by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Microfinance Insights Publishes Webcast of Vodafone, FINO, IIT, BASIX Leaders on Microfinance Regulation, Mobile Banking, Technology & Financial Inclusion

Through August 3, a webcast is freely available of the July 3 Microfinance Insights panel titled: “Technology and Financial Inclusion: What Works? A Discussion about Microfinance, Regulation, M-banking, Technology & Financial Inclusion.” Speakers include:

– Vijay Mahajan, Founder, BASIX

– Rajesh Dongre, Head, Mobile Business Commerce, Vodafone India

– Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai

– Manish Khera, CEO, Financial Information Network & Operations (FINO)

The panel event was sponsored by FINO, a provider of technologies such as smart cards and biometric devices to financial institutions.

by Anthony Busch -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI) and the Università Degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo) in Italy, with Support from the Rural Finance Program (RFP) at The Ohio State University (OSU), to Hold Conference on the Future of Rural Finance

Boulder-Bergamo Forum on Access to Financial Services: Expanding the Rural Frontier

September 18-20, 2008, University of Bergamo, Italy

The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI), a nonprofit organization which grew out of microfinance training programs initiated in 1995, and the Università Degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo), an institution outside of Milan, Italy that offers a one-year Master on Microfinance program, will jointly host “Boulder-Bergamo Forum on Access to Financial Services: Expanding the Rural Frontier,” a conference focusing on rural financial services meant to gather researchers, government leaders, managers of financial institutions, and representatives of international organizations for dialogue on the future of the sector. The Rural Finance Program (RFP) at The Ohio State University’s (OSU) Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE) will support the conference.

by Sarah Knapp -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: CGAP and the Munich Re Foundation’s Fourth International Microinsurance Conference Will be Held in Cartegana Colombia to Discuss Current Challenges and Practical Innovations in Microinsurance

MICROINSURANCE CONFERENCE 2008

NOVEMBER 5-7 2008, CENTRO DE CONVENCIONES Y EXPOSICIONES IN CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

The Microinsurance Conference 2008 will facilitate panel discussions, working groups and plenary sessions to explore the limits and opportunities of the microinsurance sector. It will focus specifically on technology, innovation, capacity building and regulation, exploring areas such as agriculture, health and risk management. Sessions will be based on practical experiences and global examples from places such as Pakistan, South Africa and Peru. The conference will be conducted in English. Spanish translation will be available.

by Anthony Busch -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom to Offer a Five-day Training Program Entitled “Integrating Microfinance in Development” at the University of Sussex

Integrating Microfinance in Development

September 1-5, 2008, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI), a nonprofit organization which grew out of microfinance training programs initiated in 1995, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), a research organization connected with the University of Sussex, will jointly host “Integrating Microfinance in Development,” a training program designed to educate practitioners involved in a wide range of development fields on the principles of a sustainable microfinance program and how to incorporate it in their operations.

by Ryan Benson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus Launches $56m Microfinance Fund; Key Stakeholders Include Legatum, Omidyar Network

Seattle-based Unitus Equity Fund has raised USD 56 million that it plans to invest solely in commercial microfinance institutions throughout the world. Key stakeholders in the private equity fund include Legatum Group and Omidyar Network, each investing USD 20 million. The remaining USD 16 million was provided by an undisclosed source. Omidyar’s investment in the fund comes in the wake of an April 2008  MicroCapital report that Omidyar awarded a USD 9 million grant to Unitus, a nonprofit that is affiliated with the private equity fund. Omidyar’s grant supported Unitus’ three year expansion plan.

by the MicroCapital Team -

PIONEERS IN MICROFINANCE: Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, Founder and President of ASA of Bangladesh

Shafiqual Haque Choudhury is Founder and President of microfinance institution ASA of Bangladesh.

MicroCapital: What in your background or upbringing do you think steered you towards your work in social finance?

Shafiqual Haque Choudhury: During my student life, I was exposed to Marx, Lenin and Mao, who tell us to think of the poor. After completing my master’s degree, I joined the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development, which was geared toward helping the middle-class farmer produce more rice with high-yield varieties, irrigation, etc. At that time, it struck me that for the very poor who didn’t have any land, there was nothing. Then I joined an NGO called Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh. There I found again that nobody was actually working for the landless.

by Anthony Busch -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Mr. William “Bill” Drayton of Virginia-based Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

William “Bill” Drayton is the CEO of Ashoka and in 1980 founded the nonprofit—or “citizen organization” as the institution prefers to refer to itself—with the aspiration of supporting “social entrepreneurs” in the world; a term used by Ashoka to describe the growing number of engaged citizens who are tackling global problems with innovative, system-wide solutions, profitable and not. Ashoka’s main avenue for affecting change in the world is through its Ashoka Fellows program which identifies social entrepreneurs worldwide and provides a powerful network of assistance, mentorship, and finances to enable the fellows to truly be “changemakers.”

by Anthony Busch -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Mr. Shafiqual Haque Choudhury of the Association for Social Advancement (ASA) in Bangladesh

Shafiqual Haque Choudhury is the founder and President of the Association for Social Advancement (ASA), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dhaka, Bangladesh serving over 5.5 million borrowers and reporting a loan portfolio of BDT 32.4 billion, or USD 482.5 million, in April 2008. Additionally, he recently served as an Advisor to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh (December 2006 through 2007) with responsibility for the Ministry of Agriculture, Youth & Sports, and Cultural Affairs.

by Stephen Son -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: TIME Magazine: Commercial Banks Could Create Trouble for Microfinance

In its June 5 issue, TIME magazine wonders whether the recent rush of big-name financial institutions to microfinance creates new pressures that unavoidably conflict with the mission of alleviating poverty.

The entry of banks such as Citigroup or Spanish giant BBVA into the microfinance arena has undoubtedly wrought some positive changes. Competition has spurred more industry development, driven down interest rates, and expanded the offerings of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to include new products, such as savings accounts, mortgages, and insurance.

by Melissa Duscha -

PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Insights: Human Resource Challenges and Solutions in Microfinance: Survey Report

This report is based on an online survey entitled “Human Resources Challenges and Solutions” conducted from February through March 2008 by Microfinance Insights magazine, a quarterly publication produced by Intellecap, an India-based program development and service provider for microfinance institutions. The Report was published in April 2008 as a 19-page document available here.

Microfinance Insights magazine ran an online survey on Human Resources Challenges and Solutions from February through March 2008. 90 respondents from 31 countries participated in the survey. The majority of the respondents (71 percent) were from microfinance institutions including rural banks, large financial firms, and microcredit-focused NGOs. The remaining respondents were from microfinance-focused consulting firms.

by Ryan Benson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bangladesh-based ASA to Allocate Funds from Historic $150m Equity Deal Toward Microlending Outside Bangladesh

ASA International, a holding company managed and partially owned by ASA, one of Bangladesh’s largest NGOs, has announced it will use USD $150 million of equity raised from foreign investors to expand commercial lending outside Bangladesh.