by Makai McClintock -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Policy Brief: Advancing African Women’s Financial Inclusion;” published by Making Finance Work for Africa, GIZ, New Faces New Voices, East African Community, BMZ

Published by Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), New Faces New Voices, East African Community, Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ); 2012; 40 pages; available at: http://www.gbaforwomen.org/images/library/873/Advancing-Womens-financial-inclusion-Final-English.pdf

This report presents an analysis of the potential positive impacts of advancing African women’s financial inclusion, including more inclusive and sustainable economic growth and higher levels of productive investment and asset accumulation.

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Platform Remittances Action Group, GIZ, PHB Development Release Handbook: “Financial Literacy for Remittances and Diaspora Investments”

This afternoon, the Remittances Action Group of the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) met to share member experiences, plan future action steps and announce the release of the “Financial Literacy for Remittances and Diaspora Investments” handbook. The document, which is the first of three planned outputs to be completed by the group, was published by German bilateral development agency GIZ, with participation from PHB Development, a Belgium-based consulting firm, and e-MFP, which is a Luxembourg-based membership organization. As the handbook was released as a compact disc and on paper, it is not available online other than via the above link as of today. Details on the other proceedings of the meeting, such as the other planned outputs of the Remittance Action Group and news from action group members, are slated for publication by MicroCapital in a separate brief.

by Emilia Akonom -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011

By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36453519.

This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011. The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa.

by Ashim Kar -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Investment Vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa: Constraints and Potentials, by Bertrand Moulin, Published by Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi)

By Bertrand Moulin, published by the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi), August 2011, 20 pages, available at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/32967/

by Nisha Koul -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: MFTransparency, Agence Française de Développement, UN Capital Development Fund, Luxembourg Cooperation, African Microfinance Network, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) to Host African Microfinance Pricing Transparency Leadership Forum, October 5-7, 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya

Event Name: African Microfinance Pricing Transparency Leadership Forum

Event Date: October 5 – October 7, 2011

Event Location: Nairobi, Kenya

by Nisha Koul -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Rating Agency ICRA Assigns “A2(SO)” Rating to $1.45m in Pass Through Certificates from Microfinance Institution Arohan

Indian rating agency ICRA Limited (ICRA) has assigned a conditional rating of A2(SO) to a series of pass through certificates (PTCs) backed by INR 7.18 crores (USD 1.45 million) in microloan receivables originated by Arohan Financial Services Private Limited (Arohan), a Kolkata-based non-banking financial company (NBFC).

by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya’s M-Pesa Mobile Money Service Reports Revenue Growth of 56%

M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service that is operated by Kenyan telecommunication provider Safaricom Limited, recently released financial information for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, during which time it reported revenue growth of 56 percent, from KES 7.55 billion (USD 94.2 million) to KES 11.8 billion (USD 139 million).

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate’s “The State of Microfinance Investments 2011” Indicates Resilience During Economic Downturn

MicroRate, a US-based microfinance rating agency, recently announced the release of its sixth annual survey of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), “The State of Microfinance Investments 2011.”

by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Discovering Limits: Global Microfinance Valuation Survey 2011; By Frederic de Mariz, Xavier Reille, Daniel Rozas; Published by JP Morgan, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor)

By Frederic de Mariz, Xavier Reille and Daniel Rozas; published by JP Morgan and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); July 2011; 29 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.52137

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Industry Players Say Indian Microfinance Institutions Should Not be Crushed Even Though “Some MFIs Have Gone on the Wrong Path”

The Times of India, an Indian newspaper, recently reported on microfinance industry actors arguing that microfinance institutions (MFIs) should not be compromised by “the greed of a few big MFIs” and associated regulations such as the Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Act, which was passed in December 2010 to regulate MFIs following multiple suicides.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Collaborate on $20m Agricultural Microfinance Project Funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Haitian Government

Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian corporation that provides technical support to and investment in developing and emerging countries, recently announced that it is joining efforts with two agriculture nonprofits in a USD 20 million project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Haitian government to establish an agricultural finance and crop insurance system in Haiti.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Reduces Fees, Loosens Branch Restrictions to Promote Financial Inclusion in the Philippines

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines, reportedly is proposing to cut the fees for opening new bank branches and to lift restrictions on the opening of bank branches in the eight “restricted areas” of metro Manila.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in India Continue to Struggle for Funding After Loan Recast, Adoption of Malegam Proposals

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India reportedly continue to struggle after recasting of a significant portion of their wholesale debt and the adoption by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central banking authority, of many of the Malegam Committee’s proposals on regulating the sector.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Expands in Rural Kyrgyzstan as Lending Shifts to Agriculture

Kyrgyzstan’s microcredit sector reportedly has been growing in recent years and extending to outlying regions. The growth of microcredit in rural regions has corresponded to an increase in agricultural business following the June 2010 ethnic riots in the country.

by Carol Kim -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: G20 SME (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise) Finance Online Consultations Being Held Through June 17, 2011

The G20 SME (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise) Finance Online Consultations are now ongoing through June 17 to help shape the policy recommendations of the SME Finance Sub-Group, which was launched as part of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion to improve access to financial services for the poor. The Group of Twenty (G20) was established in 1999 to bring together finance ministers and central bank governors of “systematically important” industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

by Diana Baide -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: African Financial Systems: A Review by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, Published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center

by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center, March 2010, 69 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.1.8282/African%20financial%20systems.pdf