MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Confirms Launch of New Fee-Based Features in Mid-2011

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the US–based nonprofit data provider, recently announced that it will launch new features on a fee basis in mid-2011. MIX previously announced the launch of a pilot effort to allow the public to test -drive the fee-based features, as was covered by MicroCapital.org in June 2010 [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Prisma is First Fully Certified User of Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)

Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has announced that “Asociacion Benefica Prisma”, a Peru-based microfinance institution (MFI), has become the first fully certified user of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases Benchmarking Reports on West Africa and Arab Region

Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit, US-based data provider, recently released its “2010 WAEMU – Microfinance Analysis & Benchmarking Report “ and “2010 Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report”.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Analyzes Profitability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)

Data collected by Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the US-based nonprofit data provider, contradicts the idea that the commercialization of microfinance is increasing the vulnerability of low-income households [1] [2].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Updates Review of Yunus’s Classification of Interest Rates, Argues Against Interest Rate Caps

The US-based nonprofit data provider Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently published an updated review of the methodology for categorizing microcredit interest rates proposed by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus in his book “Creating a World Without Poverty”. The review, which uses 2009 data from approximately 1,020 microfinance institutions (MFIs) covering approximately 88 million borrowers, updates the findings of the previous review presented by MIX that uses 2008 data.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Symphony Global Hosts Mobile Payments & NFC (Near Field Communications) Asia 2011, Hong Kong, July 13 to 14

Event Name: Mobile Payments & NFC (Near Field Communications) Asia 2011

Event Date: July 13 – July 14, 2011, with a post-conference workshop on July 15, 2011

Event Location: Eaton Smart Hotel, Hong Kong

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Eases Access to Social Performance Data of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Announces 11 Social Performance Indicators in Conjunction With Social Performance Task Force (SPTF)

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the US-based provider of data relating to microfinance, now offers social performance data on microfinance institutions (MFIs) directly from each MFI profile on mixmarket.org.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Al Amal Bank of Yemen Wins Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010

Al Amal Bank, a microfinance bank in Yemen, will be awarded USD 104,000 for winning the Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010, a contest that promotes the design of Shariah-compliant products for Islamic microfinance clients. Al Amal’s proposal for the competition was to test-run an Islamic leasing product, funding the pilot through its Islamic investment product and achieving operational and financial sustainability by 2012.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “Microfinance Market Report for Latin America and Caribbean 2010”

Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that provides business, financial and operational information on the microfinance sector, has recently released the “Microfinance Market Report for Latin America and Caribbean 2010”.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Microfinance Network (IMFN) Launches in Pakistan, Will Serve Shariah Microlenders Worldwide

Islamic Microfinance Network (IMFN) has recently launched in Pakistan with the aim to provide a common platform for Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. Headquartered in Lahore, the network is also looking to establish regional offices in Ghana, Mauritius and the Middle East.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Expands Microinsurance in Kenya and Rwanda through Syngenta, International Livestock Research Institute, MicroEnsure

Recently, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an organization under the World Bank Group that has been a significant source of financing for the microfinance industry, agreed to confer to three microinsurance projects in East Africa a grant of USD 4.1 million, which is expected to allow 35,000 farmers and 5,000 livestock herders in Rwanda and Kenya to protect their crops and livestock from natural disasters.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Launches $250m Microfinance Risk Participation Program

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), an international development organization based in Manila, Philippines, approved a Microfinance Risk Participation Program to increase microfinance lending in its member developing countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Funded by MasterCard Foundation to Expand Data Coverage Among Microfinance Organizations (MFIs) in Africa

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance data clearinghouse, has received a USD 2 million grant from the MasterCard Foundation, a private Canadian foundation that seeks to alleviate poverty through microfinance and education, to improve information sharing among microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa and the visibility of those organizations outside the region.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Invests in Microfinance through $10m Equity Placement in Shorecap II Fund

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), an international development organization based in Manila, Philippines, announced that it will be making an equity investment of up to USD 10 million in Shorecap II Fund (SCII), the successor to Shorecap International (SCI), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) established in 2003.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AlHuda CIBE, NAYMET Sign MoU to Develop Islamic Microfinance Products in Pakistan

AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE), an organization that promotes Islamic banking and finance through research and advisory services, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Naziran Yousaf Memorial Trust (NAYMET) Islamic Microfinance, a Pakistani nonprofit organization, to develop NAYMET’s Islamic microfinance products.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Munich Re Foundation, International Labour Organization (ILO) Announce Microinsurance Has Potential to Reach 3 Billion People

Munich Re Foundation, a nonprofit founded by German reinsurer Munich Re, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, announced in advance of a microinsurance conference in Manila, Philippines, that unnamed studies indicate microinsurance has the potential to reach three billion people.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Receives Funding From Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Ford Foundation to Expand Social Performance Initiative

Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a source of financial and social performance data on microfinance institutions (MFIs), funders and service providers, has received grants from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Ford Foundation to expand its Social Performance Information Program.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Campaign Partners With African Microfinance Network (AFMIN) and Plan International to Promote Client Protection Among African and Asian MFIs

The Smart Campaign, an initiative housed at the Center for Financial Inclusion to promote the use of a set of client protection principles, has partnered with the African Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of African microfinance networks, and Plan International, a UK-based children’s development organization, to promote and institutionalize client protection among microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout Africa and Asia.