by Emilia Akonom -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011

By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36453519.

This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011. The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU, UN Urge African Governments to Reach Out to Marginalized Women in Rural Areas with Microfinance, Securing of Property Rights

At a recent meeting in Rwanda on gender-responsive budgeting held in conjunction with the European Union and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), African governments were urged to reach women in rural areas through microfinance schemes and otherwise involving women in financial services.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Development Bank (AfDB) Loan Guarantee Scheme Provides Loans to Women Whose Businesses are Too Big for Microfinance

The lack of access to finance for women entrepreneurs in Africa was a theme of the recent annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) held in Lisbon, Portugal. A report presented at the AfDB meeting showed that women entrepreneurs face a number of hurdles that make it difficult for them to obtain financing, while a study by AfDB estimated that the USD 19 billion-demand for finance from women entrepreneurs reflects an opportunity for finance institutions as well as for job creation. 

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Capital Express Assurance Purchases Majority Shareholding in Kenya’s Capex Life Insurance, Which Plans to Downsize to Focus on Microfinance

Capital Express Assurance, a Nigeria-based life insurance company, has purchased a majority shareholding in Capex Life Assurance, a Kenya-based life insurance company formerly known as Trinity Life Assurance. Capital Express Assurance purchased a 65 percent stake in Capex Life Assurance for USD 975,000 [1]. The remaining 35 percent stake was purchased by a group of individual Kenyan investors led by current Capex Life Assurance general manager, James Macharia [1].

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Vision Tanzania, MicroEnsure Partner to Launch Agricultural Microfinance Loans Bundled with Weather Index Insurance

World Vision Tanzania, a branch of US-based, Christian relief organization World Vision, in partnership with MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, has launched a pilot scheme to provide small-scale farmers in Tanzania with agricultural loans bundled with weather index insurance.

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure, PharmAccess Foundation Launch Health Microinsurance for Coffee Growers in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, and PharmAccess Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit that seeks to strengthen health systems in sub-Saharan Africa, have partnered to launch a health plan serving members of the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), a group of coffee growers in the Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania.

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Updates Pricing Data for Cambodia’s Microfinance Industry

MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that provides information on credit products and pricing, has published updated pricing data for Cambodia. The updated data builds on the original data published in 2009 as part of its collection of international microloan product pricing data.

by Alex Pattee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency, Rural Bankers Association, Microfinance Council of the Philippines to Launch Transparent Pricing Initiative

MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing, is expanding its Transparent Pricing Initiative to the Philippines in partnership with Microfinance Council of the Philippines, a trade association of microfinance organizations in the Philippines, and Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), a Philippines-based organization founded in 1955 to promote the rural banking industry [1].

by John Howard-Smith -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency, Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Partner to Host West African Transparent Pricing Workshop in Senegal, March 3, 2011

MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing, and Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in Luxembourg in 2008, recently announced that the two outfits have partnered to host the West African Transparent Pricing Workshop on March 3, 2011, in Dakar, Senegal. The event will bring together representatives of microfinance institutions (MFIs), microfinance networks, government officials and financial regulators for a one-day training workshop to promote pricing transparency standards followed by a half-day conference on current topics in West African microfinance markets.

by Medha Ravi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Announces “Transparent Pricing Initiative” in Uganda, Gains Participation From Nine Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Including Micro Enterprise Development (MedNet), Kacita, Y-Save

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) Micro Enterprise Development (MedNet), Kacita and Y-Save were among the first in Uganda to participate in the “Transparent Pricing Initiative”, an effort to publicize comparable data on microloan pricing that was launched by US-based nonprofit MFTransaparency. The effort was brought to Uganda in partnership with Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU). As of February 2011, an additional six unnamed Ugandan MFIs were enrolled for a total of nine participating plus with another six MFIs having begun the process of the initiative.

by Julie Moksim -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Banana Skins 2011, the CSFI Survey of Microfinance Risk, by David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, Published by Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI)

By David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, February 2011, 48 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.49643/Microfinance_Banana_Skins_2011.pdf

by Julie Moksim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: East African Community (EAC), World Bank Sign $16m Grant Agreement for Financial Sector Development and Regionalization Project

The East African Community (EAC), an intergovernmental organization whose members include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, recently announced that it received a USD 16 million grant from the World Bank, a multilateral development finance organization based in Washington, DC, for its Financial Sector Development and Regionalization Project (FSDRP).

by Julie Moksim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Participants at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 in Davos, Switzerland, Discuss Non-Payment in Andhra Pradesh, Consumer Protection, Microfinance Regulation

Participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011, which was held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 26 to January 30, discussed the future of financial services for poor people in a session called “Financial Inclusion: Beyond Microfinance.”

by Diana Baide -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Microfinance Bank Equity Bank, Telecommunications Company Orange To Launch Mobile Money Program Iko-Pesa

Kenyan microfinance bank (MFB) Equity Bank has reportedly partnered with telecommunications company Orange to launch Iko-Pesa, a mobile-to-mobile money transfer service similar to M-Pesa, another mobile money transfer program headed by telecommunications company Safaricom.

by Diana Baide -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: East African Community (EAC) Discusses Elimination of Microfinance Institution (MFI) License Requirement

In a follow-up to their meeting earlier this month, the East African Community (EAC), a regional intergovernmental organization founded in 1967 consisting of the Republics of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the United Republic of Tanzania, is reportedly discussing the possible elimination of microfinance institution (MFI) licenses with the aim of facilitating the expansion of microfinance operations in the member states.

by Jennifer Shevock -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: East African Community (EAC) Seeks to Align Microfinance Institution Regulation

The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) recently announced that it hosted a regional meeting of central bankers and regulators to discuss the alignment of rules and regulations that govern the microfinance industry within the countries of the East African Community (EAC), which includes the Republics of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and the United Republic of Tanzania.