responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it made investments totaling the equivalent of USD 4 million in Bai Tushum of the Kyrgyz Republic, Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan and Bereke of Kazakhstan.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jonathan Lewis Describes Opportunity Collaboration as Addressing Poverty by “Doing the Opposite of What Most Other Conferences Do”
Forbes, a US-based magazine, recently published an interview with Jonathan Lewis, founder and chief executive officer of the annual Opportunity Collaboration business retreat and networking summit that he describes as “laser-focused on poverty reduction”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Capitalization Fund, Africa Capitalization Fund (ACF) to Invest $10m in NBS Bank of Malawi for Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that two of the funds it manages, the IFC Capitalization Fund and the Africa Capitalization Fund, will invest a total of USD 10 million in equity in Malawian commercial bank NBS Bank (formerly the New Building Society).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Industry Players Say Indian Microfinance Institutions Should Not be Crushed Even Though “Some MFIs Have Gone on the Wrong Path”
The Times of India, an Indian newspaper, recently reported on microfinance industry actors arguing that microfinance institutions (MFIs) should not be compromised by “the greed of a few big MFIs” and associated regulations such as the Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Act, which was passed in December 2010 to regulate MFIs following multiple suicides.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citi, OPIC Loan $20m to Microfinance Program “Danamon Simpan Pinjam” of Indonesia’s Bank Danamon
Citi Indonesia, the Indonesian arm of the global financial services company, and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution of the US government, recently announced a USD 20 million term loan to fund a microfinance program of Bank Danamon of Indonesia named “Danamon Simpan Pinjam”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: InVenture Offers Expansion Capital to Support Small Enterprises in their Graduating from Microfinance to Traditional Banking
InVenture, a US-based microfinance service focused on investing in small enterprises in poor countries, recently announced a revised operations model and a “peer-to-peer” fundraising website.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Hold Workshop on “Equator Principles” for Thai Banks Regarding Environmental and Social Risk Management
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced it is supporting the Thai Bankers’ Association to help its members better manage environmental and social risks in lending operations and improve the sustainability of financed projects rather than the sustainability of lending services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Economist Angela Luci Argues Microfinance can Empower Women in Non-Financial Arenas, Fight Discrimination
A recent entry on the Gender Debate blog cites the report “Microfinance: Champion in Poverty Alleviation and Failure in Female Empowerment” by Alexandra Dobra to argue that most microfinance services only focus on the financial empowerment of women, wasting their potential to promote the “full and equal participation of women in all spheres of society including decision-making and access to power” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate Latin America Approved as Microfinance Rating Agency in Peru, Celebrates 14th Anniversary
MicroRate Latin America, the Lima-based arm of the evaluator of microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced that it has been approved as a rating agency by Peru’s Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Pension Fund Managers (SBS), which reportedly makes it the only regulated rating agency in Peru that specializes in microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU, UN Urge African Governments to Reach Out to Marginalized Women in Rural Areas with Microfinance, Securing of Property Rights
At a recent meeting in Rwanda on gender-responsive budgeting held in conjunction with the European Union and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), African governments were urged to reach women in rural areas through microfinance schemes and otherwise involving women in financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tameer Microfinance Bank, AsiaCare Health and Life Insurance Partner to Launch Microinsurance in Pakistan
Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited of Pakistan reportedly is partnering with AsiaCare Health and Life Insurance Company, a Pakistani managed care health insurer, to offer “Tameer Sehat O Sukoon”, a health microinsurance product designed for low-income individuals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP Reports State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Removing Regulatory Barriers to Branchless Banking
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) reports that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central banking authority, recently announced modifications to its branchless banking regulations that include: removal of the requirement to have one’s fingerprint scanned to open an account; increases in transaction limits and the elimination of the maximum balance; and introduction of “Level 0” accounts that can be opened electronically, without physical paperwork.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dariu Foundation Increases Microfinance Lending in Vietnam Amidst Inflationary Pressures, Rising Interest Rates
The Dariu Foundation (TDF), a Vietnam-based microfinance institution (MFI), amidst double-digit inflation and increasing domestic interest rates, has seen a 25-percent increase in the number of new clients served and a 47-percent increase in the number of loans disbursed during the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 2011 SEEP Annual Conference “Savings and Enterprise & Market Development,” Arlington, Virginia, USA, October 31 – November 3, 2011
Event Name: Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Annual Conference: Savings & Enterprise and Market Development
Event Date: SEEP Member Day October 31, Annual Conference November 1 – November 2, Global Network and Practitioner Trainings November 3
Event Location: Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, Virginia, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Collaborate on $20m Agricultural Microfinance Project Funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Haitian Government
Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian corporation that provides technical support to and investment in developing and emerging countries, recently announced that it is joining efforts with two agriculture nonprofits in a USD 20 million project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Haitian government to establish an agricultural finance and crop insurance system in Haiti.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships, Sustainable Harvest Collaborate to Provide $963k in Microloans to Coffee Cooperatives Aprocassi of Peru, Café y Desarrollo/REDCAFES of Mexico
Global Partnerships (GP), a US-based nonprofit investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced that it partnered with Sustainable Harvest, a US-based specialty coffee importer focused on sustainable supply chain practice, to provide USD 963,000 in loans to two fair-trade coffee cooperatives based in Latin America: USD 465,000 to Aprocassi of Peru and USD 498,000 to Café y Desarrollo/REDCAFES of Mexico.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Funds $80m Liquidity Facility to Bangladeshi Local Banks to Meet Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Funding Needs
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced it has provided a USD 80 million short-term liquidity facility to local commercial banks in Bangladesh to meet the working capital and trade financing needs following recent market disruptions that have reportedly decreased the availability of foreign exchange in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India Urges Banks to Increase Credit Provision to Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly emphasized to commercial banks at the recent annual review meeting of its standing advisory committee on micro- and small-sized enterprise (MSE) that MSE lending should grow at a rate similar to that of overall bank credit growth, which recently has been approximately 20 percent per year.