The World Council of Credit Unions’ Young Credit Union People (WYCUP) Scholarship Program recently announced the agenda for its four-day program to take place in Gdansk, Poland, from July 15, 2012 – July 18, 2012.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Initiative for Public Policy Analysis Calls for Regulation of Nigeria’s Payment Card Market
The Initiative for Public Policy Analysis, a Nigerian nonprofit public policy research institute, recently held an event to share its preliminary findings from research on the regulation of payment cards in Nigeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) Expand Platform SME Toolkit in Qatar
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the nonprofit Qatar Development Bank (QDB) have launched the SME Toolkit, an online platform, in Qatar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard to Launch Mobile Phone-based Financial Services Worldwide
US-based financial services corporation MasterCard International reportedly plans to launch the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program worldwide “to give consumers who lack access to traditional financial services the ability to purchase goods and services using mobile phones” and allowing them to “transfer funds and pay bills.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bankers of Kenya, Tanzania Promote Africa Mobile Financial Services Policy Initiative
The governors of the central banks of Kenya and Tanzania recently called for policy and regulatory efforts to encourage the use of mobile financial services (MFS) throughout Africa.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Affordability, Profitability and Use of Electronic G2P Payment Systems, March 14, 2012, Online Chat
Event Name: Affordability, Profitability and Use of Electronic G2P Payment Systems
Event Date: 11:00 am to 11:30 am eastern US time, March 14, 2012
Event Location: Online
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Telefonica’s “mWallet” to Enable Mobile Payments in South America, Europe
Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica and Sybase 365, a division of German software firm SAP, reportedly are developing mWallet, a mobile wallet that will “allow Telefonica’s 300 million customers in 26 countries around the world make mobile financial transactions.”
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Challenge of Understanding Pricing of Micro-loans,” by Chuck Waterfield, Published by MicroFinance Transparency
By Chuck Waterfield, Published by MicroFinance Transparency, June 2011, 10 pages, http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.1.9115/The-Challenge-of-Understanding-Pricing-of-Micro-Loans_Jun2011_ENG.pdf.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Benefit Corporation Type Allows Companies to Balance Societal Benefit, Profits
Laws now exist in seven US states recognizing a form of organization called “benefit corporations” (B-corps), which aim to balance societal and financial benefit.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Hanson Wade MF Tech 2012 Conference, June 26-27, 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Event Name: MF Tech 2012 Conference
Event Date: June 26 to June 27, 2012
Event Location:Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Lend $25m to Financiera Creditos Arequipa S.A. (Financiera Crear) of Peru
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, will provide USD 25 million to Financiera Creditos Arequipa SA (Financiera Crear), a Peruvian microfinance company.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Growth Fund (MiGroF) Ends 2011 with $85m in Loans Outstanding to Microfinance Institutions in Latin America
The Microfinance Growth Fund (MiGroF), which is managed by Switzerland’s BlueOrchard Finance to support Latin American microfinance institutions, closed 2011 with USD 85 million in outstanding loans and USD 23 million in uninvested capital.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), World Bank Launch Envia Centro America to Promote Transparency in Remittance Activity
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA in Spanish), a Mexico-based association of Latin American central banks; the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank Group; and the World Bank recently launched Envía Centro America, a free online tool that allows users to compare the cost and speed of sending remittances from the United States to seven Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, as well as from Costa Rica to Nicaragua.
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.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mobile Money Connected Africa Forum Conference & Expo, May 14-17, 2012, South Africa
Event Name: “Mobile Money Connected Africa Forum Conference & Expo”
Event Date: May 14 – 17, 2012
Event Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Willingness to Pay for Business Correspondents in India, Health Microinsurance Third Party Payment Mechanisms, Accenture Development Partners Report on Microinsurance
“The Answer is ‘Yes’—Cost and Willingness to Pay in India;” by Akhand Tiwari, Akhilesh Singh, Ann-Byrd Platt, Graham A N Wright, Minakshi Ramji and Sachin Bansal; published by MicroSave; 2011; 16 pages; available at http://ami.microsave.org/sites/default/files/research_papers/CWP_Summary…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $4m to ACLEDA Bank, Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) of Cambodia
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans amounting to USD 4 million to Cambodian financial institutions ACLEDA Bank and Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases 2010 Latin America & the Caribbean Regional Snapshot
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based nonprofit organization that publishes financial and social performance information from microfinance stakeholders, recently released an analysis of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America and the Caribbean based on 2010 data.