During
today’s opening sessions of European Microfinance Week, e-MFP’s Investor Action Group met to discuss social performance measurement within microfinance institutions (MFIs). Calum Scott of US-based NGO Opportunity International described his organization’s efforts to work with MFIs to measure client outcomes. He specified that Opportunity generally does not seek to measure client impact, as that has proven too resource-intensive for its purposes. However, he argued that, “The pandemic doesn’t make outcomes data less important. If anything it makes it more important to know if and how your products are helping clients.” Of Opportunity’s partners, 95 percent use
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SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Launches with Arguments for Client Protection, Community Approaches, Savings vs Credit, Biscuits vs Guns
European Microfinance Week 2020 launched today with Action Group meetings; opening remarks from Christophe Schiltz of Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs; and a keynote address by Ela Bhatt, the founder of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association.
Mr Schiltz commented on the need for continued emphasis on client protection as the COVID-19 pandemic stresses both financial services providers (FSPs) and households. He also quoted from the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass that the pandemic has created the opportunity to improve the financial inclusion sector in ways “that the gravitational pull of the status quo would never allow in more normal times.”
Ela Bhatt noted that her organization and others were focused on savings back in the 1970s before microcredit became
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Stanbic IBTC of Nigeria to Borrow $75m from CDC Group for On-lending in Sectors with Significant SME Supply Chains
The CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development, recently agreed to lend
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Private Asset Impact Fund Report 2020;” by Basile Quartier, Brendan Mackinnon, Ramkumar Narayanan; Published by Symbiotics
This survey reports on private asset impact funds (PAIFs), which are defined as those that have most “of their non-cash asset [base] allocated both to private debt and/or private equity instruments and to emerging and frontier markets, with a development impact bias.” When referring to impact, Symbiotics focuses on the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hatton National Bank Borrows $60m from PROPARCO for SMEs in Sri Lanka
Hatton National Bank (HNB), a Sri Lanka-based financial institution, recently agreed to borrow USD 60 million from Promotion et Participation pour la Coopération Économique (PROPARCO),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KfW, BMZ Investing $47m in Farmers, Processors in Africa, Latin America via Debt Fund Managed by Incofin: Agri-Finance Liquidity Facility
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is also known by its German acronym BMZ, recently launched the Agri-Finance Liquidity Facility (ALF), a debt facility of EUR 40 million (USD 46.7 million), to support the “sustainable agri-food value chain” in
SPECIAL REPORT: 40+ Reasons to Attend European Microfinance Week Online This Month
MicroCapital: European Microfinance Week 2020 (EMW2020) – like so many events nowadays – is going virtual. How will this change the conference? What will the experience be like for attendees?
Christoph Pausch: EMW2020 remains – like in all years – a member-led conference, with the agenda constructed around what members indicate they find most important each year. So that hasn’t changed at all. But there will be clear differences, of course. There still will be a diverse range of sessions over three days (even more than usual in fact, with close to 50 events on the programme). But going online dictates that we be imaginative and innovative in the format and presentation of those sessions. Attendees will experience a huge range of event types – big plenaries and traditional panel discussions, but also fireside chats, keynotes, case study presentations, working sessions, topic lounges and publication launches, including of
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 17th Annual Global Microfinance Forum; April 22-23, 2021; NOW VIRTUAL
Originally planned to take place in person in Prague, this virtual event is centered on helping actors in the microfinance industry to prosper in the context of future economic and regulatory environments. Session topics include repayment suspensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC Launches $75b “Roadmap for Impact” to Reach 30m in Developing Countries by 2025 with Healthcare, Financial Inclusion, Technology, Energy, Food Security, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed institution, recently announced its first global development strategy, which is called “The Roadmap for Impact.” This Roadmap involves harnessing partnerships valued at a total USD 75 billion “to reach more than 30 million people in developing countries by 2025…[and] support the response to the COVID pandemic.” DFC plans to
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Registration Open for Virtual Conference; November 18-20, 2020
From 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): It has been a difficult few months, and during this time we at e-MFP have engaged with our members and friends to mobilize resources and adapt our activities to best mitigate the effects this pandemic brings to our sector and the vulnerable people we as a community serve.
One of our flagship activities is European Microfinance Week (EMW), held annually in November, and with it in mind we have been closely monitoring the public health situation globally. Now more than ever it’s vital to connect and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFI Juhudi Kilimo of Kenya Upgrades Digital Infrastructure with Technical Assistance from Nordic Microfinance Initiative
The Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a Norway-based public-private partnership that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries, recently worked with Juhudi Kilimo, a for-profit microfinance institution in Kenya, to help it develop a mobile app that gives
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $5m to Husk Power Systems for Renewable Energy Generated from Biofuels, Distributed via Minigrids in Rural India, Tanzania
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private partnership also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan of USD 5 million to Husk Power Systems, an India-based startup that builds small-scale electricity generation and distribution networks in rural areas of India and Tanzania. These minigrids use biofuels
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Easy Microfinance of Myanmar Offering Digital Loan Payments, Agent Services via Ongo
Easy Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, recently began offering two repayment channels powered by Ongo, a digital payment service provider in the country. This allows the MFI’s borrowers to make loan repayments through the Ongo app and at Ongo agent locations. This development comes amid increased demand for
SPECIAL REPORT: Buusaa Gonofaa of Ethiopia, Muktinath Bikas Bank of Nepal, RENACA-Bénin Named Finalists for $118k European Microfinance Award on Savings
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 30th September and 1st October 2020, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2020 (EMA 2020) on “Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings” chose the three finalists who will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 180,000) prize: Buusaa Gonofaa Microfinance, Muktinath Bikas Bank and RENACA-Bénin. These three organisations each offer savings products and services that are demand-driven, encourage usage based on a genuine understanding of clients’ needs and behaviour, reach under-served populations who need these services the most, and ensure that the savings are accessible, affordable and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Mastercard Partner on E-money, Payment Cards, Islamic Fintech, Mentoring, Technology Training for Girls
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), a government-controlled entity, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Mastercard, a US-based payments company, to “facilitate the rollout of Mastercard payments and business technologies” in Malaysia. The goals of the agreement include to:
SPECIAL REPORT: Saving(s) Microfinance in a Pandemic – and Beyond
Back in the distant pre-pandemic memory, e-MFP launched the European Microfinance Award (EMA) 2020 on Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings. While clearly an important topic, with innovations across the sector that are ripe for exposure and commendation, little did we know just how relevant a topic it would turn out to be.
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months later, the sector has suffered – and continues to reel from – challenges on multiple fronts: to clients, financial services providers, investors, support providers and others, all trying to mitigate losses and preserve the important gains made over recent decades.
Among the clearest lessons revealed by this difficult year is that
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Has the Pandemic Spared Cambodia? Liquidity Considerations of Cambodia’s Large MFIs,” by Sanjay Sinha, Published by M-CRIL
The purpose of this paper is “to enable understanding of the finances of [microfinance institutions] in Cambodia and the potential role and expectations of investors in supporting the microfinance ecosystem of the country.” While other sources have sounded alarms
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Swedfund to Loan $12m to SunFunder Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund
Swedfund, the Swedish government’s development finance institution, recently pledged an investment of USD 12 million to the Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which was launched by SunFunder, a Kenya-based financier of solar energy firms in developing countries. SET is a nine-year, USD 70 million debt fund that aims