by Yanni Hao -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Making Cents International Offers of a New Course Entitled “Youth Financial Services: Implementing Good Practices in the Field” March 2nd-5th in Washington, DC

Making Cents International “Youth Financial Services: Implementing Good Practices in the Field”

March 2nd – 5th, 2009, Washington, DC, USA

by Iyanna Holmes -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Micro Banking Summer Academy of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management Presents Commercial Micro Banking, July 12-17, 2009, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Micro Banking Summer Academy of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
 
Commercial Micro Banking
 
July 5-10, 2009
 
DB Training Center, Bad Homburg, Germany

by Yanni Hao -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Aims to Promote Food Security Using Micro-Credit in Ghana; Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) of Ghana Sponsor a $241m Agricultural Project

Mr. Martin Eson-Benjamin, CEO of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), a government agency of Ghana that implements development contracts funded by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), noted that improved micro-credit may emerge as a powerful tool to achieve national food security by providing financial and technical assistance needed by small scale farmers. The remarks came at the 4th annual microfinance conference organized by the faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), which addressed “Microfinance and Food Security in Africa.” The two-day event was also attended by delegates from other African nations.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen-Jameel and Blue Orchard’s Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium Concludes that Microfinance in Arab World Totals US $5.5 billion

The Arab microfinance industry, with an estimated total market of USD 5.5 billion in the Arab world, remains a largely untapped area, it was reported in multiple Arab-based newspapers following the 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium held on November 30, 2008. The Symposium had a total of fifteen speakers, including speakers from Grameen-Jameel, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Blue Orchard Finance, and a variety of other organizations involved in microfinance, although the majority of the press focused on the presentation by Heather Henyon, the General Manager of Grameen-Jameel. The microfinance institutions (MFIs) on the MFI Panel included Jordan’s Tamweelcom, Egypt’s DBACD, Tunisia’s enda inter-arabe, and Pakistan’s Kashf Foundation. Additionally, more than 150 delegates from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia and Pakistan discussed the potential of the microfinance industry in the Arab region. The 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium was co-hosted by Grameen-Jameel, a social-oriented business based in Dubai, and BlueOrchard, a microfinance investment manager located in Geneva, Switzerland and was covered in this MicroCapital Event.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indonesia’s MBK Ventura, Egypt’s Al Tadamun, and Grameen Bank’s Nurjahan Begum Recognized at Grameen Foundation 2008 Awards

The achievements of the Grameen Bank‘s Nurjahan Begum, Indonesia’s Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, and Egypt’s Al Tadamun were recognized on November 12, 2008 at the Grameen Foundation’s 2008 Awards in Washington D.C. The awards were held in conjunction with its annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable discussion, which this year discussed the implications of the global financial crisis on microfinance. Nurjahan Begum received the Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in microfinance for over 30 years, including her efforts to organize women in Bangladesh’s poorest villages and leading the fight for the rights of disadvantaged women. MBK Ventura of Indonesia received the Excellence in Microfinance Award for its leadership its efforts to ensure that Indonesia’s poorest citizens receive financial services, and Al Tadamun of Egypt was awarded the Pioneer in Microfinance Award in recognition of its program to provide financial services to Cairo’s poorest women.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium

NOVEMBER 30, 2008, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium is a day-long event focusing on microfinance as an emerging asset class and investment opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.  The symposium will take place on November 30 at the Godolphin Ballroom of the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it will be co-hosted by Grameen-Jameel, a social-oriented business based in Dubai, and BlueOrchard, a microfinance investment manager located in Geneva, Switzerland.  Aramex and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have signed on as sponsors.   The symposium has been marketed to asset managers, bankers, high net-worth individuals, family businesses and other interested investors. 

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: MicroRate Publishes Public Ratings of Microfinance Institutions Conducted Between January and September 2008

Forprofit microfinance rating company MicroRate has announced the completion of the following public microfinance institution ratings between January 2008 and September 2008:

by Ryan Benson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: France’s Agency for Development Lends $4.7m to Jordan-based Société Générale de Banque – Jordanie to Support Jordanian Microfinance Institutions Tamweelcom and MEMCO

In its continued support of Jordan’s development efforts, France’s Agency for Development (AFD) loaned EUR 3 million (USD 4.7 million) to commercial bank Société Générale de Banque – Jordanie. The Jordanian bank plans to re-lend the capital to microfinance institutions (MFIs) Tamweelcom and Middle East Microcredit Company (MEMCO), allocating USD 2.8 million to Tamweelcom and USD 1.9 million to MEMCO. AFD’s financing is intended to help expand the geographical outreach of microfinance in Jordan, and to develop new microfinance products and services.

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 Stephen Son -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Société Générale de Banque Jordanie Lends $2.8m to Tamweelcom of Jordan

Société Générale de Banque – Jordanie has announced a loan of JOD 2 million (USD 2.8 million) to microfinance institution (MFI) Tamweelcom of Jordan, backed by a USD 846,000 guarantee from Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd, a for-profit venture that provides capacity building and financing to Arab MFIs.

by Melissa Duscha -

PAPER WRAP-UP: The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Sanabel Microfinance Network of Arab Countries: Benchmarking Arab Microfinance 2006

Produced by Sanabel Microfinance Network of Arab Countries and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), analyzing the performance of 37 Arab microfinance institutions from nine different Arab countries with additional outreach data from a regional survey of 97 Arab-region microfinance service providers, this document was written by Ranya Abdel-Baki, Transparancy Unit Head of Sanabel, and Hind Tazi, Lead Analyst from the Microfinance Information Exchange. Published in January 2008 as a 16-page article, the PDF file can be found here.

At the end of 2006, microfinance institutions in the Arab region had loan portfolios totaling USD 910 million reaching over 2.1 million clients. The Arab MFI sector had strong outreach with an average of 13,000 clients per institution and 162 borrowers being served per staff member.

by Jennifer Lee -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: ING Review of AXA Group’s Microfinance Activities and AXA World Fund’s Microfinance Investments

The Dutch Bank ING published its updated 2008 study on commercial bank microfinance activity, called “A Billion to Gain? The Next Phase”. A MicroCapital summary of the paper can be read here. MicroCapital is reviewing the microfinance activities of several of large international banks covered in the study, such as the AXA Group.

by Stephen Son -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: KfW Entwicklungsbank, Development Arm of German Bank, Lends $14.7m to Moroccan Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat (FONDEP)

The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reported that KfW Entwicklungsbank, the emerging-economy financing arm of a German banking group, issued a loan of EUR 10 million (USD 14.7 million) to the Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat (FONDEP), a Morocco-based non-governmental organization (NGO).