The Microcred Group, a for-profit microfinance company operating under the umbrella of French NGO Positive Planet, recently started the operations of its new subsidiary in Ouagadougou. During the first 20 days, customers opened 1,260 accounts, mobilizing CFA 40 million (USD 68,000) in deposits.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WeConnect, Airbnb, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, HP Make Commitments to Women, Entrepreneurship, Education at 12th, Final Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
At the recent 12th annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a program of the US-based nonprofit Clinton Foundation, various organizations made 25 new commitments worth USD 70 million as part of the “Girls, Women and the Global Goals” project, which is intended to “advance women’s economic participation, address violence against girls and women, and promote women’s leadership in the public and private sectors”,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s New Faces New Voices Raising $20m for Women’s Microfinance Fund, 25% From Selling Shares to Members
New Faces New Voices (NFNV), a group of advocates from 15 African countries focusing on expanding financial inclusion for women, recently announced plans to raise RWF 16 billion (USD 20 million) for a fund to expand women’s access to finance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The MasterCard Foundation Donates $12m to Microcred to Increase its Client Reach in Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Senegal to 1.2m by 2019
The Microcred Group, a France-based for-profit microfinance company and member of Positive Planet, recently announced it has been funded by The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian organization founded by the US-based payments firm MasterCard, to launch a financial inclusion programme in Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Senegal.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA, First Access Partner in Africa on Alternative Credit Scoring, Incorporating Mobile Phone Usage
FINCA Microfinance Holding Company, an arm of US-based nonprofit microfinance network FINCA International, and First Access, a US-based financial technology company, recently partnered to create an alternative credit-scoring system to serve the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. This system aims to “establish credit scores for low-income clients who lack sufficient formal credit history to secure small loans to build businesses or support emerging personal needs.” Specific information on exactly how this system works is unavailable, but First Access typically analyzes demographic, geographic, financial and social aspects of clients’ mobile phone usage to predict credit risk.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FSD Africa, SEEP Network to Fund Research on Savings Groups
The Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa, a Kenya-based nonprofit intended to reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, a US-based network of approximately 124 microenterprise practitioners representing 170 countries, recently partnered to conduct research on the effectiveness of savings groups, “in which members provide their own savings and credit services at a negligible cost, while retaining earnings and capital in their own communities” [2]. FSD Africa plans to donate USD 2.5 million over four years to expand the SEEP Network’s research on these groups.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Prudential Financial to Invest $350m in African Insurers, To Be Managed by LeapFrog
Prudential Financial Incorporated, a US-based financial services company, recently announced an investment of USD 350 million in life insurance companies in African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Acquires Minority Stake in Microfinance Software Firm Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a for-profit social investment company based in the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a “significant minority stake” in Musoni Services, a Dutch microfinance software company with operations in Myanmar and nine African countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Provide Microfinance to Food Producers in Senegal in Partnership with Micronutrient Initiative
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canadian nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, recently joined the “Project integer de nutrition dans les regions de Kedougou et Kolda (PINKK)”, which is aimed at increasing food security for women and children in the Senegalese regions of Kedougou and Kolda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Development Bank (AfDB), MasterCard Collaborate on Financial Inclusion in Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB), a multilateral institution providing loans and grants to governments and private companies on the continent; and MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, recently announced that they are launching a collaboration aimed at increasing financial inclusion in Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Sector Development Program (FSD) Africa to Invest $2m in Microinsurance Innovation Laboratory of International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) Impact Insurance Facility
The Financial Sector Development Program (FSD) Africa, a project funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), will invest USD 1.8 million over the next four years in the “microinsurance innovation laboratory” to be developed by the Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Mapping Pathways Out of Poverty; Marketing Insurance to Women; Sustaining Financial Inclusion in the Philippines
“Mapping Pathways out of Poverty: The State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, 2015;” published by the Microcredit Summit Campaign; December 2015; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/library/mapping-pathways-out-poverty-state-microcredit-summit-campaign-report-2015
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) Impact Insurance Facility, Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) Partner to Promote African Microinsurance
The Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, and Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re), a Nigeria-based corporation that assists reinsurance institutions and invests in the African insurance sector, have agreed to partner to promote inclusive microinsurance markets for the financially excluded population in Africa[1].
SPECIAL REPORT: Anne Contreras and Christoph Pausch of e-MFP on European Microfinance Week, Sustainable Growth, Serving Clients in Zones Affected by Boko Haram
MicroCapital: Would you please discuss this year’s focus on sustainable development?
Anne Contreras: Given the recent adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this issue is particularly relevant. The plenary on “Sustainable Development Goals and financial inclusion” will address the topic directly. Breakout sessions will also cover related topics: How can we implement clean cooking options to decrease mortality and mitigate air pollution? How can practitioners bundle finance and training to serve farmers? What can networks do in these areas?
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International, ReGrow West Africa, Tata Communications Make Commitments at 11th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting
At the recent eleventh annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the US-based Clinton Foundation, 123 new commitments to “alleviate poverty, create a cleaner environment and increase access to health care and education” were announced, including [1]:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeannette Kagame; NGO New Faces New Voices Launch $20m Initiative to Financially Empower Women
Jeannette Kagame, the wife of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, recently launched a campaign that aims to financially empower women in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Economic Forum (WEF) Leaders Aim for Cooperation among Regulators for Financial Inclusion in Africa
During the World Economic Forum (WEF) in South Africa, business and political leaders from multiple African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa among others, emphasized the need for collaboration among regulators in order to promote financial inclusion globally.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DiD) Opens Fifth Entrepreneur Financial Center to Offer Microcredit in Tunisia
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canadian nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, has officially opened the Centre financier financial aux entrepreneurs de Tunisie, which is known in English as the Entrepreneur Financial Center of Tunisia (EFC Tunisia).