The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Initiative, the United Nations-backed network of international investors seeking to integrate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into their investment strategies, has announced the launch of a new reporting framework for its signatories that is aimed to increase the transparency of their investment activities [1].
Search Results for: cgap
MICROFINANCE EVENT: African Microfinance Week, Arusha, Tanzania, December 2-6, 2013
Event Name: African Microfinance Week: “Regulation of the African Microfinance Sector: 20 Years After”
Event Date: December 2-6, 2013
Event Location: The Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge (Victoria Conference Hall), Arusha, Tanzania
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Lessons Learned from Morocco’s Microcredit Crisis; Using Microinsurance to Promote Universal Coverage; Remittances and Post-Conflict Economic Growth
“Lessons Learned from the Moroccan Crisis;” by Nadine Chehade and Alice Negre; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); 2013; 4 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Brief-Lessons-Learned-from-the-Moroccan-Crisis-July-2013_0.pdf
This report presents the results of a study conducted by US-based NGO CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) that explored the Moroccan microcredit downturn, focusing on outlining “lessons learned from the rise, fall, and ongoing recovery of the Moroccan microcredit sector that may be useful when adapted in other countries in similar situations.”
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance and Mobile Banking, Financing Incremental Housing Improvements, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2012 Microfinance Snapshot
“Microfinance and Mobile Banking: Blurring the Lines?”; by Michel Hanouch and Sarah Rotman; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); 2013; 20 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Focus-Note-Microfinance-and-Mobile-Banking-August-2013.pdf
This report presents the results from a study conducted by US-based NGO CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) that explored the impact of mobile banking services on the microfinance market.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Moody’s Analytics Partners with Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) to Deliver Social Performance Assessments (SPAs) in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN), a Benin-based association of 1,100 African microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving 20 million clients, recently partnered with Moody’s Analytics, a US-based financial risk management company that provides risk management, credit analysis, research and training tools for financial institutions, to deliver Social Performance Assessments (SPAs) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Former JP Morgan Asset Management Chairman Unveils $40m Impact Investment Fund, Charioteer-Fund I, to Support Skill Development, Microenterprises in India
Krishnamurthy Vijayan, the former executive chairman of JP Morgan Asset Management India, a Mumbai-based subsidiary of international investment and commercial bank JP Morgan Chase, reportedly has created Charioteer Fund-I, an INR 2.5 billion (USD 40 million) impact investment fund that will seek to place with investments in 25 ventures.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Foundation, Grameen Bank, Brazil Foods (BRF) to Invest in Small Businesses, Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Haiti
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Muhammad Yunus reportedly announced in June 2013 a new partnership between the Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit of which Yunus serves is a board member, the Grameen Bank, a Bangladesh-based microfinance institution (MFI) founded by Dr Yunus, and Brazil Foods (BRF), a Brazil-based food production and processing company, to offer an unspecified amount of money through microfinance loans to small businesses in Haiti that are engaged in the production of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), particularly in the poultry industry [1,2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco De La Gente Emprendedora (BanGente) Hosts Fifth International Microfinance Forum in Caracas, Venezuela to Review “Universal Standards for Social Performance Management”
Banco De La Gente Emprendedora (BanGente), a Venezuela-based financial services organization, recently hosted the Fifth International Microfinance Forum in Caracas, Venezuela, to study the enforcement and monitoring of the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (USSPM), a manual designed in June 2012 by the US- and Switzerland-based working group Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) that lists six practices microfinance institutions (MFIs) may adopt in order to expand their focus from financial to social goals [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aeon Financial Service Company Limited Launches Consumer Credit Services Subsidiary Aeon Microfinance (Myanmar) Company
Aeon Financial Service Company Limited (Aeon), a Japanese-based credit and financial services provider, recently announced that it has launched Aeon Microfinance (Myanmar) Company, a consumer credit services subsidiary based in the Myanmar State of Yangon.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Symbiotics 2013 MIV Survey Report: Market Data and Peer Group Analysis
Published by Symbiotics Research and Advisory; 2013; 31 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.62223
Symbiotics SA has conducted the seventh annual survey of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) which draws on survey responses from 84 MIVs representing approximately 93 percent of the global MIV market asset base. This paper presents an analysis of the financial and social performance of the microfinance investment industry based on data from December 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Uganda Government Proposes 10% Tax on Mobile Money Transaction Fees
The Ugandan federal government recently announced in its 2013/14 budget a proposed ten-percent tax on all mobile money transactions in the country.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microcredit in Mexico, Impact Investing and Microfinance, Microinsurance and Preventing Child Labor
“Win Some Lose Some? Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco;” by Manuela Angelucci, Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman; published by Innovations for Poverty Action; May 2013; 68 pages; available at: https://poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/ipa_winsomelosesome_release_0.pdf
This paper presents an analysis of whether microcredit products are counterproductive to promoting economic empowerment, especially when such products are offered at high interest rates.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Final Impact Evaluation of the ‘Saving for Change’ Program in Mali, 2009-2012;” by the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona and Innovations for Poverty Action; published by Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger
By the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona and Innovations for Poverty Action, published by Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger, April 2013, 216 pages, available at: https://www.freedomfromhunger.org/sites/default/files/SavingforChangeMaliResearchFullReportMay2013.pdf
This study was funded by Freedom from Hunger, a US-based non-governmental organization that works to alleviate hunger in 19 countries, and Oxfam America, a member of Oxfam International that seeks to reduce poverty worldwide. The study evaluated the impacts of Saving for Change (SfC), a savings-group (SG) program that was co-created in 2005 by Freedom from Hunger, Oxfam America and the Stromme Foundation, a Norway-based international development organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ICICI Bank, Vodafone Bring M-Pesa Mobile Money Service to India
Vodafone Group Private Limited Corporation, a British multinational mobile network operator, and the ICICI Bank, a commercial bank in India, have announced that they have expanded Vodafone’s mobile pesa (M-Pesa) cash transfer service to India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vodacom Mozambique Launches M-Pesa Mobile Money Service
Vodacom, a South Africa-based mobile communications company owned by UK-based Vodafone, reportedly has announced the expansion its mobile pesa (M-Pesa) cash transfer service to Mozambique.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financing Africa, Social Performance Indicators for Microinsurance, Segmentation of Agricultural Households
“Financing Africa Through the Crisis and Beyond;” by Thorsten Beck, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, Issa Faye and Thouraya Triki; published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), World Bank Group, African Development Bank; 2013; 322 pages; available at: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Financing%20Africa%20Through%20the%20Crisis%20and%20Beyond.pdf
This book presents a review of trends in Africa’s financial sector in the context of Africa’s past economic development trends and broader historical background.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: 3rd Latin American Forum on Social Performance: Responsible Finances and Development, June 3-4, 2013, Panama City
Event Name: 3rd Latin American Forum on Social Performance: Responsible Finances and Development
Event Date: June 3-4, 2013
Event Location: Continental Hotel, Via Espana and Ricardo Arias Street, Panama City, Republic of Panama
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nine Indian Impact Investment Companies Forming “Indian Impact Investor Council”
Nine companies that specialize in impact investment reportedly will be establishing the “Indian Impact Investor Council” (IIIC) to establish guidelines helping investment companies in India regulate their efforts to meet social goals.