Ina Fried of CNET reports that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates gave two speeches in Miami on April 4, in which he promoted the importance of businesses being involved in serving the poor and participating in partnerships with the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Search Results for: Ghana
MICROCAPITAL STORY: ACCION Network Reaches 3 million Clients
Microfinance pioneer, ACCION International, announced April 3 that the number of active clients currently reached through their 35 microfinance partner network organizations in 25 countries has exceeded 3 million.
PAPER WRAP-UP: ING Report States that Global Banks Doubled Microfinance Loans Last Year
International financial services provider ING published the updated study “A Billion to Gain? – The Next Phase”. The 68-page report states that the amount of outstanding wholesale loans by international banks to microfinance institutions (MFIs) doubled by the end of 2007 to approximately USD 1.4 billion from USD 0.5 billion in 2006. The author and researcher is Matthis Boúúaert.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: World Vision International (WVI) Announces 48.8 Percent Growth in Microfinance Clientèle of the Middle East and Eastern Europe Region (MEER)
Fiscal year 2007 saw growth in the Middle East/Eastern Europe Region (MEER) according to World Vision International’s (WVI) local office based in Cyprus. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) grew their clientele to over 100,000, a 48.8 percent increase, with most of the growth coming from Eastern Europe. The total MEER portfolio grew to USD 203 million in 2007. Previous MEER portfolio figures were unavailable.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: ASA International Secures $125m in Largest Microfinance Equity Commitment to Date
Catalyst Microfinance Investors (CMI) of Mauritius announced on Tuesday that it had raised USD 125 million through the largest microfinance equity sale to date. Investors included private individuals as well as a number of institutional investors such as the Dutch pension fund, ABP and the US financial services organization, TIAA-CREF. The majority of the funds will be channeled to ASA International of Bangladesh, who will use the increased capital to expand operations in Africa and Asia.
NEWS WIRE: Bangladesh: Microfinance Institution ASA International Secures Largest Equity Capital Commitment Ever to Microfinance
Source: Catalyst Microfinance Investors.
PRESS RELEASE: Gates Foundation Awards $24m to Opportunity International for Micro Insurance Agency to Provide Life, Health, Crop Insurance for 21 Million Poor People
Source: Opportunity International.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Microcredit Featured in New Children’s Book
One Hen, a new children’s book, attempts to illuminate the poverty-reducing strategy of microfinance to children. More specifically, the book focuses on microcredit, a lending system for the poor who lack access to conventional banking. One Hen is written by Katie Smith Milway and published by A&C Black Publishers, Ltd.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Google.org of California Announces $3m Grant to Technoserve of Connecticut in Order to Support Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Moving Beyond Microfinance
Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, announced, in a press release, a multi-year grant of USD 3 million to Technoserve, a US based nonprofit organization that provides training and networking opportunities to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world. This grant will provide general support to expand the organizations private-sector initiatives in Africa. Since 2006 Google.org has awarded Technoserve USD 1.7 million to develop and implement a business plan competition to support entrepreneurs in Ghana and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Study by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Reveals that Marketing Affects Savings Among Poor in Peru
CGAP’s (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) most recent issue of its Portfolio Newsletter outlined a recent study conducted by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and funded by CGAP that focused on specific marketing techniques to encourage long-term savings among poor Peruvians.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks, Part 3 of 3
December 10, MicroCapital.org featured Part 2 of a series on 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks. Previously, detailed information was provided on institutions with less than USD 100 million in assets. Here, in Part 3, we provide detailed financial and outreach information on microbanks with total assets greater than USD 100 million and less than USD 200 million. The institutions are presented in ascending order based on asset size.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks, Part 2 of 3
On December 5, MicroCapital.org featured Part 1 of a series on 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks. Here, in Part 2, we provide detailed financial and outreach information on microbank’s with total assets under USD 100 million. The institutions are presented in ascending order based on asset size.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Global Non-profit Microfinance Network Opportunity International Launches Microschools for Opportunity
Opportunity International, a Christian microfinance organization, has announced the expansion of its microfinance school loans program “Microschools for Opportunity.” “Microschools” provides loans to “edupreneurs” who open schools in poor neighborhoods where children, especially girls, would otherwise be unable to access public education. As of June 2007, the Opportunity International Network had over one million active clients globally and a loan portfolio of USD 450.2 million. As of December 2006, the organization had USD 31.7 million in total assets and USD 534,000 in total liabilities.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Compassion International Invests USD 5 Million in Opportunity International to Develop Microfinance in Africa
Compassion International, one of the world’s largest Christian child development organizations, will invest USD 5 million over the next five years in fellow Christian microfinance institution (MFI) Opportunity International. With this funding Opportunity International will expand its microfinance operations in Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda, offering microloans, savings accounts, insurance and business training to the families of Compassion-sponsored children and other community members.
PRESS RELEASE: Africa: Compassion International to Provide $5m to Expand African Microfinance Partnership With Opportunity International
MICROCAPITAL STORY: UPS to Issue Grants Totaling USD $1m to Microfinance Organizations ACCION International, Opportunity International and FINCA International
United Parcel Service (UPS), a global package delivery service founded in 1907, has created a Centennial Grants Fund in honor of UPS’s 100 year anniversary. UPS’s fund has issued USD 1 million to three microfinance organizations that support micro-entrepreneurs across the globe. ACCION International will receive USD 400,000, Opportunity International will receive USD 390,000 and FINCA International will receive USD 210,000. The creation of the Centennial Grants Fund is the first time UPS has dedicated such a large portion of its corporate philanthropy to microfinance and micro-lending.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Kinnevik Invests $14m in African Microfinance Institution Bayport Financial Services
Investment AB Kinnevik, a Stockholm-based international investment firm, announced that it has invested USD 14 million in the African microfinance institution (MFI) Bayport Financial Services. The financing is provided as a combination of debt and equity.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: MicroVest Finances Microfinance Growth in Latin America with Debt Investment in PRISMA and FUNBODEM
MicroVest Capital Management, a global microfinance intermediary that provides capital to growing microfinance institutions (MFIs) in emerging markets, has completed two first-time investments in two Latin American MFIs. MicroVest made its first local currency loan of 2.4 million Peruvian Soles (USD 750,000 equivalent) to PRISMA, the second largest unregulated MFI in Peru, and two weeks later structured a USD 750,000 loan with Calvert Social Investment Foundation to FUNBODEM, an unregulated MFI operating in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.