Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited, a subsidiary of UK-based Standard Chartered PLC, has closed a PKR 600 million (USD 6.95 million), two-year loan to Tameer Micro Finance Bank Limited, a licensed commercial bank that provides microfinance services in Pakistan. As of December 31, 2008, Tameer has total assets of USD 29.1 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 11.5 million and 43,000 active borrowers.
Search Results for: cgap
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Signs United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Development (PRI), Will Promote PRI Through Events in Emerging Markets
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently signed the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Development (PRI), a framework that demonstrates the signatories’ commitment to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment processes—including those in the microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PlaNet Finance, Oliver Wyman Publish Report on Mobile Technology Providing Access to Finance Beyond Simple Payments
PlaNet Finance, a France-based non-governmental organization (NGO) with the mission of developing microfinance, and Oliver Wyman, a US-based management consulting company, have published a joint report exploring the ability of mobile technology to provide access to a wide range of financial products beyond simple mobile payments. Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based private foundation, the report examines distribution strategies and “second-generation” mobile microfinance products piloted in West Africa and Southeast Asia.
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: Ugandan Ministry of Finance Reports that 71 Percent of Population Saves, Including 4 Percent Through Microfinance Institutions
The Commissioner for Microfinance within the Ministry of Finance, Mr Moses Kaggwa, recently presented a paper indicating that at least 71 percent of Ugandans aged 16 and above are engaged in some form of saving.
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.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Associations Social Performance Working Group of Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) Authors “Donor Strategies for Advancing Social Performance through Microfinance Associations”
The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, recently published a technical note authored by SPTF’s Social Performance Working Group for Associations that highlights the proceedings of their meeting during the Social Performance Task Force Annual Meeting in June 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Crowd of 20,000 Protests Bangladesh Bank Attempts to Remove Dr Yunus as Managing Director of Microfinance Institution (MFI) Grameen Bank, US Secretary of State Clinton Among Those Offering Support
An estimated 20,000 employees and customers of Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi microfinance institution (MFI) that manages total assets of USD 1.4 billion, convened in protest against the move of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, to dismiss Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus as managing director of the MFI [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Imp-Act Consortium Announces Release of Social Performance Management (SPM) Guidance Notes
Imp-Act Consortium, a member-based organization that focuses on social performance in microfinance, recently released the “Social Performance Management Guidance Notes”, which consists of four publications that include guidance on implementing operational strategy, internal control, risk management and staff incentives in microfinance institutions (MFIs) while incorporating social performance.
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.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Banana Skins 2011, the CSFI Survey of Microfinance Risk, by David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, Published by Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI)
By David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, February 2011, 48 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.49643/Microfinance_Banana_Skins_2011.pdf
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: Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) Releases “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011” Report, a Survey of Microfinance Risk
The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), a nonprofit think tank that was established in the United Kingdom in 1993, recently published “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011,” CSFI’s third survey of the global microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL REPORT: “Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance” Launched at Responsible Finance Forum in The Hague, Netherlands
A group of 40 global investors in the microfinance industry, including US retirement planning firm TIAA-CREF and several microfinance investment vehicles (MIV), recently launched a set of guiding principles for investing in the microfinance industry at the Responsible Finance Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. The initiative – titled “Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance” – is reportedly the brainchild of Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, and a core group of Dutch investors, including; Triodos, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV); Goodwell, a for-profit social investment outfit; Oikocredit, a cooperative investment fund; PGGM, an investment and pension firm; and SNS Asset Management, an institutional investment group. The group and Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima developed the principles together with CGAP and the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a network of international investors created to promote the practice of responsible investing.
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”.