The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of connecting microenterprise practitioners, has recently announced that it will be adding updates and new standards to its “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative,” a voluntary compliance effort to bring together stakeholders on reporting standards for MFIs. The “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative” is an update to SEEP Network’s 2005 financial performance publication entitled “Measuring Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Framework for Reporting, Analysis, and Monitoring” (SEEP FRAMEWORK).
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases, “Microfinance Funders Profiles – A Short Guide for Young and Small Institutions Still Looking for a Match,” by Adrian Gonzalez
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Lead Researcher, Mr Adrian Gonzalez, recently authored a report published by MIX discussing the funding sources for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the lowest quartile in terms of size, age, profitability and portfolio quality.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases Initial Set of “Country Briefings” Covering Morocco, Kenya, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Peru
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released its first set of “Country Briefings” which provide information on microfinance institution (MFI) performance, funding structure and supply and demand.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “2009 Africa Microfinance Analysis & Benchmarking Report” in French
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released a new version of the “2009 Africa Microfinance Analysis & Benchmarking Report” in French, which covers information on 195 African microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Beyond Microcredit: A Wholistic Approach to Poverty Eradication, Davao City, Philippines, July 29 to July 30, 2010
Event Name: Beyond Microcredit: A Wholistic Approach to Poverty Eradication
Event Date: July 29 to July 30, 2010
Event Location: Davao City, Philippines, Apo View Hotel
Event Description:
This is the second conference in a three-part series organized by the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) that aims to generate dialogue and new ideas on more effective ways to address poverty. The conference, which is organized in partnership with the Mindanao Microfinance Council (MMC) – a network of 32 microfinance institutions (MFIs) from the island of Mindano in the Philippines – will pick up where the first conference left off.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases New Funding Structure Data
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released funding structure data, which covers information on 890 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 86 countries, reporting on 13,000 outstanding obligations and USD 15 billion in outstanding debt.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) Annual Meeting Attended by 200 Microfinance Specialists from 50 Countries
The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), a “global forum of microfinance experts,” held its annual meeting in Bern, Switzerland, from June 29 to July 3, 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency to Launch Transparent Pricing Initiative in Eight West African Countries, in Partnership with Luxembourg Development Cooperation
(Version Française de la publication ci-dessous)
MFTransparency, a non-governmental organization which promotes accurate and transparent pricing in the microfinance industry, recently expanded its transparent pricing initiative to eight West African countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Niger.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange Releases “Is Microfinance Growing Too Fast?” by Adrian Gonzalez Indicating Portfolio Quality Negatively Correlated with Increasing Number of Borrowers
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has released a paper by researcher Adrian Gonzalez entitled “Is Microfinance Growing Too Fast?”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: G20’s Financial Inclusion Experts Group (FIEG) Releases Nine “Principles for Innovative Financial Inclusion” at Leadership Summit in Toronto, Canada
The Financial Inclusion Experts Group (FIEG), a division of the G20 – a group of twenty finance ministers and central bank governors that discuss key issues in the global economy – released nine “Principles for Innovative Financial Inclusion” at the recent G20 leadership summit in Toronto. The principles are intended to form the basis of a concrete action plan for improving access to financial services for the poor, which will be released at the Seoul Summit in November.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD) Allocates $8m to Al-Amal Microfinance Bank in Yemen
The International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations, has allocated a total of USD 8 million – equal parts equity and debt investment – to Al-Amal Microfinance Bank, a microfinance bank established by the Yemeni government in 2002. Yukiko Omura, the vice-president of IFAD, commented on the “importance of partnership between the Fund and the bank to enable the Fund to reach the poor people in rural areas to provide loans to small farmers, fishermen and other groups with low incomes.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Expansion Suggests Increased Default Risks Says Financial Times
As part of its ‘BeyondBrics’ publication on business markets in emerging countries, the Financial Times (FT), a business news organization based in London, England, has predicted increased default risks in microfinance institutions (MFIs). James Fontanella-Khan, an online editor for FT, states, “Microfinance is expanding fast in emerging countries. The number of financial institutions piling in to grab a slice of the market is expanding at an even faster rate.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) to Share Data With $187,000 Grant From Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation, a US-based grantmaking organization, has awarded a USD 187,000 grant to two other US-based nonprofits, Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), to “increase transparency and comparability across microfinance and the broader impact investing industry.” The grant will be used to develop a data feed that will allow GIIN’s Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) project, which was created to develop a common framework for defining, tracking and reporting the performance of “impact capital,” to access data from MIX.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Sanabel Grant Certificates of Transparency to 43 Arab Microfinance Institutions
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Sanabel, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Arabic microfinance, recently awarded certificates of transparency to 43 microfinance institutions from Arab countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Calls for “Test Pilots” to Assess New Features of MIX Market Website, May Begin Charging for Premium Content
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has announced the launch of new services on its MIX Market website starting in July 2010, including mid-year data for select microfinance institutions (MFIs) and more comprehensive and up-to-date country profiles. According to MIX Market, eventually these services may only be available to paying subscribers, but the date of any such change is not specified.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MIX Market Releases 2008-2009 Microfinance Trend Report on Russia, Revealing Financial Crisis Highest in 2009
The MIX Market has released an analysis of Russian microfinance data entitled “Russia Microfinance Trend Report 2008-2009,” which states that the peak of the crisis in the Russian microfinance sector occurred at the end of 2008 and in early 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinsurance Network Technology Working Group to Launch Online Microinsurance Technology Inventory
The Microinsurance Network Technology Working Group, a branch of the Microinsurance Network that focuses on technology as a means of increasing access to insurance in developing countries, is launching an online microinsurance technology inventory.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinsurance Network Holds First Member Meeting in Germany, Cites Client Protection, Social Performance, Climate Change as Challenges
The Microinsurance Network held its first member meeting in Germany on June 2-3, 2010.