The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned development bank based in Germany, have announced that they will establish microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Zambia and Senegal in 2010.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chief Olutayo Adenekan, the Lagos State Chairman of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Still Working to Implement Intervention Fund to Provide Short-Term Financial Support to Microfinance Banks
Chief Olutayo Adenekan, the Lagos State chairman of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), is reportedly still working to implement an intervention fund to provide short-term financial support to microfinance banks [1,2,3].
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FOUNDATION: Ford Foundation
Overview:
The Ford Foundation provides grants and loans to organizations and individuals that address social causes.
MEET THE BOSS: Isabelle Levard, Deputy CEO of MicroCred, a member of the PlaNet Finance Group
Isabelle Levard is Deputy CEO of MicroCred, a member of the PlaNet Finance Group.
MicroCapital: Please describe MicroCred.
Isabelle Levard: MicroCred is an investment company founded by PlaNet Finance that creates, builds and manages microfinance institutions.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF)), Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P), Gray Ghost Fund, Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF))
Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P)
Gray Ghost Fund
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Gray+Ghost+Fund
Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: FRONTIERS, Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund, Goodwell, Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Fund
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
FRONTIERS
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=FRONTIERS
Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund
Goodwell
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Goodwell
Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US President Obama Nominates CGAP CEO Elizabeth Littlefield for Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Presidency
President Barack Obama has announced that he will nominate Elizabeth Littlefield to become President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ms Littlefield is currently a Director of the World Bank and the CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a multi-donor organization created to help build a the microfinance industry. Ms. Littlefield previously worked with JP Morgan, where she was the Managing Director of the Emerging Markets Capital Markets Division. She has served on the executive board of Women’s World Banking, Profund, Africa International Financial Holding, the Mastercard Foundation, the Calvert Foundation, and E&Co. Littlefield is a graduate of Brown University and also attended Ecole Nationale de Sciences Politiques in Paris.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: ACCION Investments in Microfinance SPC
Overview:
The ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC fund (ACCION Investments) is a microfinance investment vehicle which mobilizes funds for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Developments in the Past Year of Microfinance Regulation Coverage by Microcapital.org
Microfinance regulation has provided rich fodder for reporting over the past twelve months of coverage by Microcapital.org. Nearly twelve months ago, in November 2008, Microcapital.org reported on the World Economic Forum’s Inaugural Summit on the challenges posed by regulatory frameworks as policy makers grappled with the question of how to advance microfinance. Since that time, there have been a number of international agencies as well as developed country governments involved in researching and collaborating on guidelines for the strengthening of microfinance regulation. On the other hand, there have also been doubts about the relevance of regulation to microfinance sector:
WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)
The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) is a strategic partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and provides professional assistance and technical support for these institutions. NMI’s investors have committed NOK 600 million (USD 100 million) for investment. There is an equal amount of public and private investment in the NMI. [1] Investors include Norfund (a development finance institution owned by the Government of Norway) and four private sector partners: Ferd, KLP, DnB NOR, and Storebrand.
NEWS WIRE: Kenya: Banks’ Trouble Assists Microfinance Institutions
Source: East African Standard.
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.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Women’s World Banking (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership & University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Center for Leadership and Change Management to Hold Workshop in Bangalore, India, January 2010
NEWS WIRE: United States: Time Magazine Publishes Answers to Ten Questions by Muhammad Yunus
Source: Time.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Pan African Women Projects Plans to Establish USD 5 Billion Microfinance Bank in Africa
According to the Guardian, an African based news provider, the Pan African Women Projects (PAWP), (a non-government organization), announced that they plan to establish a microfinance financial institution in Africa with a capital base of USD 5 billion [1]. The formal plan for the bank will be presented at this year’s Pan African Women Conference October 21st-23rd, 2009 in South Africa [3]. The proposed pan African women bank would create the largest financial institution in the country according to Mrs. Eno Ben Udensi, President of the PAWP [8]. No additional information regarding the capital base is provided.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Roundtable 2009, presented by the United Nations, October 22-23, 2009 at Cape Town, South Africa
MICROFINANCE EVENT: United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Roundtable 2009, presented by the United Nations, October 22-23, 2009 at Cape Town, South Africa
United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), presented by the United Nations, October 22-23, 2009 at Cape Town, South Africa
October 22-23, 2009 at Cape Town, South Africa
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Basix Chairman Vijay Mahajan Advocates The Use Of Interest-Free Microfinance And Islamic Finance Techniques To Help Muslim Clients in Small Communities In India
According to a report entitled ‘Islamic way of microcredit the best way to help the poor: Basix Chief’ [1] which is available on the Two Circles online information portal [2], the chairman of the Indian MFI, Basix [3], Mr Vijay Mahajan, was stated to have strongly advocated the use of interest free microcredit or equity financing as an appropriate way of enabling the poor in India gain financial independence. Speaking at the inaugural session of an orientation and training camp on interest free micro-financing in Hyderabad, Mr Mahajan was quoted as stating that financing techniques where the investor and the microentrepreneur share both the loss and profit or ‘micro equity finance’ is particularly suitable for poor people although he did caution that it will work most effectively in small communities where people know and trust each other and where the Islamic concept of ‘Iman’ or honesty can thrive.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Blue Financial Services in South Africa to Continue Microfinance Growth in Africa But Lessens Pace
Blue Financial Services, the South Africa based microfinance institution (MFI) will remain focused on expansion in Africa and will begin operations in more African countries this year, according to a press release on AllAfrica.com. In this regard, the release quotes Blue’s CEO Dave van Niekerk as saying that Blue’s plans in Africa come despite a slowdown in the ‘pace of its expansion due to the global financial crisis.’ [1]. Per information currently available, Blue’s immediate plans also include the setting up of a branch in Ghana over the next 2 months [2]. (AllAfrica.com is a news and information portal owned by AllAfrica Global Media, a multi-media content service provider, systems technology developer and distributor of African news and information worldwide.)