by Conner Brannen -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwandan Microfinance Institution Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) Reports Lending Fosters Social Reconciliation

Radio Netherlands Worldwide recently reported that microfinance in Rwanda is “booming” and the Netherlands is contributing to this “success” [1]. One of the potential effects of the rise of microfinance in Rwanda is social reconciliation. Faustin Zihiga, the Chief Operating Officer of Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda, the largest microfinance bank in Rwanda among those reporting to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX Market), suggests that in group-lending programs, survivors of the genocide mix in the same groups as perpetrators of the genocide. They begin to associate themselves by their group, not by their ethnic background. According to Zihiga, the social change is often even more visible than the economic change that microfinance brings about [3].

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microfinance USA 2010, Hosted Live and by Webcast by Opportunity Fund, Kiva and US ACCION Network on May 20-21, 2010, San Francisco, CA, USA

Event Name: Microfinance USA 2010

Event Date: May 20 to May 21, 2010

Event Location:

Thursday, May 20th at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St, San Francisco, California, USA
Friday, May 21st at The Westin San Francisco Market St, 50 Third St, San Francisco, California, USA

For those unable to attend, the event will be webcast live at http://www.microfinanceusa2010.org/webcast/

Event Website: http://www.microfinanceusa2010.org/

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

by Eric McKay -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and MasterCard Foundation to Grant $16m to Opportunity International’s African Microfinance Program

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the MasterCard Foundation are partnering to award a grant of USD 16 million to Opportunity International, an international non-profit organization with a microfinance program headquartered in Malawi. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website announces that the purpose of the grant is “to support the expansion of new delivery channels, savings and agricultural finance in Malawi, Ghana, and other African countries” [1].

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG BRIEF: Opportunity International Subsidiary, MicroEnsure, Partners with CARE to Launch Funeral Microinsurance Product

MicroEnsure and CARE have named the unplanned nature of a death in the family as one of the largest risks a family faces. To address this issue, they have jointly developed a low-cost funeral benefit product to distribute to village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) via community-based trainers (CBTs). CARE´s VSLAs are built by women living on less than USD 2 a day who pool savings into a common fund. CBTs will provide VSLAs with initial training on the basics of microinsurance and the benefits of the funeral product. VSLAs will then have to unanimously vote on whether or not they would like to purchase the product. MicroEnsure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Opportunity International, provides a range of products including health, life, property and weather index-based insurance to over 3.5 million people across 10 countries. CARE is a global NGO that has supported over 800 poverty alleviation projects in 72 countries to reach more than 59 million people.

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Opportunity International Expands Education Finance Program with $10m for Entrepreneurs to Open Schools in Poor Neighborhoods

Opportunity International, a nonprofit microfinance organization founded in 1971 by Al Whittaker and David Bussau, announced at the Clinton Global Initiative’s Fifth Annual Meeting that it will expand its Banking on Education program to five additional countries over the next 24 months.  Opportunity will commit USD 10 million to its education finance program, which provides loans for entrepreneurs to open schools in poor areas where it is difficult for children, particularly girls, to access public schools [1, 2].  Opportunity reaches over one million clients globally with products including loans, insurance and technical services.  As of December 2008, it had USD 799 million in assets [3].  To view the 2008 Annual Report, see [4] in the bibliography.

by Diya Chopra -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: US Congressional Delegation Visits Opportunity International Microfinance Bank in Kigali, Rwanda to Promote Proposed US Government Funding for Human Capacity Building in Developing Countries

Mr. Gregory W. Meeks, a United States (U.S.) Congressman representing New York State’s Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives recently led a delegation to Kigali, Rwanda. The representatives met to explore the existing microfinance situation in sub-Saharan Africa, and to better understand the needs for expanding micro-banking services in the region.

by Chinq Yee Chong -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Fund-raising Continues In India – Kerala’s ESAF Microfinance And Investments Raises $2.5 Million Through Sale Of Minority Stake To Opportunity International Australia’s Subsidiary, Dia Vikas Capital

