The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in Africa and other emerging markets, has partnered with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a UN initiative to increase access to microfinance and other forms of investment capital for small businesses and individuals in developing countries, to expand the UNCDF Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) program.
Search Results for: microfinance financial crisis
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Liberia Investing for Business Expansion (IBEX) Provides Technical Support, Access to $860k in Credit to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Via Banks
The Liberia Investing for Business Expansion (IBEX) program, a project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that focuses on improving access to financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by linking them with banks, provided clients in the agriculture, construction and trade sectors with access to loans totaling USD 860,000 from July to September 2014.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), Proxfin Members Endorse Draft Declaration on Food Security, Job Creation, Access to Healthcare
On the occasion of the recently convened International Summit of Cooperatives, Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian nonprofit corporation that specializes in providing technical support and investment for the community finance sector in emerging economies; the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), a Belgium-based nonprofit with 271 member cooperatives in 94 countries; and microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are members of the Proxfin Network, an international network of 30 community finance institutions coordinated by DID, endorsed a Draft Declaration to tackle the “challenges of food security,” “employment crisis,” and “access to health care and services”[1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Seeks Responses to “Global Pulse Survey on Responsible Digital Finance” by August 8, 2014
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based, nonprofit policy and research center that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, has launched its “Global Pulse Survey on Responsible Digital Finance”[1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Assist Central Bank of Morocco with Credit Information Sharing Regulations
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it will assist the Central Bank of Morocco (CBM), also known as Bank Al-Maghrib, with the development of laws and regulations regarding credit information sharing among lenders.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: American Refugee Committee (ARC) Sells Liberia-based Liberty Finance to DCRB Investments
The American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance in Africa, Asia, Haiti, and the Middle East, recently announced that it has sold its Liberia-based microfinance institution, Liberty Finance, to DCRB Investments (DCRB), a private investment company based in Liberia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: South Africa’s Futuregrowth Asset Management to Curtail Investments in Microlenders Distributing “Unsecured” Loans
Futuregrowth Asset Management, a South-Africa based investment company, recently announced that it will curtail its investments in microlenders that advance “unsecure” loans without collateral, which allegedly often results in borrowers receiving loans that they are unable to repay [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: NGOs, Government Unite In Effort to Increase Savings Group Membership to 50m Worldwide by 2020
A group of government and nonprofit organizations recently launched “50 by 2020,” an initiative with the goal of increasing the number of savings group members worldwide from 7.5 million to 50 million by 2020.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: YouthStart Supports Opening of 40,000 Savings Accounts, Grants $640k to Faitiere des Unites Cooperatives d’Epargne et de Credit du Togo (FUCEC)
YouthStart, a program that aims to increase access to financial services for low-income youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, recently reported that approximately 40,000 young people in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda have opened savings accounts with YouthStart’s partner institutions and deposited approximately USD 550,000 into those accounts since September 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Lends $1m to Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico Rural (FUNDESER) of Nicaragua
Belgian microfinance fund manager Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) recently loaned USD 1 million to Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico Rural (FUNDESER), a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization (NGO), through a fund it manages, the Rural Impulse Fund II.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $13m to Ohridska Banka of Macedonia to Increase Lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has loaned EUR 10 million (USD 13.1 million) to Macedonia’s Ohridska Banka “to increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises and boost economic recovery in the country.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Event Highlights SafeSave’s Asset-Building Microloan Product “P9”
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently hosted an event entitled “How Can Microfinance Extend Social Protection in Asian Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs)?” The P9 program, which was developed by Bangladeshi microbank SafeSave, was highly praised.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Foundation Prizma of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borrows $2.7 m in Local Currency from Nova Banka, BOR Bank
Microcredit Foundation Prizma, a microfinance institution located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has reported to MicroCapital that it received loans equivalent to USD 2.7 million in local currency from Nova Banka, a private Bosnian bank, and BOR Bank, also of Bosnia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Focus Note Distributed at Fifth African Microcredit Conference Lauds Morocco as a “Microcredit Champion,” Contrary to Past Reports Expressing Concern
At the recently concluded Fifth African Microcredit Conference, which was held in Ethiopia, a focus note reportedly commended the Moroccan microcredit sector, remarking that from 2003 to 2007 microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) loan portfolio “multiplied 11 times and client outreach by four” in the country [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU’) “2010 Statistical Report” Announces 12% Increase in Credit Union Deposit Holdings, 10% Increase in Reserves
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based membership organization representing 41 national-level credit union member trade groups, recently released its “2010 Statistical Report,” which is based on data from credit unions from 100 countries and reports a 12-percent increase in aggregate credit union savings from USD 1.1 trillion in 2009 to USD 1.23 trillion in 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $20m to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA)-Credit Agricole Bank to Increase Lending to Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently loaned USD 20 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA)-Credit Agricole Bank to increase lending to farmers and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the agribusiness sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Insurance Provider Tokio Marine Middle East Eyes Expansion in Egypt, Sees Political Shake-Up as Opportunity for Microinsurance
Ajmal Bhatty, chief executive of Tokio Marine Middle East, a “takaful” (Islamic insurance) provider based in Dubai, reportedly has stated that the recent political turmoil in Egypt will create a greater need for financial protection in the country and will hence provide Tokio Marine an opportunity to further extend its takaful services to the Egyptian market.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of the United Kingdom Loans $50m to Russian Automotive Leasing Company Europlan to Meet Demand From Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an investment bank headquartered in the United Kingdom, will loan up to RUB 1.5 billion (USD 50 million) to Europlan, a Russian automotive leasing company, to meet rising demand for leases from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Russia.