The Smart Campaign, an initiative of the US-based Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), recently announced that it would wind down following ten years of activity. Two nonprofit partners of the initiative, the US-based Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and France-based Comité d’Echange, de Réflexion et sur les Systèmes d’Epargne-Crédit (CERISE), have agreed to continue the evolution of the Smart Campaign Client Protection Standards, thereby “ensuring that [this tool] continues to be the ‘do no harm’ foundation of social performance management” (SPM). SPTF and CERISE also will
Search Results for: covid
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Most Refugee, Host Savings Groups in 2 Uganda Districts Continue Meeting, Saving Despite Loss of Income Due to Pandemic
VisionFund Uganda, a microfinance institution (MFI) subsidiary of VisionFund International, recently conducted a survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on refugee and host-community savings groups. The 417 respondents are members of savings groups in the Yumbe and Obongi districts of Uganda, to which many refugees from South Sudan have relocated. The results are divided into
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: USAID Gives $2.5m for Design of Kiva Invest in Women Fund (K-IWF) from Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative
The US Agency for International Development (AID) recently gave USD 2.5 million from the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative to US-based nonprofit Kiva to develop the Kiva Invest in Women Fund (K-IWF). Kiva plans for this investment vehicle to mobilize USD 100 million for women entrepreneurs as part of Kiva Capital, the NGOs “asset management subsidiary offering impact-first investment vehicles.” As groundwork for the fund, Kiva Capital will use the money to:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Lends $100m to ProCredit Holding to Finance Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern, Southeastern Europe; Ecuador
To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently issued a senior loan of USD 100 million to Germany-based ProCredit Holding. The financing will benefit ProCredit entities in Ecuador and eight countries in Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. IFC is funding the loan through Working Capital Solutions, a program that provides one-year, renewable loans to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FinDev Canada, FMO Loan $72m to Latin American Agribusiness Development (LAAD) for SME Finance
Development finance institutions (DFIs) FinDev Canada and the Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently provided a syndicated loan of USD 72 million to the US-based, for-profit Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD). LAAD will use the funds to finance term loans and revolving lines of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of spurring market development and job growth in rural communities. LAAD requires that each of its loans is used according to an
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Enygma Ventures Places $1m in Equity in Zambia-based MFI Lupiya, Boosting Digital Financial Services, Especially for Women, Rural Clients
South Africa-based Enygma Ventures recently invested USD 1 million in Zambian microfinance institution (MFI) Lupiya, which serves its customers online rather than at retail branches. Lupiya describes its offerings as “simpler and easier so that people and businesses located across the country even in rural, remote areas can access financial services.” The MFI offers personal loans of up to ZMK 20,000 (USD 1,093) for as long as 12 months, categorized into Collateral Backed Loans, Salary Advance Loans and Scheme Loans. Lupiya also offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unibank of Armenia Offers UNIMobile Mobile Banking App for Sending, Receiving Remittances via Unistream Network
Unibank, an Armenian commercial bank, recently announced that its customers can use the bank’s mobile banking apps to send and receive money transfers through Unistream, a remittance service that reaches 150,000 cash-out points in 90 countries. The apps are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vancity Loans $740k to Brighter Investment for Education Microfinance in Ghana
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Vancity) of Canada is lending CAD 1 million (USD 740,000) to Brighter Investment, a Canadian lender to university students in Ghana. Of the total, half of the funds were disbursed to Brighter Investment in April, and the remainder is scheduled to be distributed in September. Brighter Investment is using the cash to expand its funding of students,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s ID4D Launches 2nd “Mission Billion Challenge,” Offering $150k in Prizes for Innovation in Identification, Digital Inclusion for Vulnerable Groups
The World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative recently announced the launch of the second Mission Billion Challenge, an initiative offering cash prizes totalling USD 150,000 for ideas that increase vulnerable groups’ access to digital identification systems. The target groups include women and girls as well as informal workers whose income has been reduced by COVID-19. Part of the motivation for the program is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Solomon Islands, IFC Developing Comprehensive Credit Reporting System to Boost Financial Inclusion of Individuals, MSMEs
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently signed an agreement with the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) that is intended to improve the country’s “credit reporting legal framework,” promote financial inclusion and protect the credit reputations of borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the effort, CBSI will begin supervising the Solomon Islands Credit & Data Bureau (CDB), and IFC will assist the credit bureau in implementing
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Loans $13.6m to NamPost for Microfinance Lending to Pensioners in Namibia
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the overseas development agency of the French government, recently issued a concessional loan of NAD 235 million (USD 13.6 million) to NamPost, Namibia’s postal service, to increase its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobi-Changa, ThundaFund, UNCDF Crowdfunding Platform to Help Youth, Women in The Gambia Raise Money for MSMEs, Build Financial Histories
As part of the EU-funded “Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Youth and Women in The Gambia Programme,” the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is partnering with crowdfunding platforms Mobi-Changa and Thundafund to develop a new fundraising platform. The service will allow individuals to donate to and invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: J.P. Morgan, EBRD Deliver Advisory, Training Services to MSMEs Led by Women in Turkey
US-based financial services firm J.P. Morgan recently agreed to co-fund the Turkish operations of the Women in Business Programme of the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD). Women in Business, which expanded to Turkey in 2014, supports micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operated by women in 18 countries. In Turkey, the support from J.P. Morgan will fund:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans $1.1m to SAVE, Provider of Rural Microfinance, Agent Banking, Toll-road Payment Services in India
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (IM) recently disbursed a senior loan of EUR 1 million (USD 1.1 million) from its fund Incofin CVSO to the Society for Advancement of Village Economy (SAVE), which “plans to utilise the…funding to support its two non-banking financial companies providing rural credit services” in India. SAVE’s other units offer
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Money Transactions in Rwanda Quadruple, Cash-outs Plummet After NBR Mandates Free Digital Payments Due to Pandemic
Airtel, an India-based telecommunications company that operates in Rwanda and 17 other countries in Africa and Asia, recently reported “a spike in data, mobile payments and voice [usage] during the lockdown” imposed by the Rwandan government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in mobile payments was encouraged by a March 15 instruction from the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR), the country’s central bank, that mobile network operators (MNOs) in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $100m to NBK Egypt for Short-term Financing Amidst Pandemic, with “Focus” on SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned USD 100 million to the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Egypt, which provides Islamic and traditional financial services to consumers and corporations in Egypt. The loan will allow NBK Egypt to boost its short-term lending to businesses that are experiencing
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “2020 Annual Impact Investor Survey,” by Dean Hand et al, published by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)
The 10th edition of this survey includes responses from 294 impact investors, those that seek to “generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.” From the data the authors have collected, they reach the following conclusions:
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: (Accidental) Loans to Farmers Keep Food on the Table
Barbara Magnoni, President of EA Consultants, discusses her column in the May 2020 issue of the MicroCapital Monitor on what the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can teach us about the role of agricultural lending in a diversified portfolio.
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
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