It was recently reported by Ruchika Sharma in VC Circle, a specialist South Asian journal on venture capital, that a South India based MFI, ESAF Microfinance and Investments (EMFIL) has raised Rupees 12 crore (approximately USD 2.5 million). According to the MIX Market portal, a database which provides financial and other information on MFIs across the globe, EMFIL was established in 1992 and is a regulated non-bank financial institution which is modeled along the lines of Grameen Bank. It is stated in EMFIL’s profile on the MIX Market that the MFI’s total assets as at 31 March 2008 is USD 21, 838,532 and it has active 145,712 borrowers. EMFIL’s total equity is reported to be USD 1,169,903 and it has a profit margin of 3.03%. Its return on assets is said to be 0.71 percent and return on equity is 16.74 percent. The services offered by EMFIL include microcredit, microinsurance, funds transfers and micro-energy loans. Kerala-based EMFIL raised the amount by selling 20 percent of its stake to Dia Vikas Capital Private Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Opportunity International Australia. No further information about the transaction is currently available in the public domain.

by Uyen Tran -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Opportunity International’s MicroEnsure of the United Kingdom to Launch Microinsurance Program for Climate Change and Crop Failure in India

MicroEnsure, an insurance intermediary established in 2005, stated that it plans to launch a microinsurance scheme next year for up to 600,000 farmers in India’s Kolhapur province. MicroEnsure is also a subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global non-profit microfinance network, which was formed in 1974, has assets totaling USD 736 million as of 2007 and lends to over 1 million people globally. The plan will insure farmers against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains. Furthermore, the plan is to help farmers access larger loans to pay for seeds and equipment. According to the World Bank, India’s rural population account for about 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, and most of the rural poor rely on rain-fed agriculture.

by Zoran Stanisljevic -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Research Associates, LLC to host Microfinance: The Investment Opportunity for Pensions, Endowments, Foundations & Social Investors Summit on July 13-14, 2009 in Washington, D.C

Microfinance: The Investment Opportunity for Pensions, Endowments, Foundations & Social Investors, July 13-14, 2009, at Washington, D.C., presented by Financial Research Associates, LLC. 

July 13-14, 2009, at Washington, D.C.

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

by Sally Levy -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda Microfinance Loan Portfolio Reaches $5.2m and Savings Reaches $2.6m

Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a Rwandan commercial bank with a focus on microfinance, announced today that its loan portfolio has reached USD 5.2 million. This is an increase of 73 percent since 2006. The increase has been attributed to the growth in its savings portfolio which has now stands at USD 2.6 million. Savings are becoming an increasingly important method of funding for microfinance institutions (MFI) because it is cheaper than other sources of funding and easier to mobilize. In Africa, MFIs have found it difficult to mobilize debt capital in the past but can use deposits when it is available and a stable source.  

by Yanni Hao -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Omidyar Network Grants $4.5m to Opportunity International to Scale Technology-Based Microfinance Services in Africa

Opportunity International announced it received a 4.5 million USD grant from Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm. According to PR Newswire, the grant will be used to create and implement new electronic and mobile banking technologies that will reduce transaction costs and make microfinance services available to more people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, it will launch an “electronic wallet” strategy in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda – countries where Opportunity has significant operations already, including banks and financial institutions. The strategy aims to develop the optimum mix of electronic banking technologies needed in each of these countries.

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: New Microfinance Foreign Exchange Risk Management Group, Cygma, Believes Credit Crunch Provides Business Opportunity

Cygma, the new microfinance foreign exchange (FX) risk management group, believes that the current financial situation is driving people in the microfinance industry to use foreign currency hedging facilities. The organisation will be launching its FX hedging products for illiquid and difficult-to-hedge emerging markets currencies in the first quarter of next year. These will be executed directly by the firm without reliance on third parties, supported by its USD 50 million capital reserve fund.

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: John Deere Foundation Grants $1.2 Million to Opportunity International to Fight Hunger in Africa

Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations, received a $1.2 million grant from the John Deere Foundation to provide increased access to financing for the hunger-afflicted in Africa. OI forecasts that the grant will have a $10.6 million economic impact over the next three years. The grant will be used to benefit farmers, food processors and retailers and their ability to provide affordable food to the rural poor in Malawi and Mozambique.