On November 16, the Citi Foundation, a philanthropic foundation dedicated to economic development, and the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), a Jordanian non-profit organization (NGO) focused on female entrepreneurship, held the 2008 Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards ceremony for Jordan.? The two groups and the Jordanian government highlighted the active role that micro-credit plays in alleviating local poverty and honored individual micro-entrepreneurs, including ten women. ? The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) also announced new funding initiatives for the microfinance sector.
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MICROFINANCE EVENT: Panel Discussion: Microfinance in the Wake of the Current Financial Crisis
THE FUTURE OF MICROFINANCE IN THE WAKE OF THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS
MICROCAPITAL STORY: John Deere Foundation Grants $1.2 Million to Opportunity International to Fight Hunger in Africa
Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations, received a $1.2 million grant from the John Deere Foundation to provide increased access to financing for the hunger-afflicted in Africa. OI forecasts that the grant will have a $10.6 million economic impact over the next three years. The grant will be used to benefit farmers, food processors and retailers and their ability to provide affordable food to the rural poor in Malawi and Mozambique.
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.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Thirty-Five Organizations Sign Client Protection Principles to Ensure Fair Treatment and Financial Protection of Low-Income Microfinance Clients
In late October, 35 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and investment funds signed the Client Protection Principles (CPP), a list of pro-consumer principles and mandates that aims to become an industry-wide standard for ensuring the fair treatment and financial protection of low-income microfinance clients. The CPP are part of a larger campaign launched in September of 2008 at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, a conglomeration of governments and public and private organizations dedicated to sustainable development, with the goal of incorporating at least half of the world’s 500 largest MFIs within the next three years. According to Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), there is little evidence of client abuse in the microfinance sector.
NEWS WIRE: Microfinance Programmes Reaching Out to Muslim Women
Source: Gulf News.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: 2008 Economic Self-Reliance Conference
NOVEMBER 6-7, PROVO, UTAH
Brigham Young University (BYU) will host the 11th annual Economic Self-Reliance Conference this week in order to bring together social entrepreneurs to address domestic and international poverty and economic development by highlighting new research and practices that are gaining momentum domestically and abroad. The conference will be held at the Brigham Young University Conference Center. It is hoped that the conference will provide a forum for participants from various backgrounds to construct cross-disciplinary solutions to the complex problems of poverty and economic development.
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:
MICROCAPITAL STORY: FMO Invests $10 Million in Sri Lankan LOLC Micro Finance Company
Sri Lankan company Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC (LOLC) will launch LOLC Micro Finance Company (LOLC MF) with a USD 10 million loan and equity injection from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). FMO is investing USD 2 million in equity, USD 1.5 million as a convertible loan and USD 6.5 million as a senior loan. FMO will own 20 percent of LOLC MF. This will be the first Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) to have foreign shareholding. LOLC MF already has a Rs 2.3 billion (USD 21.2 million) loan portfolio which has a non-performing loan ratio on a portfolio-of-risk basis of around 5 percent.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche, by Nimrah Karim, Michael Tarazi and Xavier Reille
Written by Nimrah Karim, Michael Tarazi and Xavier Reille and based primarily on secondary research by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), released in August 2008 as Number 49 of Focus Note, a publication of CGAP, 16 pages, available on October 27, 2008 at: http://www2.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.5029/FocusNote_49.pdf.
NEWS WIRE: Microfinance Investor Institutions Signed on to the Client Protection Principles
PRESS RELEASE: 2007 Global Microfinance Institution Benchmarks Now Available
MICROCAPITAL STORY: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $15m to Bosnian-Herzegovinian MFI Partner Microcredit Foundation
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), an investment firm that seeks returns from a portfolio of social enterprises, has made a USD 15 million loan to Bosnian-Herzegovinian nonprofit microlender Partner Microcredit Foundation. The loan will be used by Partner to expand its on-lending activities to small and micro enterprises. The loan’s term and rate were not disclosed.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Austrian Development Bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank Makes $56m Equity Investment in Microfinance Investor European Fund for Southeast Europe
A new player to microfinance investment, Austria’s recently established development bank OeEB (Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank) announced it will invest EUR 33 million (USD 56 million) of equity capital in Luxembourg-based EFSE (European Fund for Southeast Europe). EFSE reports that the Austrian bank will invest in all three levels of risk offered by the fund, including A-Shares (senior capital), B-Shares (mezzanine capital) and C-Shares (first-loss). OeEB is the first EFSE investor with funds allocated to all of its risk levels.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Akiba Commercial Bank of Tanzania to Receive a Total of $5.2m in Capital from Accion Investments in Microfinance, the Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation, Incofin, Inter-Consult, the Netherlands Development Finance Company, the Parastatal Pension Fund, the Triodos-Doen Foundation, and 70 Private Tanzanian Individuals
Based in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Akiba Commercial Bank (ACB) will receive a total of USD 5.2 million in a capitalization program which includes investments from ACCION Investments in Microfinance (ACCION Investments), the Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation (HTF), Incofin, Inter-Consult, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Parastatal Pension Fund (PPF), the Triodos-Doen Foundation (TDF), and nearly 70 private Tanzanian individuals. The capitalization effort is coupled with a contract between ACB and ACCION International (ACCION) in which the latter of the two will provide short-term technical assistance and a senior management team.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: Survey of the Zambian Microfinance Sector
The microfinance sector in Zambia is currently facing the after effects of default in government funded and privately run microfinance programs. The market suffers from high levels of poverty, a huge HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the planned regulation of microfinance activities by the central bank. The microfinance sector in Zambia is still in its developmental stage.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: MicroCredit Enterprises Invests $150k in Pro Mujer
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) recently reported that California-based MicroCredit Enterprises made a USD 150,000 investment in Latin American microfinance institution Pro Mujer.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: PlaNet Finance United Arab Emirates (PlaNet Finance UAE) Holds Golf Tournament Promoting Awareness about Microfinance amongst International Financial Firms
PlaNet Finance United Arab Emirates (PlaNet Finance UAE), a branch of the global non-governmental organization (NGO) which provides technical assistance and consulting to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in close to 60 countries, held a golf tournament entitled “Tee Off Against Poverty” on April 23rd at the Wadi by Faldo course of the Emirates Golf Club (EGC) in Dubai in an effort to increase awareness about microfinance amongst international financial firms and other global corporations, according to a press release on ArabianBusiness.com.