribers (USD 1,480)
MICROCAPITAL STORY: State Bank of Pakistan Directs Shareholders of Microfinance Institutions to Deposit Their Shares in Blocked Accounts of the Central Depository Company of Pakistan
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has recently issued a circular that requires shareholders of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to deposit their holdings in blocked accounts of the Central Depository Company (CDC) of Pakistan. Prior written approval is required before withdrawing the shares from the CDC, and the cost of opening and operating the blocked accounts will be borne by the shareholders.
NEWS WIRE: Eastern Europe: Crisis In Microfinance Sector
Source: Reuters
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Managers Consider Online Funding: Is it Finance, Marketing, or Something Else Entirely? by Deborah Burand
Written by Deborah Burand, published in April 2009 as Focus Note Number 54 by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), 12 pages, full text available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.34243/FN54.pdf
As online platforms change the way we engage with the world, online philanthropy and social investing are changing the nature of how and where people give. In this CGAP Focus Note, Deborah Burand explores the growth of online lending and investment platforms – websites that lend money raised from internet users to microfinance institutions (MFIs) that, in turn, onlend to microentrepreneurs listed on the site – and highlights issues that MFIs may want to consider before signing up for a loan online.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Bringing Finance to Pakistan’s Poor: A Study on Access to Finance for the Underserved and Small Enterprises
Written by Tatiana Nenova, Cecile Thioro Niang and Anjum Ahmad this report by the World Bank, released May 2009, 187 pages, available at: http://go.worldbank.org/0KKMYAT130
This World Bank report measures and describes the current state of formal and informal financial services in Pakistan for underserved populations and enterprises. Currently 14 percent of Pakistanis use savings, credit, insurance, payments and remittance services from the formal financial system. This is compared to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where 48 percent, 32 percent and 59 percent respectively have access to formal financial services. In addition about 36 percent of Pakistanis use moneylenders, committees, family and friends. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which regulates the banking sector, has grown over the past few years yet it has not met demand. Further details about the market and players in Pakistan are found in Chapter 1.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: SKS Microfinance Raises Rs. 75 Crore (USD 15.8 million) Debt and Lists Bonds on Bombay Stock Exchange
Hyderabad-based microfinance institution SKS Microfinance has issued one-year 10 percent bonds, raising Rs. 75 Crore (USD 15.8 million). The bonds, which will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), were placed with Standard Chartered Bank’s Foreign Institutional Investments. Standard Chartered was the sole book runner and lead arranger for the issue. The funds will be used by SKS to extend loans to new and existing borrowers.
NEWS WIRE: Habitat for Humanity Invests $100M in Microfinance Sector
Source: AP Associated Press
PAPER WRAP-UP: Will the Bottom of the Pyramid Hit Bottom? The Effects of the Global Credit Crisis on the Microfinance Sector, by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
By Barbara Magnoni and Olga Jennifer Powers of EA Consultants, published by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), March 2009, microReport number 150, 54 pages, available at:
The produced report by USAID provides an assessment on the impact of the financial crisis on the microfinance sector. The paper provides a framework for assessing the impact of the crisis on the microfinance sector by analyzing the effects on both the liabilities side (access to finance, cost of funding, financial risk) and the asset side (portfolio growth, portfolio risk, portfolio quality) of an MFI’s (Microfinance Institutions) balance sheet in order to determine the extent that MFIs may have been impacted.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Latin America – Caribbean Regional Microcredit Summit, June 8-10, 2009
Latin America – Caribbean Regional Microcredit Summit, June 8-10, 2009, Cartagena, Colombia.
Summary of Event: This is the 13th Microcredit Summit since the first summit held in Washington DC in 1997. The summit will offer the opportunity for microcredit practitioners, advocates, investors, donors, non-government organizations, financial institutions and those committed to the summits’ goals to assess progress, address challenges and discuss strategies for achieving the 2015 goals. Delegates will also come together to share microfinance best practices and network. The conference will be in Spanish and English depending upon the workshop session.
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
Cost: Registrants from Latin America and the Caribbean USD 250; all other registrants USD 300. This excludes 16 percent tax and must be paid in USD. This includes all sessions (seating may be limited), closing dinner and all lunches. This does not include field visits and day-long courses post summit.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: 85 Percent of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and 61 Percent of Microfinance Investors Say MFIs Should Offer More than Financial Services According to Microfinance Insights Survey
A new survey of 150 microfinance institutions and investors conducted by Microfinance Insights, an international print magazine published by Intellecap, shows that 85 percent of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 61 Percent of microfinance investors say MFIs should offer more than financial services. Of the MFIs polled, 79 percent offer “products and services that are consciously seeking to create social impact beyond simple financial inclusion,” including 63 percent that offer community development, 60 percent that seek inclusion of minorities, and 53 percent that offer better employment and labor conditions. Over 83 percent of the MFIs polled said their primary goal was poverty alleviation and 78 percent stated their main objective was women’s empowerment. Complete survey results can be found in the May/Jun 2009 issue of Microfinance Insights which can be purchased at www.microfinanceinsights.com/magazine_index.asp.
CGAP Microfinance Dealbook: April 2009 Transactions
The CGAP Microfinance Dealbook publicizes microfinance capital market transactions in an effort to bring greater transparency to the industry. This information is made freely available as a public service. Parties to microfinance transactions are encouraged to submit their deals to this effort. The following deals were collected for April 2009:
MICROCAPITAL STORY: ACCION International’s CEO Maria Otero To Be United States Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs
The White House has nominated the president and CEO of ACCION International, Ms. Maria Otero, to assume the position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs in the US Department of State. Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet to approve the nomination, Ms. Otero has indicated that she will accept the position should her nomination be successful. Ms. Otero has been profiled in MicroCapital’s Who’s Who in Microfinance series in May 2007. Her position at ACCION International will be filled temporarily by Ms. Catherine Quense, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, while a committee searches for Ms. Oteros successor. Ms. Diana Taylor, Vice Chair of the ACCION Board, comments, “Her nomination as Under Secretary comes as no surprise to those of us who know her and her deep commitment to social and economic justice, and we know that she now has an even more effective platform from which to help build better lives for the world’s citizens.” Ms. Otero was born and raised until the age of 12 in La Paz, Bolivia, whereupon she and her family moved to Washington DC. She holds a BA in Literature from the University of Maryland and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins. She has been with ACCION since 1986 and became CEO in 2000. ACCION International is a microfinance organization founded in 1961 and consisting of 27 partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 20 countries. The position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs was established under Section 161(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995. In total, there are five Under Secretaries of State in the Department of State, headed by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.
CGAP Microfinance Dealbook: March 2009 Transactions
The CGAP Microfinance Dealbook publicizes microfinance capital market transactions in an effort to bring greater transparency to the industry. This information is made freely available as a public service. Parties to microfinance transactions are encouraged to submit their deals to this effort. The following deals were collected for March 2009: