At 
today’s opening plenary of European Microfinance Week, Manuel Tonnar, who leads Luxembourg’s Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, said that his country “is committed to transforming itself and helping others transform their economies into sustainable economies.” This is “not for charitable reasons,” he argued, “but because it’s the most efficient way” to move forward. Mr Tonnar also said, “Financial inclusion should be closely allied with other development interventions to provide the most value to disadvantaged populations.” In closing, he quoted Jean Monnet, who said, “I am not optimistic. I am not pessimistic. I am
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MICROFINANCE EVENT: 9th Global Islamic Microfinance Forum; December 11-13, 2019; Lahore, Pakistan
The aim of this event is to increase awareness of Islamic finance as an option to help people improve their lives, particularly those with low incomes. Instead of charging conventional interest,
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance Barometer 2019,” Published by Convergences
Published by Convergences in partnership with the Advans Group, BNP Paribas, the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation; October 2019; 16 pages; available at http://www.convergences.org/en/104906-2/
This tenth edition of the “Microfinance Barometer” offers insights into the microfinance sector garnered through interviews, case studies and a review of data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). The publication explores trends in the sector over
MICROFINANCE EVENT: SOCAP19; October 22-25, 2019; San Francisco, California, USA
This annual event addresses the use of capital to promote social welfare, including ways to meet the demands of a growing world population while reducing the strain on environmental resources. Conference themes include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, PROPARCO Loan $80m to Banco Supervielle of Argentina for SMEs
The Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, recently assembled a loan of USD 80 million for Banco Supervielle, a bank in Argentina, to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) amid the recession in Argentina. The loan is funded in equal parts by
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Investing for Impact; February 12, 2019; New York, USA
The third annual Investing for Impact summit, which is organized by The Economist, a UK-based research and publishing firm, will cover the rise of impact investing. The US-based Global Impact Investment Network (GIIN), whose representatives were featured at the 2018 iteration of Investing for Impact, defines impact investments as those “made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.” This year’s event will cover topics such as (1) Holistic Impact: Doing Well by Doing Good;
SPECIAL REPORT: Despite a “Solid” Willingness to Invest in Microinsurance, a “Terrifying” Lack of Coverage
On 
the last day of European Microfinance Week, Katharine Pulvermacher of the Luxembourg-based Microinsurance Network led a discussion on insuring people with daily incomes of USD 2 to USD 20. Those with lower incomes, she argued, will have to be covered by government safety nets.
Anup Singh of India-based consultancy MicroSave described the path to success in microinsurance as
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation’s Week; November 19-22, 2018; Montrouge & Paris, France
Crédit Agricole and the Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation have organized this series of events to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation. The first event of the week, called “The Foundation and Social Entrepreneurship,” will be held on November 19 in the campus of Montrouge and will include testimonials from entrepreneurs and experts on the Foundation’s promotion of entrepreneurship with social impact. At this occasion, the Foundation and Crédit Agricole will award a cheque to Entrepreneurs du Monde as a result of “Solidarity Cents,” an operation launched at the canteens of Crédit Agricole to support entrepreneurship projects for refugees, single
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Caritas Microfinance Bank of Kenya Accesses Visa POS Network, Enabling Retail Transactions via ATM Cards
Kenya-based Caritas Microfinance Bank (MFB), a member of the Catholic development organization Caritas Nairobi, recently partnered with the Co-operative Bank
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Egypt’s Ministry of Investment Connecting African Entrepreneurs, Start-ups with Growth Partners
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation have agreed to identify 100 promising young entrepreneurs to “connect them with business leaders, international investors, financial institutions, and policymakers” in an
SPECIAL REPORT: Registration Opens for European Microfinance Week; November 14 – November 16, 2018; Luxembourg
Event Summary: On November 14, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) ten Action Groups will meet in person to work on their respective topics of focus, such as rural outreach and innovation, investors, and green-inclusive and climate-smart finance.
On November 15 and 16, more than 80 organisations will be represented in over 25 sessions addressing topics including the following: making insurance markets work for the poor, the business case for gender-lens investing, crowdfunding, financial services for refugees, financing clean energy, meeting the financial needs of smallholder farmers, financial education, youth finance, microfinance and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, social performance management, financial inclusion through technology, regulation realting to digital financial services (DFS), and client protection relating to DFS.
Also on November 15, we will learn what organization wins this year’s EUR 100,000 (USD 115,000) European Microfinance Award, which will be for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Donating $13m to Support Angel Investors, Networking for Startups in Gaza, West Bank
The US-based World Bank recently announced it will disburse grant funds totaling USD 13 million over seven years to launch the “Innovative Private Sector Development Project,” which is designed to improve networking and financing opportunities for firms operating in the Palestinian Territories.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Platform for Economic Inclusion (PEI) to Carry on CGAP’s Work on Graduation Programs
CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a nonprofit research center seeking to expand financial services in poor regions, recently announced the establishment of the Platform for Economic Inclusion (PEI) to “accelerate innovation and scaling of graduation-style programming.” Initiated by Bangladeshi NGO BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee) in 2011, the graduation approach involves: targeting only
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 2017 Social Enterprise Conference; Columbia University, New York, USA; October 6, 2017
Event Name: Social Enterprise Conference – Leaders Taking a Stand: Social Impact in Turbulent Times
Event Date: October 6, 2017
Event Location: Columbia University, Lerner Hall, New York, New York, USA
Summary of Event: This event will explore how to enact social impact across
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Everex Raises $17m in “Initial Coin Offering,” Anticipates Offering Mobile Remittances, Microcredit Using Blockchain Technology in 2018
Everex, a Singapore-based startup with plans to offer microfinance services using its own virtual currency, recently closed its first
SPECIAL REPORT: Registration Open for European Microfinance Week; November 29 – December 1, 2017; Luxembourg
Event Name: European Microfinance Week
Event Date: November 29 – December 1, 2017
Event Location: Luxembourg
Summary of Event: On November 29, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) ten Action Groups will meet to build on months of work by holding in-depth discussions and training on their focus topics, such as inclusive green finance, digital innovations, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance and rural finance.
On November 30 and December 1, more than 80 organisations will be represented in over 30 sessions covering front line topics such as low-cost technology for financial services providers, responsible exits, reaching scale in inclusive green finance, rural youth
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Moeda Introducing Cryptocurrency Aimed at Facilitating Financial Inclusion after $5m “Initial Coin Offering”
Moeda, a cooperative funded by Brazil-based Cresol, Green Cross Brazil and Unicafes, recently announced the launch
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Offshore Financial Centers for Impact Investing; Financial Inclusion in 2025; Microfinance in India
“Offshore Financial Centers for Financial Inclusion: A Marriage of Convenience;” by Sam Mendelson and Daniel Rozas; published by the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) at Accion; June 2017; 14 pages; available at:
http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/publications-a-resources/browse-publications/865-offshore-financial-centers-for-financial-inclusion
This paper explores the use of offshore financial centers (OFCs) based on interviews with 13 equity impact investors.