by Zoran Stanisljevic -

MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Robert Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance (Part Two 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 Hio Kyeng Lee -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Developments in International Consumer Protection and Their Relevance to Microfinance Industry

Recent events in the global financial sector have provided the impetus for the launch of the Smart Campaign, a consumer protection campaign focusing on fair lending within the microfinance industry. Although consumer protection practices exist among many microfinance institutions, the Smart Campaign has given these principles an international focus. The architects of Smart Campaign can eventually draw from a dense tapestry of consumer protection laws, regulations, policies already developed in many countries. The challenge will be to adapt existing consumer protection laws, regulations and policies to the specific characteristics of microfinance activities.

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 Diya Chopra -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Burmese Military Authorities Plan First Microfinance Lending Program on Burma’s Western Border

Narinjara News, an internet news service run by democratic activists from Arkan State, Burma, reported plans of Burmese Military Authorities to launch the first microfinance program in Maungdaw, the westernmost part of Myanmar, Burma [1]. According to a past MicroCapital story, extensive lending in Myanmar has been limited, likely because of the region’s “unfavourable political environment stemming from the country’s military dictatorship” [2].

by Kenny Kline -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)

The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) is a strategic partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and provides professional assistance and technical support for these institutions. NMI’s investors have committed NOK 600 million (USD 100 million) for investment. There is an equal amount of public and private investment in the NMI. [1] Investors include Norfund (a development finance institution owned by the Government of Norway) and four private sector partners: Ferd, KLP, DnB NOR, and Storebrand.

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Remittance Duopoly: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Inter-American Dialogue (IAD) Hold Global Forum on Remittances Calling for More Competition in African Remittance Market

The Global Forum on Remittances 2009, organized by the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in collaboration with the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD), is calling for the lifting of restrictions and costly fees imposed on the USD 40 billion sent as remittances to Africa each year [1]. The forum, a follow-up to similar forums held in 2005 and 2007, also addressed a proposal by G8 leaders in July 2009 to reduce costs of remittances by 50 percent over the next five years [2, 3].

by the MicroCapital Team -

MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Richard Weingarten, Managing Director of the Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)

The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) is a partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that will invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. NMI will also provide professional assistance and technical support for these institutions. NMI will invest through two investment funds: the NMI Global Fund, which invests primarily in microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) focused on investments in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the NMI Frontier Fund, which invests primarily in emerging MFIs in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Investors have committed NOK 600 million (approximately USD 100 million) to the two funds. Professional and technical assistance will be provided through the NMI Professional Assistance Facility, funded by Norad, Norway’s international development agency. Investors and strategic partners of NMI include Norfund (a development finance institution owned by the government of Norway) and four private sector financial services institutions: Ferd, KLP, DnBNOR, and Storebrand.

MicroCapital: What is the background of NMI?

Richard Weingarten: The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative is a new partnership between the government of Norway (through Norfund, Norway’s development finance institution), and four private sector financial services firms. Those four firms are Storebrand, a large insurance company; KLP, a large insurance and pension fund manager; DnBNOR, the largest bank in Norway, through Vital, its insurance subsidiary; and Ferd, which is a large private equity firm. This is a true public-private partnership in the sense that the private sector partners contributed capital equally with the public sector. Total capital is about USD 100 million. One of the main purposes of the partnership was for NMI, as a special Norwegian initiative, to become a significant contributor and participant in the international microfinance community.

by Diya Chopra -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance in Egypt by Magdy Moussa

Written by Magdy Moussa, Senior Microfinance Advisor at PlaNet Finance for the Middle East and North African Region; published in January 2007 by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor’s (CGAP) Microfinance Regulation and Supervision Resource Center; number 21 of The Essays on Regulation and Supervision series, 17 pages, available at:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document1.9.27739/37060_file_Egypt_Moussa_Final_.pdf

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Finance Minister of Bangladesh Says Climate Change is Major Factor Impeding Economic Growth for Low-Income Citizens

At a conference on extreme poverty in Bangladesh, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, announced that “global climate change poses the greatest challenge today in our poverty mitigation efforts.” He added that microcredit is not the prime tool for poverty alleviation, but that it can “very well be an aid to mitigating poverty” [1, 2].

by Kenny Kline -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Gates Foundation Gives USD 35m to Alliance of 64 Countries to Train Central Bankers, Funds Managed by German Aid Agency GTZ

The global Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a coalition of developing countries committed to financial inclusion, was launched in Nairobi, Kenya, with a USD 35 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s .[2] The AFI is based in Bangkok and managed on behalf of its members by the German government development organization Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the recipient of the Gates grant. [1]

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: As Part of Malaysian Government Initiative, BMB Group and Organization of The Islamic Conference’s (OIC) International Zakat Organization (IZO) Will Launch The World Zakat Fund (WZF) in 2010 With Plans to Raise $750m in First Year

The World Zakat Fund (WZF), established as part of an initiative by the Malaysian government to alleviate poverty, will launch in the first quarter of 2010. According to a statement released to the media, it will be the world’s first Islamic charity fund [1]. The fund aims to use Zakat, “which refers to the Muslim duty of giving a fixed portion [usually 2.5 percent] of one’s wealth to the poor and needy,” for economic development and poverty alleviation [2]. The BMB Group (BMB), an alternative asset manager based in the Caymen Islands which focuses on high-profile Islamic and Eastern investors, will co-manage the fund along with the International Zakat Organization (IZO), a charitable body of the Organization of The Islamic Conference (OIC), an inter-governmental organization established in 1969 and second largest in size only to the United Nations [3]. The BMB Group is also charged with raising USD 750 million in the fund’s first year of operation.

by the MicroCapital Team -

PRESS RELEASE: United States: President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton Open Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, Which Will Include Focus on “Financing an Equitable Future”

Source: Clinton Global Initiative.

by Radhika Chandrasekhar -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Third International Conference on Micro Finance, January 22-24 2010, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India

Event Name: Third International Conference on Micro Finance

Location: Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Pondicherry – 605 014 India

Event Description: This event is a conference that aims to collaborate with National and International Research centers, and involve economists, socialists, administrators, policy makers, and NGOs, to discuss strategies and policies to eradicate poverty in India and the world through microfinance. Participants may submit contributions of original research work, which has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere to be published, reviewed, and discussed in the conference. [1]

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

by Diya Chopra -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: US Congressional Delegation Visits Opportunity International Microfinance Bank in Kigali, Rwanda to Promote Proposed US Government Funding for Human Capacity Building in Developing Countries

Mr. Gregory W. Meeks, a United States (U.S.) Congressman representing New York State’s Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives recently led a delegation to Kigali, Rwanda. The representatives met to explore the existing microfinance situation in sub-Saharan Africa, and to better understand the needs for expanding micro-banking services in the region.