Microfinance in the West African nation of Benin is showing signs of struggling after one of the country’s major microfinance institutions (MFIs), facing internal and external turbulence and the threat of government intervention, has lost the confidence of potential investors, according to non-profit ACCION International.
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PRESS RELEASE: World Bank Releases Report on Remittances in Latin America, Warns of Connection to Spread of US Economic Slowdown
Source: World Bank.
PRESS RELEASE: Reserve Bank of India Releases Concept Paper on Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Centres, Solicits Comments
Source: Reserve Bank of India.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: USAID, MicroFinance Network, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) to Host Online Discussion of Microfinance Institution Staff Incentive Schemes
US AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SPEAKER’S CORNER ON STAFF INCENTIVES
APRIL 15-17, 2008, VIA INTERNET
This an online and email-based discussion of best practices in staff incentive schemes (SIS), which can play a key role in microfinance institutions’ (MFIs’) human resources strategies. A worldwide survey on the use of staff incentives conducted by the MicroFinance Network (MFN) and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) will be discussed. Co-hosted by the MFN and CGAP, the discussion will be moderated by Mattias Grammling, Martin Holtmann and Martha Ottenbacher. Different topics will be discussed each day:
NEWS WIRE: India: Lok Capital Raises Fund Size to $22m With Investments from ACCION, responsAbility, Développement International Desjardins (DID)
Source: Business Standard.
PRESS RELEASE: Credit Suisse Plans to Introduce Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index, Discusses Going “Beyond Charity” to SRIs Such as Microfinance
Source: Credit Suisse.
NEWS WIRE: Cameroon: African Policymakers Spotlight Microfinance at Central Africa Policy Forum
Source: African Press Organization.
PRESS RELEASE: Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) Closes Workshop on SEEP Framework in Ghana
Source: Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX).
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Tell It Like It Is! Transcript of Peter Marchetti, Co-Founder of FDL (Local Development Fund) of Nicaragua, Addressing IDB Conference in Bolivia (in English and Spanish)
In his award speech at the Interamerican Development Bank’s (IDB) Eighth Gathering of Microenterprises in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on October 6 – October 7, 2005, Peter Marchetti, Co-Founder of FDL (Local Development Fund) of Nicaragua made the following comments (Spanish version below):
It is an honor for me to be here once again, in Bolivia, the capital of microfinance in Latin America. A warm welcome/salute to all of you from Nicaragua and in the name of the FDL. As a Jesuit priest, I salute particularly FONDECO, our sister institution in Santa Cruz. Congratulations to all the professionals of the FDL and of the Institute of Investigation of Nitlapan. In particular, to those who co-founded it with me there is now 15 years, to Arturo Grigsby, and to Carlos Barrios. Also to the second generation of the FDL, to Julio Flores, Eberth Hernandez and Elizabeth Campos, who have worked so hard all these years, and who have contributed to the professionalism of these institutions, and to their roots in so many places all over Nicaragua.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Investments Outside the Box: Part 4 of a 4-Part Series on the Cracking the Capital Markets III Conference Hosted By ACCION and Credit Suisse
On March 10-11, 2008, ACCION International and Credit Suisse held the third Cracking the Capital Markets conference on microfinance investment. The conference brought together hedge fund managers, institutional and private investors, leading rating agencies, and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to discuss the challenges, successes, and future of microfinance investments. The first, second, and third articles of this series can also be found on the MicroCapital website.
In addition to innovative securities transactions, the conference also introduced new investment opportunities which extend beyond the classic micro-credit sectors. This includes investment to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), insurance services to low-income people, housing funds for the very poor, and green energy investments. Presentations from this panel can be found here.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Does Microfinance Performance Correlate with Other Emerging Markets Investment, Part 3 of a 4-Part Series on the Cracking the Capital Markets III Conference Hosted By ACCION and Credit Suisse
On March 10-11, 2008, ACCION International and Credit Suisse held the third Cracking the Capital Markets conference on microfinance investment. The conference brought together hedge fund managers, institutional and private investors, leading rating agencies, and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to discuss the challenges, successes, and future of microfinance investments. The first and second articles of this series can also be found on the MicroCapital website.
As a follow up to a presentation at last year’s conference, Nicolas Krauss presented an update to an initial study on the correlation of microfinance to other emerging markets investments. In addition, he discussed whether the correlation (or lack there of) position microfinance as an attractive investment for portfolio diversification. Presentations from this panel can be found here.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: A Brief Survey on the Impact of Microfinance on Women Part 2 of a 3-Part Series: Evidence of Women’s Empowerment
Though there is less quantifiable evidence to justify the effect of microfinance on woman’s human rights, it is widely accepted that giving women access to savings and credit will increase women’s social and political empowerment, and even change traditional gender relationships. These assumptions continue to be evaluated as recent microfinance studies are focusing more and more on women’s empowerment.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Quick Centre Launches Website to Help Microfinance Institutions Handle Disasters, Funded by the German Development Agency (GTZ) and Bank Indonesia
The Quick Centre, a knowledge sharing platform for microfinance practitioners, went live in February 2008 with support from Bank Indonesia and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the German development agency. The organizers of the Quick Centre were motivated by the difficulty of responding to the May 2006 earthquake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Their aim is to serve the larger development community by facilitating the exchange of existing documentation and organizational experiences related to the practice of microfinance in disaster situations. The site advertises best practices on post-disaster microfinance support measures, microfinance as a disaster preparedness tool and disaster management for microfinance institutions.
WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: John Hatch, Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA)
Microfinance-pioneer Dr. John Hatch is the founder of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) and the creator of Village Banking, a highly successful method of delivering microfinance services to the poor through neighborhood savings and loan cooperatives called Village Banks.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Ugandan Government to Set up Laws for Regulating its Microfinance Sector
During the 2007 Citigroup Micro-entrepreneurship awards ceremony in Kampala on January 10, 2008, State Minister for Microfinance, Caleb Akandwanaho announced that a new law regulating the activities of microfinance institutions will take effect in June 2008.
PRESS RELEASE: Omtrix Announces Creation of the Risk Management Facility for Microfinance Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean
Press release not available online.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Crédit Agricole Contributes €50m for the Creation of a Non-Profit Foundation in Cooperation with Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
Crédit Agricole, the largest bank in France, announced that it will contribute EUR 50 million towards the establishment of a non-profit foundation in cooperation with Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi micro-bank. The foundation will finance micro credit providers worldwide through credits, guarantees, and equity capital. In 2009, the foundation will create a fund, open to investors, in order to raise an additional EUR 100 million for operations, according to Crédit Agricole, as reported by Forbes.com.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: IDB Makes Donation to Billion Dollar Standard & Poor’s
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will subsidize USD 405,000 of a Standard & Poor’s (S&P) project to develop a globally accepted rating system of microfinance institutions (MFIs). S&P is a rating service and a division of McGraw-Hill Companies. The actual funding will be by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a fund administered by the IDB to encourage private sector development of micro-enterprise in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
The stated goal and rationale of this project is to increase capital flow to micro-banks. However, with MIF’s public money subsidizing a company with over USD 1 billion in annual profits, such justification is thin. Top micro-banks do not suffer from too little investment, but rather there is now far too much money chasing too few micro-banks. Has the IDB gotten it exactly wrong?