by Andrea Chu -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Microfinance Investment Congress Hosted by PlaNet Finance and American Conference Institute

GLOBAL MICROFINANCE INVESTMENT CONGRESS

MAY 19-20, 2009, NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Global Microfinance Investment Congress 2009 is being co-hosted by PlaNet Finance Group and American Conference Institute. The conference consists of workshops, case studies, and panels focused on the latest strategies for success in microfinance investing.

by Andrea Chu -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Expanding Microfinancing in Latin America

In his article, published in British newspaper Financial Times, Jonathan Wheatley reports that, as the global banking system sinks into its worst crisis since the 1930s, there is a resurgence of interest in microfinance among Latin American banks. Several articles and papers have reported on this up and coming trend.

by Diana Yang -

PRESS RELEASE: AccessBank’s Portfolio sets new records

Source: AccessBank.

Baku, 23 February 2009 – AccessBank continues to set new records in its business lending. Today the business loan portfolio crossed the USD 200 million and 50,000 client thresholds. Almost simultaneously the Micro loan portfolio exceeded USD 100 million demonstrating the bank’s commitment to its corporate mission of providing access to financial services for micro and small entrepreneurs. It is notable that the Micro loan which pushed the portfolio over this new threshold was disbursed by the Khachmaz branch as AccessBank attaches special improtance to increasing access to financial services specifically in the regions of Azerbaijan. AccesssBank is experiencing increased demand for its services and only during the first three week of this month the Bank has disbursed over 4,500 micro business loans for over USD 13 million. These are record figures for the bank for a three-week period. Loans for micro and small enterprises are a specialization of AccessBank. The Bank disburses loans to its customers depending on their needs starting from 100 up to one-million USD / AZN / EUR.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Customer Savings and Deposits Ensure Stability of Cambodia’s Microfinance Sector Despite the Economic Crisis; Country’s Microfinance Industry Expected to Grow at Double-digit Rates in 2009

Microfinance, one of the fastest growing sectors in the Kingdom of Cambodia, is all set to weather the current economic crisis with strong growth, according to industry experts. According to a press release on The Phnom Penh Post, although the growth of the microfinance sector this year would be at a slower pace than previous years, the industry is still stable and expected to grow at double-digit rates. Commenting on the slight slowdown but stable situation of Cambodia’s microfinance sector this year, Paul Luchtenburg, the Chief Executive Officer of the Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) AMK microfinance said that although the decrease in financing and foreign capital have made Cambodian MFIs more conservative in their lending practices this year, the sector overall was still heading towards positive, albeit slightly slower growth.

by Yanni Hao -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: World Bank Sees Microfinance as Strong Asset Class in Midst of Financial Crisis According to the New York Times; A Target $600m Fund Managed by BlueOrchard, ResponsAbility, and Cyrano Management Will Be Launched to Support MFIs

The World Bank Group and the German government intend to launch a 600 million USD “Microfinance Enhancement Facility,” according to a report from the New York Times. The fund aims to support microfinance institutions in developing countries facing difficulties as a result of wholesale credit tightening stemming from the recent turmoil in global capital markets.

by Ryan Hogarth -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: FINO and NCR to Install 30 Thousand Smartcard Micro-Deposit Machines in India Over 5 Years in an Effort to Reduce the Cost of Microfinance Services

Financial Information Network and Operations Ltd. (FINO), an Indian technology company that produces biometric smartcards, collaborated with the National Cash Register Corporation (NCR), the automated teller machine (ATM) manufacturing company, unveiled a new micro depository machine in Mumbai called the EasyPoint 70 Tijori. As part of the partnership, FINO has committed to release 1000 of the machines, and has reported to have already reached an accord to roll-out an additional 30 thousand machines over the next five-years. However, the company has not specified who will buy the machines. The machine is designed for semi-urban and rural areas, which are traditionally underserved by banks. It is estimated that 560 million people in India (about 51 per cent of the population) are financially underserved. The companies hope to reach 25 million unbanked people with the EasyPoint 70 Tijori by 2011.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: International Symposium on Microfinance as a Tool for Peacebuilding Discusses Rebuilding the Social and Economic Fabric in Post-Conflict Areas of Colombia through Microcredit

