The Ugandan federal government recently announced in its 2013/14 budget a proposed ten-percent tax on all mobile money transactions in the country.
Search Results for: Ghana
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA to Create Tunisian Microfinance Institution Advans Tunisie
Advans SA SICAR (Advans SA), a microfinance investment vehicle managed by Horus Development Finance of France, recently announced plans to start Advans Tunisie, a microfinance institution (MFI) that will apply for a license from the Tunisian Ministry of Finance with the aim of launching before December 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Reveals Truth in Lending Tables Data Platform and Pricing Transparency Index
MicroFinance Transparency (MFTransparency), a US-based nongovernmental organization that provides information on microcredit products and their prices, recently revealed the Truth in Lending Tables (TILT) Data Platform that displays the interest rates and fees charged to 40 million microfinance clients of 429 institutions across 20 countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Bank Launches Sustainable Pioneer, Sustainable Equity Retail Funds
Triodos Bank, a for-profit financial institution based in the Netherlands, has launched two new investment funds, the Sustainable Pioneer Fund and the Sustainable Equity Fund.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog, Kinnevik Invest $7m in Mobile Microinsurance Provider Bima
LeapFrog Investments, a Mauritius-based investor in insurance providers operating in emerging markets, recently announced plans to invest USD 4.3 million to take a stake of undisclosed size in Bima, a Sweden-based mobile microinsurance provider that operates in emerging markets in Africa and Asia.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Global Mobile Money Adoption Survey, Eye Care for El Salvador’s “Base of the Pyramid,” Financial Needs in Rwanda
“State of the Industry: Results from the 2012 Mobile Money Adoption Survey;” by Claire Penicuad; published by Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s (GSMA’s) Mobile Money for the Unbanked program; 2012; 36 pages; available at http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MMU_State_of_industry.pdf
This report presents the results of the Global Mobile Money Adoption Survey, launched by GSMA’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked program “to allow mobile money service providers to benchmark their performance against their peers in the industry.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ingenico of France Launches Mobile Biometric Identification Service, iWB Bio Series
Ingenico, an electronic payment solutions company based in France, has announced the launch of a mobile fingerprint identification service called the iWB Bio Series, which is a mobile biometric identification device that allows financial institutions and governments to identify individuals who have do not have standard forms of identification.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Younger People in Kenya More Open to “Game Changer” of Buying Investment, Insurance Products by Mobile Phone
In July 2012, Old Mutual Kenya (OMK), a Nairobi-based investment subsidiary of UK-based Old Mutual Group, launched i-Invest, a platform that offers investment products that can be purchased via M-Pesa, a service of a Kenya-based mobile operator Safaricom.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP, Grameen Foundation, Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Uganda to Finance $1m Mobile Finance Product Research and Development Initiative
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit research and policy center, the Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that seeks to increase business opportunities and telecommunication services for poor people in rural areas, and Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Uganda, the Ugandan arm of South African telecommunications company MTN Group, recently announced plans to launch an initiative to research and develop new mobile financial products.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Launches Mobile Banking Service in Chad to Compete with Airtel
Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, has launched A mobile banking operations in Chad.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Launch Transparent Pricing Initiative in Morocco in Partnership with Netherlands Platform for Microfinance, Planet Rating, Centre Mohammed VI de Soutien a la Microfinance Solidaire
MicroFinance Transparency (MFTransparency), a US-based NGO, is bringing its “Transparent Pricing Initiative” to Morocco.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International, MicroEnsure Launch Savings-Linked Education Insurance Program, EduSave, in Malawi
Opportunity International, a US-based development nonprofit, and its subsidiary MicroEnsure, a UK-based nonprofit microinsurance intermediary, have announced the launch in Malawi of a savings-linked education insurance product called EduSave.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure to Retail “Triple 10” Microinsurance in the Philippines
MicroEnsure, a UK-based nonprofit microinsurance intermediary, has partnered with Bankers Assurance Corporation, a Filipino for-profit insurance company, and MI Central Corporation, a Filipino marketing and distribution company, to roll out a retail microinsurance product called Triple 10 in the Philippines.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Uganda’s Insurance Regulator, Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A), Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) Seek to Expand Access to Microinsurance, Perhaps Mobile Money
The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), Uganda’s insurance industry regulator, reportedly is partnering with Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A), a multilateral platform that aims to coordinate financial sector activities among African governments, and the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), a global program hosted by Germany’s international cooperation agency (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), to create regulation that make access to microinsurance more efficient, mainly for low-income earners.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 6th African Microfinance Conference, August 13 – 15, 2013, Durban, South Africa
Event Name: 6th African Microfinance Conference: “Financial Inclusion: From Policy to Practice”
Event Date: August 13 – 15, 2013
Event Location: International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mobile Money Africa Conference & Expo, May 27 – 29, 2013, Johannesburg, South Africa
Event Name: Mobile Money Africa Conference & Expo 2013
Event Date: May 27 – 29, 2013
Event Location: Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: New Urban Finance Facility for Africa Invests $100m in Housing Microfinance in Africa, Middle East
The New Urban Finance Facility for Africa (NUF), an impact investing facility that supports housing microfinance, is investing USD 100 million to fund microfinance housing schemes in Africa and the Middle East, with initial investments going to Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the West Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel Mobile Money Service Expands to Post Offices in Madagascar
Airtel, an Indian telecommunications company, reportedly has extended its mobile banking service, Airtel Money, in Madagascar by making the service available in 170 post offices in the country.