The Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRA) recently urged insurance companies in the country to work with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to develop and promote microinsurance products.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Economic Forum (WEF) Leaders Aim for Cooperation among Regulators for Financial Inclusion in Africa
During the World Economic Forum (WEF) in South Africa, business and political leaders from multiple African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa among others, emphasized the need for collaboration among regulators in order to promote financial inclusion globally.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), Bima Partner to Offer Microinsurance in Rural Papua New Guinea
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), a Fiji-based United Nations initiative that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, and Bima, a Sweden-based microinsurance provider that partners with mobile operators, recently launched an effort with the support of the European Union, the Australian government and the Bank of Papua New Guinea to provide two microinsurance products in Papua New Guinea (PNG) [1].
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Global Findex Database 2014; PEP Report on Female Entrepreneurs in Nigeria; YouthSave Research Report 2015
“The Global Findex Database 2014: Measuring Financial Inclusion Around the World;” by Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer and Peter Van Oudheusden; published by the World Bank; April 2015; 88 pages; available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex
The World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2014 indicates that between 2011 and 2014, 700 million people became accountholders for the first time at banks, via other financial institutions and with mobile money service providers, reducing the number of unbanked individuals by 20 percent.
MICROCAPITAL PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Improving the Wellbeing of the Poorest of the Poor; Finance in Motion’s Impact Investment Report; Investing in Africa’s Small, Growing Businesses
“A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries;” published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2015-05, available at http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/97047
This study reports that a multifaceted “graduation” program generated improvements in the wellbeing of the “poorest of the poor.”
MICROFINANCE EVENT: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money Lagos 2015, July 28 – 29, 2015, Lagos, Nigeria
Event Name: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money Lagos 2015
Event Date: July 28 – 29, 2015
Event Location: Eko Hotel, Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
Event Theme: Financial Empowerment through Trusted Payment Solutions
Event Summary: Now entering its eighth year, AITEC (African Information Technology Exhibitions and Conferences) Banking & Mobile Money Lagos 2015 will address issues in Nigeria’s financial services sector, including developments in payment technologies, best practices in information technology project deployment, and trends in customer service delivery. Additionally, broader themes of risk management, governance, regulation and compliance will be covered.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen, Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, Unilever Partner to Support Smallholder Farmers through Enhanced Livelihoods Investment Initiative (ELII) in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean
The US-based non-profit venture fund Acumen, along with the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, an initiative of US-based Clinton Foundation, and the British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company Unilever recently partnered to launch a three-year, minimum USD 10 million Enhanced Livelihoods Investment Initiative (ELII) that aims to boost the economic development of approximately 300,000 smallholder farmers in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans Tunisie Launches Microfinance Operations in Tunis
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based venture capital company, has announced the launching of operations by its ninth affiliated microfinance institution, Advans Tunisie.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Purchases 8.4% of Shares of Cambodian MFI Amret, Becomes Majority Shareholder; FMO Increases Stake to 19.9%
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based venture capital company, has become the majority shareholder of Amret, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), upon approval by The National Bank of Cambodia of its purchase of 8.4 percent of the shares of Amret.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) Increases Presence in Cameroon, Indonesia with $22m Equity Investment in Bank Mayora, Advisory Agreement with Advans Cameroun
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group focused on private sector development, recently made an equity investment of USD 22 million in Indonesia-based Bank Mayora to support its services for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 9th Annual Penn Microfinance Conference, “Adapt and React,” March 28, 2015, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Event Name: 9th Annual Penn Microfinance Conference
Event Date: March 28, 2015
Event Location: Jon M. Huntsman Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Summary of Event: This conference will focus on how the microfinance industry has adapted its product offerings and lending methods in the wake of increased government regulation and concern about over-indebtedness. The event will feature a keynote address by Dennis Ripley, the chief business development officer for Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit providing microfinance services in 22 countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loaning $2.5m to La Fayette Microfinance Bank, Nigerian Member of Advans Network
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is investing NGN 400 million (USD 2.5 million) in La Fayette Microfinance Bank, one of eight members of the Advans Network of microfinance institutions, which is based in Luxembourg and managed by Horus Development Finance of France.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Utkarsh Micro Finance, Advans SA Land $24m in Equity from CDC, Lok Capital, Aavishkaar Goodwell India, International Finance Corporation, Norwegian Microfinance Initiative
The Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), a development finance institution owned by the UK government, has announced that it has made an equity investment of USD 11 million in Utkarsh, a northern Indian microfinance institution (MFI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Services Firm Digicel Invests $5m in Bima to Promote Microinsurance in Asia-Pacific, Caribbean, Central America
Digicel, a Bermuda-based cellular network provider that operates in 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, recently invested USD 5 million in Bima, a Sweden-based mobile microinsurance provider that operates in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, to expand microinsurance product offerings in the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), The MasterCard Foundation Award $900k to Advans Cote d’Ivoire, MFS Africa, Money Express for Branchless Banking Projects in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, and The MasterCard Foundation, a Canada-based nonprofit that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets, recently awarded a total of USD 900,000 to three projects in countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) to expand the availability of banking in the region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Credit Suisse to Fund Opportunity International’s “Empowering Generational Change Through Education” in Africa, Asia, Latin America
Credit Suisse, a Swiss global financial services company with operations in 50 countries, has agreed to donate an undisclosed sum to Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit providing microfinance in 22 countries, to launch a three-year program entitled “Empowering Generational Change Through Education” that focuses on lending for education initiatives.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Millicom’s Tanzanian Arm Distributes Profits of $1.8m to Tigo Pesa Mobile Money Customers
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications company that operates the brand Tigo, recently announced that its Tanzanian unit will distribute third quarter profits of TZS 3 billion (USD 1.8 million) to users and agents of Tigo Pesa, a mobile money service accessed by 3.6 million customers.
SPECIAL REPORT: A Risk Management “Graduation Model” for Microfinance
MicroCapital: You will be speaking in a few days at European Microfinance Week. How will you describe the state of risk management within microfinance and where it fits in the broader context of the industry?
Kevin Fryatt: In the last several years, we have seen a lot of focus on new technology and serving clients better through new product development, savings mobilization and agent networks, amongst other avenues. Similarly, institutions’ balance sheets are getting increasingly diverse in the types of funding they are sourcing. But within this, the conversation of risk management isn’t happening. There’s a sense of cynicism within the leadership of microfinance institutions (MFIs) toward risk management. It is often misunder-stood and confused with the roles of internal audit or compliance. It is often very difficult to quantify the value of risk management.