The International Symposium on Microfinance as a Tool for Peacebuilding discussed how microcredit could be used to rebuild the economy and promote growth in post-conflict areas of Colombia. According to this press release on the Symbiotics website, the symposium which was held in the city of Cali in Colombia was attended by nearly 2000 participants. Symbiotics is a microfinance information, consulting and services organization based in Switzerland. The symposium was sponsored by the Alvaralice Foundation, a Colombian non-profit established in 2003 and dedicated to promoting peace and economic growth in the country.

by Ryan Hogarth -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: The Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA)

In 2003 the Government of Afghanistan, along with international agencies, initiated the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) under the Ministry for Rural Rehabilitation and Development.  The World Bank was the main international agency involved in creating the organization, with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) acting as a key advisor.  MISFA’s purpose is to act as an apex organization to foster a nascent microfinance sector by channeling financial support and technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating on the ground.  It has three main goals (p2): (1) Coordinate donor funding so that the conflicting donor priorities that are endemic in post-conflict situations do not end up duplicating effort and distorting markets; (2) Help young MFIs scale up rapidly by offering performance-based funding for operations and technical assistance; (3) Build systems for transparent reporting to instill a culture of accountability.  Since March 2006, MISFA has been operating outside the government as an independent entity (p239), because CGAP’s experience in the microfinance sector has shown that independence of government promotes effectiveness and efficiency.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: GTZ Provides Microfinance Training to Participants from the Central Bank of Yemen in Anticipation of New Microfinance Law

The German Development Cooperation (GTZ) Private Sector Development Project (GTZ-PSDP) began providing training workshops on microfinance for participants from the Central Bank of Yemen. The first workshop began on January 24 2008, and is the first in a series of workshops which aims to build the capacity of the Central Bank to better understand microfinancing, according to Ozaina Al-Jundi, an advisor for microfinance at the GTZ-PSDP. The workshops will be held every month in 2009. The trainees from this initial workshop will be responsible for applying a proposed microfinance law which is awaiting approval by the Yemeni Parliament. Yemen is a priority partner of the GTZ where it aims to develop and promote business related services, improve political, legal and institutional frameworks for investments and strengthen central government and private institutions. The proposal of a Microfinance Banking Law was discussed in 2007 by representatives of the Central Bank as a first output of a National Action Plan related to the National Microfinance Policy Statement. The Action Plan was developed through a cooperation between the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC), the Central Bank, Social Fund for Development and with funding from KfW. More information on this can be found in this MicroCapital Story.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Grants Formal Banking License to Liberia’s First Commercial Microfinance Institution, Access Bank Liberia (ABL); ABL Starts Issuing Loans to the Public

Access Bank Liberia (ABL), the first commercial microfinance institution of Liberia, has become operational and started issuing loans to the public, according to an announcement by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group. ABL, which received a preliminary banking license in July 2008, started operations after it was granted a formal banking license by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) on January 21, 2009. According to the announcement by IFC, since receiving the preliminary license, ABL had hired and trained loan officers, tailored all its savings and credit products to cater to the demands of the Liberian market and ensured compliance of all its banking systems with the Liberian law. ABL will focus on microfinance lending in Liberia in addition to providing short and medium-term lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Liberia. So far, no information on the interest rates to be charged is available yet.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Celebrates New Microfinance Licenses and Challenges Governments at 3rd Annual Microfinance and Microfinance Entrepreneurship Awards

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced at the 3rd Annual Microfinance and Microfinance Entrepreneurship Awards Ceremony that it has licensed a total of 840 microfinance institutions throughout the country in, 25 of which have been licensed since September 2008. CBN Governor Chukwuma Soludo stated that despite this increase in MFIs, as well as an increase in branches of universal banks by two thousand since 2003, access to formal finance in Nigeria remains at 35 percent. Local and state governments were challenged to establish and mainstream microfinance programmes while praising particular microfinance initiatives such as the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGSF), the insurance deposits for microfinance by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) as well the development of a credit bureau, the Credit Reference Company.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Provides EUR 5m Loan to Macedonian Commercial Bank, TTK Banka A.D. Skopje (TTK); Fund will be Used to Provide Microloans to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Macedonia

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg based microfinance fund has agreed to lend EUR 5 million to TTK Banka A.D. Skopje (TTK), a commercial bank based in Skopje, Macedonia as part of a loan agreement to help TTK further expand its outreach to micro and small entrepreneurs in the Republic of Macedonia. In a news release found on the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management website, Nikolche Petkoski, a member of the Board of Directors at TTK said that the loan, which would help TTK to support and increase access to finance for micro and small businesses in Macedonia, was particularly important during the present ‘times of economic uncertainty’.