The Nigerian Chapter of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Federation of Business Women Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) has been launched with the objective of promoting and facilitating trade by women-owned enterprises in the sub-Saharan region.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ING Bank: Global Microfinance Market Expected to Grow 4% to Reach $81b in 2012
According to a March 2012 report, “A Billion to Gain: Dutch Contributions to the Microfinance Sector”, by the economic desk of Dutch ING Bank, the global microfinance market is expected to grow by four percent in 2012 reaching a total equivalent to USD 80.5 billion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana Shea Value Chain Initiative Employs 3,500 Women; Aims to Reach 5,000, Build Processing Factory
PlaNet Finance, a nongovernmental organization based in France, recently announced that its shea butter project in northern Ghana has employed 3,500 women to date and is expected to employ 1,500 more in the next year [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Literacy Sessions Promote Savings in Fiji
Lavenia Baro, manager of the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) Microfinance Unit, reportedly has stated that a recent financial literacy session focusing on small businesses “will help participants manage their weekly cash flow.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Australia Funds Financial Education Curriculum Development Project (FinED) to Serve Fiji’s Primary and Secondary Schools
In 2012, the Financial Education in the Curriculum Development Project in Fiji (FinED Fiji) will be piloted at twelve local primary schools.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Sustainable Investment Forum’s (EUROSIF’s) European SRI Transparency Code Attracts 350 Signatories
The European SRI Transparency Code, a document outlining guidelines for maintaining the transparency of socially responsible investing (SRI), has attracted approximately 350 signatories.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Uzbekistan Raises Minimum Capital Requirements for Microcredit Organizations
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan, the country’s central banking authority, has increased the minimum amount of charter capital required of microcredit organizations (MCOs) to the local currency equivalent of USD 129,000 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa (PAMIGA) Collaborates with MicroLead Program to Open Office in Ethiopia, Support Microsavings Services of Buusaa Gonofaa, Wasasa
The Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa (PAMIGA), a Paris-based microfinance network, has opened an office in Ethiopia with the support of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) MicroLead Program, which aims to promote microsavings.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Hosts Virtual Conference “Understanding Multiple Borrowing and Avoiding Over-indebtedness Among Clients,” January 12 and 13, 2012
Event Name: Understanding Multiple Borrowing and Avoiding Over-indebtedness Among Clients
Event Date: January 12 – 13, 2012
Event Location: Online
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 34 Microfinance Institutions Now Operating Under Uzbekistan Microcredit Law
As of October, 34 microfinance institutions (MFIs) reportedly operate in Uzbekistan under the country’s law “On Microcredit Institutions” with microloans to individuals amounting to UZS 22.5 billion (USD 12.6 million) and microloans to organizations amounting to UZS 2.8 billion (USD 1.6 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroSave Launches Capital Structuring and Equity Valuation Toolkit for Microfinance
MicroSave, an India-based technical assistance, training and resource center for microfinance practitioners, has launched its Capital Structuring and Equity Valuation Toolkit for microfinance professionals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinsurance Innovation Facility (MIF) Accepting Applications for Africa-Based Fellowships Until November 30, 2011
Four microinsurance fellowship positions based in Africa have been made available through the Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jeffrey Sachs: Use of Mobile Phone Services by 30% of Africans Will Lead to Poverty Reduction
Jeffrey Sachs, director of the United Nations Millennium Villages Project, was recently interviewed by the US-based CNN news provider regarding the rise of mobile phone ownership in impoverished areas throughout Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Co-operative Bank of UK Launches “Global Development Co-operative” Initiative to Finance Coops in Developing Countries in Runup to 2012, UN International Year of Cooperatives
The Co-operative Bank, a unit of UK-based consumer cooperative The Co-operative Group, has launched an initiative named Global Development Co-operative (GDC) to provide finance to cooperatives in developing countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Digicel Pacific Launches Remittance Service Connecting New Zealand with Tonga, Fiji, Samoa
Digicel Pacific Limited, a unit of Jamaica-based mobile phone network operator Digicel Group Limited, recently launched an international remittance service called Digicel Mobile Money to allow people living in New Zealand to send money to any Digicel mobile phone in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Second Annual Microinsurance Conference from the Institute for International Research (IIR), Johannesburg, South Africa, February 20 – 22, 2012
Event Name: Second Annual Microinsurance Conference: Strategies for exploiting the potential of insurance offerings to low-income consumers in Africa
Event Date: February 20 – February 22, 2012
Event Location: The Hyatt Regency, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroLoan Foundation Launches Solar Power Pilot Project in Malawi to Serve Women in Microfinance Groups
MicroLoan Foundation, UK-based nonprofit that works to promote entrepreneurship among women in sub-Saharan Africa, has launched a pilot project in Malawi’s rural Kasungu region that is designed to provide women entrepreneurs with an opportunity to tackle the problem of an unreliable electricity supply [1].
FROM NEXT BILLION: David Satterthwaite on “This World Food Day, Making it Africa’s Last Famine”
The author, David Satterthwaite, is Oxfam America’s head of micro-insurance and risk management and founder of MicroCapital.org. Despite the current severe drought in East Africa and resultant famine in Somalia, northern Ethiopia has thus far escaped this year’s drought. The region has, however, been devastated by lack of rainfall in the past and Satterthwaite’s program was designed to help local farmers overcome periods of severe drought. His work is featured in a World Food Day half-hour documentary special report from ViewChange and Oxfam: “ViewChange: Africa’s Last Famine,” which is available at the end of this post.
I woke up that day in Addis Ababa. It was a morning that I’ve come to think of as typical there: it was sunny, the air was cool with the smell of wood smoke, and slow-moving donkeys shared the city streets with blue taxis. I had been on the job at Oxfam for about a month. A group of us – a number of my Ethiopian colleagues and I – were scheduled to meet with the CEO of Nyala Insurance to discuss a contract to provide weather insurance to farmers in northern Ethiopia.