Event Name: The Fourth International Conference on Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance, Financial Inclusion: Lessons Between the South and the North
Event Location: Paris, France
Event Date: April 11-12, 2013
Search Results for: measure
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thai Government to Add $2.6b to Village and Urban Revolving Fund
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reportedly has announced that the government plans to inject USD 2.6 billion of capital into the country’s Village and Urban Revolving Fund (VF), a government-backed program designed to stimulate the economy.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zimbabwean Government’s Small Enterprises Development Corporation (SEDCO) Looking to Collect Microsavings to Bailout Itself
The Cabinet of Zimbabwe reportedly has approved a proposal by the Small Enterprises Development Corporation (SEDCO), a publicly funded business development agency, to set up a microfinance bank with the intent of recapitalizing the state enterprise by raising deposits from cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACLEDA Bank of Cambodia Borrows $40m From IFC Capitalization Fund
The IFC Capitalization Fund, a global equity and subordinated-debt fund founded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, recently issued a subordinated loan in the amount of USD 40 million to ACLEDA Bank Plc, a retail bank based in Cambodia, to augment the bank’s financing of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Ujjivan of India Reduces Interest Rates to 25% for New Group Loans, 24% for Returning Customers
Ujjivan Financial Services, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, recently decreased the interest rates it charges on loans to poor borrowers by one to two percentage points. The effective interest rate for new group loans is now 25 percent per year, down from 26 percent. The rate for loans to previous group and individual customers is now 24 percent per year, reduced from 26 percent. The rate for first-time loans to individuals was not disclosed.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion and the Linkages to Stability, Integrity and Protection: Insights from the South African Experience,” published by CGAP
Published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); November 2, 2012, 47 pages; available at: http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/I-SIP%20Report_1.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank for International Settlements Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Conference Emphasizes Minimizing Regulation For Smaller Transactions
The Financial Stability Institute of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial institution based in Basel, Switzerland, which aids central banks in their pursuit of monetary and financial stability, recently hosted its first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Conference with the theme “Promoting financial inclusion through proportionate standards and guidance.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Brazil Doubles Microfinance Loan Ceiling to $19,000
Brazil’s National Monetary Council, a body charged with regulating and monitoring Brazilian capital markets and financial institutions, recently increased the limit for each microcredit loan from BRL 20,000 (USD 9,840) to BRL 40,000 (USD 19,677).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya to Levy 10% Tax on Mobile Money Transactions
Kenya’s government recently announced a 10-percent excise duty will be charged on fees for cash transactions executed using mobile money transfer systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MiCRO, Fonkoze of Haiti to Make Insurance Payout to Women Microentrepreneurs in Wake of Tropical Storm Isaac
Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO), a reinsurance company based in Barbados, is due to make a payout of an undetermined amount to Fonkoze, a Haitian microfinance institution, to help female microentrepreneurs recover from Tropical Storm Isaac, which struck the country in August.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Absolute Portfolio Management Interviews CEO Nurhayrah Sadava of Microfinance Institution Thaneakea Phum in Cambodia (TPC) Regarding Client Protection Principles
The following text is re-posted with permission from Absolute Portfolio Management.
The microfinance industry has taken big steps forward in the last couple of years to better serve their clients. The Client Protection Principles for microfinance and the accompanying Smart Campaign have been introduced to protect clients, businesses, and the industry as a whole.
Austrian based asset manager Absolute Portfolio Management (APM) offers two “Dual Return – Vision Microfinance” funds, endorses the Smart Campaign and has incorporated the client protection principles into their investment criteria and due diligence. However, APM wanted to double-check how the Principles are employed at the microfinance institutions that the Vision Microfinance funds invest in.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Service Needs in Mexico; Evaluation of an Insurance Education Radio Campaign in Kenya; Self-Assessment of Governance
“A Structured Approach to Understanding the Financial Service Needs of the Poor in Mexico;” by Xavier Faz and Paul Breloff; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); May 2012; 4 pages; available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.57615/Brief_MexicoSegmentation.pdf
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion and Stability: What Does Research Show?”; by Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Timothy Lyman; CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Brief
By Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Timothy Lyman, published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), May 2012, 4 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/publications/financial-inclusion-and-stability-what-does-research-show-0
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): MSME Development Fund Not for Bailing out Microfinance Banks
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s central banking authority, reportedly has asserted that its Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund, which is due to be launched in June, is designed for capacity building and not to bail out distressed microfinance banks (MFBs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Boma Project Certified on Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index
The Boma Project, a nonprofit organization in northern Kenya that aims to improve the ability of women to earn their own incomes, recently has become the first African organization to be certified by Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, on the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) Advanced Standards of Use.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation India Launches Newest Version of Progress Out of Poverty Index
Grameen Foundation India, a subsidiary of the US-based Grameen Foundation that promotes access to microfinance and technological services, has launched an iteration of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool that measures poverty levels of groups and individuals, for India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swiss Government Sponsor Workshops for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Egypt
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, is sponsoring a series of workshops for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt “on how to implement sound corporate governance standards to improve their performance, increase access to finance and foster sustained growth.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladesh Government to Investigate NGOs, Microcredit Entities for Money Laundering
The Bangladeshi government reportedly intends to investigate the financial transactions of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and microcredit entities operating in the country “to unearth any kind of money laundering.”