Jamii Bora Trust, a Kenya-based microfinance institution (MFI), has teamed up with Seattle, Washington-based non-profit MFI Unitus to launch an ecologically friendly town in Kenya, Africa. It is estimated that approximately 2, 500 families will purchase homes with microloans in Kaputei, a 160-hectare plot of land located 22 miles (36 kilometers) away from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. In June 2009, 700 homes had been built, or in the process of being built. By the end of the project, 2, 000 homes are expected to be constructed.
Search Results for: Mexico
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Banco Compartamos and Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Inc. Raise Funds in Mexican Corporate Bond and Philippine Corporate Note Markets Worth Ps. 1,000 million (USD 75.8 Million) and USD 10.4 Million, Respectively
In August of 2009 two microfinance institutions (MFIs) raised funds through offerings in capital markets. One was Compartamos Banco of Mexico[1], which raised funds in the corporate bond market, and the other was CARD of Philippines, which raised funds in the corporate note market [3,4,].
NEWS WIRE: United States: Time Magazine Publishes Answers to Ten Questions by Muhammad Yunus
Source: Time.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Financiera Independencia (Independencia) Announced Increase in Line of Credit With Government-Backed Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal (SHF) From Ps. 600 Million (USD 45.2 Million) to Ps. 700 Million (USD 52.7 Million)
Financiera Independencia (Independencia), a microfinance bank based in Mexico City, has received an increased credit line from Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal (SHF), a government-backed bank that provides funding and guarantees for financial institutions [1,2,3]. The line of credit has now reached 700 million pesos (USD 52.7 million) from the previous amount of 600 million pesos (USD 45.2 million) [3]. The fund will mature in March 2011, which makes it the earliest maturity of all of Independencia’s funds [3]. Independencia’s Chief Executive Officer Noel Gonzalez has commented that the funding “[has brought the bank] one step closer in achieving [its] goal of diversifying funding sources in the medium term so that no single source represents more than 25% of the company’s debt” [3].
PRESS RELEASE: CGAP Releases Focus Note: AML/CFT: Strengthening Financial Inclusion and Integrity
Source: CGAP.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Central Bank of Brazil’s I Forum on Financial Inclusion
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The Central Bank of Brazil’s Financial System Organization Department Hosts The I Central Bank Forum on Financial Inclusion as Part of the Department’s Financial Inclusion Project; November 16-18, 2009 in Salvador, Brazil
Event Name: The I Central Bank Forum on Financial Inclusion
Event Description: Microfinance seminars centered around forging “joint partnerships” with the goal of a “sustainable and inclusive financial system”
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
Summary of Event: The 16th-17th will consist of workshops and lectures by experts on technical microfinance aspects. The 18th will provide opportunities for players in the microfinance sector to hold meetings with the intention of creating “partnerships and projects”
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Unitus and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Collaborate to Increase Use of Social Performance Management Among Microfinance Institutions
A recent press release announced a new program to be implemented by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in association with Unitus, an international non-profit organization specializing in microfinance. The Social Performance Management Implementation Project (SPM IP) will be launched in India to measure the impact of microfinance institutions (MFIs) on the borrowers who work with them. Social performance management is a program used to assess an organizations goals, its progress towards these goals, and the need for improving process to strengthen future performance.
MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Elissa McCarter, Director of the Office of Development Finance for NGO, CHF International (Part three of a three part series)
Founded in 1952, CHF International (CHF) has worked in over 100 countries and currently operates in more than 25 nations. CHF’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities around the world, helping people improve their social, economic, and environmental conditions. One component of fulfilling that mission has been improving access to financial services. In the last five years, CHF International has disbursed over 200,000 loans totaling more than USD 482 million and has a particular niche in establishing microfinance programs in conflict, post-conflict, and post-disaster settings. CHF currently oversees lending operations in 11 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. As of June 2009, CHF International had assets under management of over USD 200 million (microfinance portfolio outstanding of USD 107.6 million plus middle market portfolio outstanding of USD 93.5 million).
Elissa McCarter, Director of the Office of Development Finance that oversees Microfinance, SME and Housing Finance Initiatives at CHF International (CHF)
PRESS RELEASE: Mexican Microfinance Institution Compartamos Triples Bond Issue to $115m
Source: PR Newswire.
NEWS WIRE: Cambodia: Transparency Meets Microfinance
Source: Asia Times Online.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Mexican Microfinance Institution Banco Compartamos Reports Second Quarter Results; Wall Street Journal Analysts See the Bank’s Target Market to be Largely ‘Recession Proof’
Banco Compartamos, a Mexican microfinance bank, announced its non-audited financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2009. The figures were announced in pesos and have been converted here to US dollars. The figures adhere to the requirements of the Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), the Mexican banking and securities regulator [4]. Compartamos underwent an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April 2007, and has since been publicly traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange. The highlights of the report were the net income increase of 31 percent compared to the same quarter of last year. The result gains more significance when the global financial recession and performance of the overall banking system is taken into account. While filing the report with the Mexican Stock Exchange, the bank has stated that Net profit was Ps 327 million (USD 24.7 million), up from the Ps.249 million (USD 18.8 million) recorded in the second quarter of 2008. Earnings per Share (EPS) was Ps.0.76, up from the Ps.0.58 per share for the second quarter of 2008 [1].
