Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm, and ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs), have invested USD 3.2 million in equity in Mobile Transactions International, a Zambia-based mobile financial services company, to expand financial access to poor and underserved populations.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) to Support Smart Campaign to Improve Client Protection in Latin American, Caribbean Microfinance Institutions
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank, will be providing unspecified support to the Smart Campaign, a consumer protection initiative, in its work to assist Latin American and Caribbean microfinance institutions (MFIs) in implementing client protection practices in their daily operations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), ACCION Support Swadhaar in Expanding Microfinance for Women in Urban India
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and ACCION International, a private, US-based nonprofit organization, will advise Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited (SFPL), an Indian microfinance institution, on its expansion of financial services for women in urban slums of the following Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Growth Fund (MiGroF) Ends 2011 with $85m in Loans Outstanding to Microfinance Institutions in Latin America
The Microfinance Growth Fund (MiGroF), which is managed by Switzerland’s BlueOrchard Finance to support Latin American microfinance institutions, closed 2011 with USD 85 million in outstanding loans and USD 23 million in uninvested capital.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lok Capital Closes Venture Fund, Lok II, at $65m
Lok Capital LLC, an India-based microfinance investment firm, has closed its second venture capital fund, Lok II, at USD 65 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance CEO Working Group Issues Road Map for Microfinance Industry Promoting Smart Campaign, Microfinance Transparency, Social Performance Task Force
A group of eight CEOs of nonprofit microfinance organizations has issued a “Road Map for the Microfinance Industry: Focusing on Responsible and Client-Centered Microfinance.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Private Equity Investors Wary As Return on Equity for Indian Microfinance Institutions Drops from Over 45% to Under 20%
The steep decline in microloan repayments that began in 2010 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is continuing to keep private investors away from microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Harvard Business School Hosts “ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance,” Boston, Massachusetts, USA, April 9 – April 14, 2012
Event Name: Harvard Business School-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance
Event Date: April 9 – April 14, 2012
Event Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Campaign Calls for Input on Microfinance Client Protection Certification Program
The Smart Campaign, an initiative to improve accountability regarding client protection in the microfinance industry, has called for public input on its Client Protection Certification Program, which has been under development since June 2010.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Group Versus Individual Lending in Mongolia, “State of the Practice” of Client Protection, Uganda “Triple Partnership” Case Study
“Group lending or individual lending? Evidence from a randomised field experiment in Mongolia” by Orazio Attanasio, Britta Augsburg, Ralph De Haas, Emla Fitzsimons, Heike Harmgart; published by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); December 2011; 48 pages; available at: http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/economics/workingpapers/wp0136.pdf…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest $1m in Equity in ACCION Microfinance China
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement with ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit organization, to invest USD 1 million in ACCION’s Chinese affiliate, ACCION Microfinance China (AMC).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial Inclusion Releases “Over-Indebtedness of Microborrowers in Ghana” by Jessica Schicks
The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), an affiliate of US-based nonprofit ACCION International, recently released a report on “Over-Indebtedness of Microborrowers in Ghana,” which explores the gap between providers’ and clients’ perceptions of indebtedness [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Citi-FT Financial Education Summit 2011, Jakarta, Indonesia, November 28 – 29, 2011
Event Name: Citi-FT Financial Education Summit 2011: Empowering the Disadvantaged: Inclusive and Innovative Approaches to Financial Capability
Event Date: November 28 – November 29, 2011
Event Location: Hotel Mulia, Jakarta, Indonesia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Initiatives of EcoBank, ACCION Win International Awards in Nigeria, Ghana
EB-ACCION Savings and Loans (EB-ASL), a Ghanaian microfinance institution, and ACCION Microfinance Bank (AMfB) of Nigeria, have recently won awards commemorating their contributions to providing microfinance services to low-income entrepreneurs. Both organizations count EcoBank, a Togo-based banking group, and US-based nonprofit ACCION International as investors.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Invests $5.5m in Microfinance Institutions TBC Kredit of Azerbaijan, Kazmicrofinance of Kazakhstan; Microfinance Investment Vehicle ACCION Investments in Microfinance
responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt and equity investments totaling the equivalent of USD 5.5 million in two microfinance institutions (MFIs), TBC Kredit of Azerbaijan and Kazmicrofinance Limited Liability Company (KMF) of Kazakhstan, and microfinance investment vehicle ACCION Investments in Microfinance, which was established by US-based nonprofit ACCION International [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: On Financial Access Initiative Website, Daniel Rozas Highlights Roles of Credit Bureaux, Smart Campaign, Local Regulations to Address Multiple Borrowing in Microfinance
In an article recently published on the website of the US-based Financial Access Initiative, Brussels-based microfinance consultant Daniel Rozas examines multiple borrowing and proposes several ways address the issue.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Report, “Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion,” Microfinance Stakeholders Cite Financial Education as Top Need
The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), an affiliate of US-based nonprofit ACCION International, recently released a report titled “Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion”, that identifies client financial education as the top opportunity in the microfinance sphere [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog to Invest $15m in India’s Shriram Group to Expand Microinsurance, Savings Offerings
LeapFrog Investments, a US-based private equity fund focusing on microinsurance activities, will invest USD 15 million in the Shriram Group, an India-based provider of financial services to low-income individuals, to help the organization expand its offering of microinsurance and savings products for up to 10 million clients.