by Alex Chowdhury -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: XacBank of Mongolia Secures $30m Loan from Asian Development Bank to Increase Microfinance, SME Lending

XacBank, a Mongolia-based institution offering traditional banking and insurance services as well as microfinance, recently secured a loan of USD 30 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral institution seeking to promote social and economic development on the continent. The loan proceeds are

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Evolving Regulations Obscure the Future of Microfinance in Myanmar

Paul European Microfinance PlatformLuchtenburg, who serves as coordinator for the UN Capital Development Fund in Myanmar, described several of the contrasts in the microfinance industry in Myanmar at European Microfinance Week Thursday. Five years into civilian rule, Mr Luchtenburg says “I’ve never seen a government work so hard. You go to a meeting and the results go up the leadership chain that night…. There’s this rapid push for development.” To accept deposits, institutions must pay at least 10 percent per year and be deemed “sustainable” by the government. However, lending rates are capped at 2.5 percent per month, a level that all of the panelists agreed was too low, especially for serving rural areas. Rommel Caringal, the CEO of the local unit of US-based VisionFund, said, “The inconsistency is causing big problems, but

by Michael Averell -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $4m to FINCA Georgia to Support Micro- and Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will provide a USD 4 million loan to the Republic of Georgia-based subsidiary of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a US-based microfinance network, for on-lending to micro and small businesses as well as entrepreneurs in rural regions of Georgia.

by Lindsey Shaughnessy -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Floods Cause $31m in Damage to 86 Branches of Pakistan’s Microfinance Institutions

According to participants at a recent roundtable in Islamabad organized by the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), last month’s floods in Pakistan caused PKR 2.7 billion (the equivalent of USD 31.4 million) in damage to 86 branches of the country’s microfinance institutions.

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank Closes Its First Microfinance Deal in Philippines, $1.5m to CARD Bank

Standard Chartered has provided its first microfinance loan in the Philippines to CARD Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) with over 205,097 active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of USD 20.1 million as of year-end 2008.

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Awards $38m in Grants to Help Microfinance Institutions Expand Savings Initiatives for Poor

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded six grants worth a total of USD 38 million to help 18 microfinance institutions (MFIs) expand or launch savings initiatives.

by Zoran Stanisljevic -

MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Robert Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance (Part One of a Two Part Series)

Bob Annibale is Global Director of Citi Microfinance. He leads the bank’s commercial relationships with microfinance institutions, on a multi-business and product basis, providing financing and product partnerships to institutions that serve the poor and the unbanked.

He joined Citibank in 1982. After a first assignment in Greece, he held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions at Citi in Athens, Bahrain, Kenya, London and New York.  Mr. Annibale completed his BA degrees in History and Political Science at Vassar College and his Masters Degree in African Studies (History) at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

Mr. Annibale served on the Board of Advisors for the United Nations High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. He represents Citi on the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange, on the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds and with the Microfinance Network. He also serves on a number of other external boards and councils.

by Radhika Chandrasekhar -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 3rd International Microfinance Country Forum 2009, November 21, 2009, Islamabad, Pakistan

Event Name: 3rd International Microfinance Country Forum 2009

Event Location: Islamabad, Pakistan (Specific location unspecified)

Event Description: The day-long conference, with emphasis on “Mass Accessibility & User-friendly Resources” will include five interactive sessions, where speakers and practitioners from government, NGOs, trade and international bodies will present their papers to provide insight and suggest recommendations for policy reform. The conference aims to facilitate dialogue and deliberations among the industrial and economic experts for taking microfinance in Pakistan to the next level. It is designed to attract Pakistan’s biggest assembly of microfinance practitioners, the regulatory and facilitating bodies, key stakeholders and the national print & electronic media.

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

by Zoran Stanisljevic -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen Foundation and Women’s World Banking Express Concern Over the Potential Crisis in Punjab, Pakistan’s Microfinance Sector

According to the Business Recorder (a Pakistani Daily Newspaper), the Grameen Foundation (GF) and Women’s World Banking (WWB), recently urged Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take swift action to support the microfinance sector and help curtail inappropriate interventions by local politicians. While detail regarding the exact cause and nature of the elected representatives’ involvement is currently unspecified, President Alex Counts of GF in Washington DC and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of WWB in New York City, expressed concern. The letter states that heads of the two U.S. non-profit support organizations for microfinance are “concerned that the microfinance sector in Pakistan is under threat. The intervention of some local elected representatives has given rise to a crisis, a situation, which has damaged the reputation of the microfinance sector in Pakistan and could lead to a major crisis with national as well as international implications.”

by Melissa Alvarez -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Women Advancing Microfinance NY Present Women’s World Banking’s new publication Panel Discussion New York, April 16th

Transforming the Landscape of Leadership in Microfinance:  Maintaining the Focus on Women

 April 16, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. 

by Yanni Hao -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Female Empowerment and the Promise of Microfinance, by Roshaneh Zafar

Social entrepreneur Roshaneh Zafar, Founder and Managing Director of Pakistan’s third largest microfinance institution the Kashf Foundation, wrote an article entitled “Female Empowerment and the Promise of Microfinance” published on January 20th, 2009 in Pakistan International News. The article summarizes the credit sources available to the impoverished in developing countries, and elucidates how microfinance can help the “unbankable” poor, especially women, break out of the vicious circle of debt and poverty. The full article is available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=157976

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen-Jameel and Blue Orchard’s Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium Concludes that Microfinance in Arab World Totals US $5.5 billion

The Arab microfinance industry, with an estimated total market of USD 5.5 billion in the Arab world, remains a largely untapped area, it was reported in multiple Arab-based newspapers following the 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium held on November 30, 2008. The Symposium had a total of fifteen speakers, including speakers from Grameen-Jameel, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Blue Orchard Finance, and a variety of other organizations involved in microfinance, although the majority of the press focused on the presentation by Heather Henyon, the General Manager of Grameen-Jameel. The microfinance institutions (MFIs) on the MFI Panel included Jordan’s Tamweelcom, Egypt’s DBACD, Tunisia’s enda inter-arabe, and Pakistan’s Kashf Foundation. Additionally, more than 150 delegates from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia and Pakistan discussed the potential of the microfinance industry in the Arab region. The 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium was co-hosted by Grameen-Jameel, a social-oriented business based in Dubai, and BlueOrchard, a microfinance investment manager located in Geneva, Switzerland and was covered in this MicroCapital Event.

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Acumen Fund Invests 2.8 Million into Development and Microfinance Programs in Pakistan

Acumen Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in sustainable development operations, announced four new investments in Pakistan. The investments amount to over USD 2.8 million. Acumen Fund began investing in Pakistan in 2002 with a focus on the housing sector, providing slum-dwellers with affordable legal housing and infrastructure alternatives, as well as financial services that allowed low-income clients to improve their homes and supplement their incomes. Acumen Fund has since expanded its focus to address the broader set of critical issues keeping the majority of the population of 160 million people in poverty.