Event Name: 1st International Investors Forum on Microfinance
Event Date: September 8-9, 2015
Event Location: African Regent Hotel, Accra, Ghana
Search Results for: Ghana
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Doubles Minimum Capital Requirement for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to $610k As of 2018
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), which serves as the country’s central bank and is mandated to license, regulate and supervise financial institutions, reportedly announced that it has revised the minimum capital requirement for microfinance institutions (MFIs) from GHS 1 million (approximately USD 305,000) to GHS 2 million (approximately USD 610,000).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Rejects Appeal by Customers of DKM Diamond Micro-Finance Limited; President Intervenes
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), the country’s central bank, recently rejected an appeal by the customers of the Ghana-based savings and microfinance company DKM Diamond Micro-Finance Limited (DKM) who had requested their cash deposits and matured investments with DKM to be paid out. BoG rejected the appeal due to the investigation into DKM’s practices being pending. BoG argued that it had to establish whether the MFI had violated the Ghanaian banking act before it allowed access to funds held by DKM.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Funds Loan $1.25m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Ghana
During April 2015, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management disbursed from its Dual Return Funds local-currency loans totaling USD 1.25 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia and Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Acquires 30% Stake in Microfinance Institution Women’s World Banking Ghana (WWBG)
Goodwell West Africa, one of four funds of the Netherlands’ Goodwell Investments, recently acquired a 30-percent share of Women’s World Banking Ghana (WWBG).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Raises Microfinance Institution Capital Requirement to $263k
During the next three months, the Bank of Ghana, the country’s central bank, reportedly will raise the minimum capital requirement for microfinance institutions (MFIs) to GHS 1 million (USD 263,000).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network Adopts Code of Conduct in Collaboration with SEEP Network
The Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN), an association of 80 microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving 60,000 clients in Ghana, recently announced that it plans to adopt a code of conduct for its members following the closure of 46 MFIs in the country during 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in Ghana to Charge Clients Unspecified Fee for Maintaining Deposits Beginning in October 2014
According to a statement attributed to Mr. Collins Amponsah, the board chairman of the Ghana association of microfinance companies (GAMC), an association of 560 member companies providing microfinance services, all Ghanaian microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are members of GAMC will begin charging clients an unspecified fee for managing their deposits beginning in October of 2014.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana (BoG) Closes Down Illegal Microfinance Institutions, Increases Capital Requirements
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), the country’s central bank, reportedly is cancelling the licenses of and shutting down microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are engaging in practices such as: (1) charging interest rates in excess of government-mandated limits; (2) transferring operating licenses among organizations; or (3) changing their publicly recognized business name repeatedly in order to mitigate any effects of the firm’s poor reputation among current and former customers.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment for Microfinance Institutions, Microinsurance Awareness in Ghana, G2P for Financial Inclusion: A Job Half Done
“Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment For Microfinance Institutions – A Pocket Guide;” by Tom Shaw, Marcella Willis, Daryl Skoog, Sonia Arenaza, Sudha Garg, Susan Salerno, Eve Hamilton and Shailee Adnolfi; published by The Digital Financial Services Working Group; September 2014; 15 pages; available at https://lextonblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/dfs_risk_guide_sept_2014_final.pdf
The authors of this “pocket guide”[1] argue for the importance of “Digital Financial Services (DFS)”[1] to reach low-income individuals who do not have access to traditional banking solutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana Partners with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Ghana to Improve Mobile Money Systems
Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana, the Ghanaian arm of South Africa-based MTN, reportedly has partnered with several unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ghana to allow the MFIs’ customers to use the MTN Mobile Money service to make loan payments.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Demands Photos of Owners of Microfinance Institutions to Deter Theft of Deposits
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), the central bank of the country, reportedly has implemented more stringent regulations for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in an effort to address an increase in failed microbanks and stolen customer deposits, which have been attributed to “bad management practices, increasing non-performing loans, fraudulent activities and expansion without a commensurate increase in capacity.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Decides Not to Limit Number of Microfinance Licenses, May Raise Capital Requirements
The Bank of Ghana, the central bank of the country, whose responsibility includes regulating microfinance organizations, has chosen not to freeze the number of newly issued microfinance licenses and plans to weigh other alternatives to manage growth in the industry.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: African Center for Peace Building to Host 2nd West African Microfinance Conference, July 23-24, 2014, Accra, Ghana
Event Name: 2nd West African Microfinance Conference
Event Date: July 23-24, 2014
Event Location: The Miklin Hotel, Accra, Ghana
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation, Tigo to Expand Mobile Financial Services in Ghana
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; the MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit founded by US-based global payment processing company MasterCard that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets; and Tigo Ghana, a unit of Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, recently announced that they have signed an agreement worth USD 2 million to provide advisory services to support Tigo Ghana “to develop and expand mobile financial services in support of wider financial inclusion”[1] in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen Fund, Adolf H Lundin Charitable Foundation Invest $1.5m in Farmer Information Service Esoko Networks of Ghana to Expand into East Africa
The Acumen Fund, a New York-based nonprofit venture fund, and the Adolf H Lundin Charitable Foundation, a Liechtenstein-based nonprofit organization, have invested an aggregate sum of USD 1.5 million in an unspecified combination of equity and debt in Esoko Networks Limited (Esoko) of Ghana, a technology platform that aims to strengthen the connection between farmers and markets in Africa with the use of mobile phones.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel, Ghana Post to Expand Mobile Money Service “Airtel Money” to 350 Post Offices
Airtel Ghana, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel, and Ghana Post, the country’s postal service provider, reportedly have announced a partnership to expand the availability of the Airtel Money service from the previous 150 to all 350 Ghana Post outlets nationwide.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel Ghana, MicroEnsure, Enterprise Life Roll Out Free Mobile Accident Insurance in Ghana
Airtel Ghana, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel; MicroEnsure, a UK-based microinsurance company founded by US-based Opportunity International; and Enterprise Life, an insurance company that is part of Ghana-based Enterprise Group, recently announced that 100,000 Airtel Ghana customers have registered for Airtel Insurance.