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Impact Assessments in Finance and Private Sector Development, by David McKenzie for the World Bank
For discussion of this topic, click here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/forum/topics/papers-and-research-reviews; and http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/forum/topics/impact-what-are-the-social
Written by David McKenzie for the World Bank, released May 2009 as a policy research working paper, 31 pages, available at: http://collab2.cgap.org//gm/document-1.9.35106/Impact%20assessments%20in%20finance%20and%20private%20sector%20development_what%20have%20we%20learned%20and%20what%20should%20we%20learn.pdf
In this paper, the author explores the proposition that the area of finance and private sector development can benefit from impact evaluations [1]. Impact evaluations can assess the efficacy of a program or policy by comparing it against a counterfactual of what would have happened without the program or policy [1]. He argues that this is one of the most important tools that can be used along with economic theory for understanding “what works” [1].
MICROCAPITAL STORY: MFX Solutions Inc. (MFX) in Washington D.C., USA Launches Hedging Operations Dedicated to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
MFX Solutions Inc. (MFX), a new company based in Washington D.C. in the United States dedicated to providing microfinance currency risk solutions announced the launch of its hedging operations recently, according to a press release on the electronic news and information portal PR NewsWire. With the launch, MFX, in keeping with its mission to ‘make sure that existing flows of microfinance lending are not disrupted by currency devaluation’, will focus on making modern hedging instruments accessible to microfinance lenders in developing countries. As per information available on their website, MFX will focus on ‘high-risk markets in Africa and elsewhere where hedging can have a transformative effect’. Additionally, MFX will also create education programs in the form of easy-to-use web-based tools designed to help MFI managers analyze the risks they face under different economic scenarios. (PR Newswire is headquartered in New York, USA and is a subsidiary of the London based global business media company United Business MediaPlc).
MICROCAPITAL STORY: M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Awards Global Partnerships in the United States with a $180,000 Capacity-Building Grant to Expand Its Microfinance Investment Funds
Global Partnerships (GP), a Seattle non-profit organization founded in 1994 that funds microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America, has received a USD 180,000 grant to help manage its loan funds. The three-year grant comes from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a private grantmaking foundation for the Pacific Northwest based in Vancouver, Washington and established in 1975. As of 2007, GP has fund assets worth USD 10.5 million whereas the Murdock Trust had USD 892 million in assets. As stated in GP’s press release, elements of the grant-supported project will include building GP’s staff capacity to manage the growth of its funds, broadening GP’s base of investors, and creating a knowledge management system to manage and analyze fund data. This project is part of GP’s greater objective to augment management of its three investment funds and improve its management and tracking of fund data. Moreover, GP plans to expand into Mexico this summer, its eighth country. As stated on the Murdock Trust’s website, the grant will primarily be used to hire a new director of investment operations to manage GP’s microfinance investment programs.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Opportunity International’s MicroEnsure of the United Kingdom to Launch Microinsurance Program for Climate Change and Crop Failure in India
MicroEnsure, an insurance intermediary established in 2005, stated that it plans to launch a microinsurance scheme next year for up to 600,000 farmers in India’s Kolhapur province. MicroEnsure is also a subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global non-profit microfinance network, which was formed in 1974, has assets totaling USD 736 million as of 2007 and lends to over 1 million people globally. The plan will insure farmers against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains. Furthermore, the plan is to help farmers access larger loans to pay for seeds and equipment. According to the World Bank, India’s rural population account for about 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, and most of the rural poor rely on rain-fed agriculture.
CGAP Microfinance Dealbook: May 2009 Transactions
The CGAP Microfinance Dealbook publicizes microfinance capital market transactions in an effort to bring greater transparency to the industry. This information is made freely available as a public service. Parties to microfinance transactions are encouraged to submit their deals to this effort. The following deals were collected for May 2009:
MICROCAPITAL STORY: BlueOrchard Finance Disburses Over USD 28m to Microfinance Institutions in May
BlueOrchard Finance disbursed over USD 28 million in loans to 13 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in May. As reported to the CGAP Microfinance Dealbook, BlueOrchard Finance loaned USD 15.5 million through the Dexia Micro-Credit Fund and USD 1 million through the BBVA Codespa Microfinance Fund. BlueOrchard is also an advisor to the Microfinance Enhancement Facility, launched by the International Finance Corporation and KfW Entwicklungsbank, which disbursed its first four loans totaling USD 12 million.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Pioneer in Microfinance Investing, Triodos Bank, Wins 2009 Sustainable Banking Award by Financial Times (FT) and International Finance Corporation (IFC); MicroEnsure and Root Capital Also Take Prizes
The Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the winners of the 2009 Sustainable Banking Awards. Triodos Bank of the Netherlands was named Sustainable Bank of the Year. Other microfinance programs were recognized, with MicroEnsure winning the award for Achievement in Basic Needs Financing, and Root Capital taking the Achievement in Banking at the Bottom of the Pyramid award.