The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (AID), has announced the award of its “First to Market” prize of USD 2.5 million to Jamaica-based mobile operator Digicel and its Canadian partner bank ScotiaBank as part of the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a competition created by the US-funded Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises (HIFIVE) in June 2010 to encourage partnerships between mobile operators and banks to launch mobile money programs.
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MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Do Multiple Financial Services Enhance the Poverty Outreach of Microfinance Institutions?, by Koen Rossel-Cambier, Published by Centre Emile Bernheim and Solvay Brussels School
By Koen Rossel-Cambier, published by Centre Emile Bernheim and Solvay Brussels School, December 2010, 41 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.9.49256/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Releases Updated Microfinance Management Information Software (MIS) Mifos 2.0
The Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC, that aims to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) replicate the microfinance model of Grameen Bank, has announced the release of Mifos 2.0, the latest version of its management information software (MIS) for microfinance.
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: 350 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Report to Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Social Performance Reporting Awards
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance data clearinghouse, recently argued that microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world have increased their commitment to transparency in social performance based on a surge in applications to the MIX’s 2010 Social Performance Reporting Awards, which acknowledge openness in reporting.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network Publishes Proceedings of 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Manila, Philippines
The proceedings of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference that took place on November 9-11, 2010, in Manila, Philippines, have been published by its organizers, the Munich Re Foundation, a nonprofit founded by German reinsurer Munich Re, and the Microinsurance Network, a for-profit organization that promotes the development of microinsurance products through information sharing and stakeholder organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: YouthSave Project Launches New Website Targeting Young People With Microfinance
YouthSave Project, a consortium of youth- and microfinance-focused NGOs, has launched a website that will feature the research of the YouthSave Project, as well as broader information on youth savings accounts around the globe.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Assesses Potential Impact of Recent Microfinance Regulation in India’s Andhra Pradesh State
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit that seeks to offer objective data and analysis on microfinance players, recently examined historical data from 2003 to the present from 100 MFIs in India to assess the hypothetical impact of capping interest rates at 24 percent and return on assets (ROA) at 3 percent, two limits effectively imposed by the state government on MFIs amidst the ongoing crisis in the microfinance industry in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Dominates Shariah Lending in Indonesia, Commercial Banks Take Notice
The market for Shariah loans, those that are in compliance with Islamic law, has reportedly been dominated by microloans, prompting several of Indonesia’s commercial banks to focus on offering the small loans in underserved areas.
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 PAPER WRAP-UP: Same Game, Different League: What Microfinance Institutions Can Learn From the Large Banks Corporate Governance Debate
By Maria Giovanna Pugliese, published by World Microfinance Forum Geneva, October 2010, 24 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.48253/Same_Game_Diffe…
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: Microfinance Bank Compartamos Banco, Researchers Dean Karlan of Yale University and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth University to Study How Customers Use Microfinance Products
Compartamos Banco, a microfinance bank based in Mexico, and researchers Dean Karlan of Yale University and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth University have announced that they will conduct a four-year study to determine how microfinance bank customers use financial products and to quantify the impact these products have on customers’ lives.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microfinance Investment Summit Hong Kong to Be Held December 2-3, 2010
Event Name: Microfinance Investment Summit Hong Kong
Event Date: December 2-December 3, 2010
Event Location: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hotel, 70 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CARE, Barclay’s, Oxfam, EcoBank, Others Collaborate to Expand Financial Services to Sub-Saharan Africa’s Poor
In its article “Innovations in Savings Services in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa,” the Microfinance Gateway, a service of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), highlights the collaboration between private and public sectors to connect Sub-Saharan Africa’s rural poor with financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund Release “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, in partnership with the Multilateral Investment Fund, an investment fund administered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), have recently published the “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Consider Legal Action Against New Regulations in Andhra Pradesh
Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) are considering using legal action to attempt to block regulations of MFIs proposed by the government of Andhra Pradesh.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aga Khan Foundation and First Microfinance Institution (FMFI) Use Microfinance To Alleviate Drought Related Poverty in Syria
Farmers and herders in Syria are being targeted with microfinance in an effort to relieve drought-related poverty.