by Mihaela Grindeanu -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest $1.6m in Chinese-Mongolian Microcredit Company Urumqi Tianrong

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, is making a CNY 10 million (USD 1.6 million) equity investment in Urumqi Tianrong Microcredit Company, a joint venture of Mongolia-based TenGer Financial Group (TFG), IFC and three unidentified investors from China and Mongolia.

by Brett Cohen -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroScore From MicroNed Measures Success of Microfinance Institution Capacity Building Programmes

MicroNed, a network of Dutch organizations involved in microfinance, has introduced MicroScore, a tool intended to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) and cooperatives assess themselves before, during, and after conducting capacity building programmes. MicroScore measures the following four performance ratios: governance, institutional, financial performance management, and services and social performance management.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Emerging Markets; Impact of Insurance Literacy on Health Microinsurance in Senegal; State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities

“Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Emerging Markets: How Banks Can Grasp a $350 Billion Opportunity,” by Mutsa Chironga, et al; published by McKinsey & Company; 2012; 58 pages; available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Financial_Services/Knowledge_Highlights/Recent_Reports/MSME%20Emerging%20Banking.aspx

by Amira Berrada -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chris Dunford of Freedom from Hunger Launches “The Evidence Project” Blog to Examine Impact of Microfinance

Freedom from Hunger, US-based NGO focused on alleviating hunger and poverty, has recently announced the start of a new blog intended to address the impact that microfinance has on poor people around the world.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Freedom from Hunger, Oikocredit to Implement Health Protection Through Microfinance Institutions in Ecuador, Peru

Freedom from Hunger, a US-based non-governmental organization that aims to alleviate poverty, and Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, plan to partner with six microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Andes mountains of Ecuador and Peru to implement Freedom from Hunger’s microfinance and health protection model.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos, Women’s World Banking to Co-Manage $30m Isis Microfinance Fund

Triodos Investment Management, which manages funds that invest in venture capital and social finance, has announced that it will act as co-investment manager alongside Women’s World Banking Asset Management for Isis Fund, an equity fund that aims to increase access to finance for women around the world.

by Emilia Akonom -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011

By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36453519.

This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011. The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), Triodos Bank Launch Online “Responsible Finance” Magazine

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), a Dutch development bank, has partnered with Triodos Bank, a company with branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain, to start an online magazine Upsides (www.upsides.com) focusing on responsible finance and sustainable development in emerging markets.

by Kristha Abores -

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Willingness to Pay for Business Correspondents in India, Health Microinsurance Third Party Payment Mechanisms, Accenture Development Partners Report on Microinsurance

“The Answer is ‘Yes’—Cost and Willingness to Pay in India;” by Akhand Tiwari, Akhilesh Singh, Ann-Byrd Platt, Graham A N Wright, Minakshi Ramji and Sachin Bansal; published by MicroSave; 2011; 16 pages; available at http://ami.microsave.org/sites/default/files/research_papers/CWP_Summary…

by Ariana Malushi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Groupe Provoir Launches Prevoir Kampuchea Micro-life Insurance in Cambodia

Prevoir Kampuchea Micro-life Insurance Public Limited Company (PKMI), a subsidiary of French insurer Groupe Prevoir, has been launched in Cambodia after receiving an operating license from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

by Nisha Koul -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Steve Hollingworth to Succeed Chris Dunford as President and CEO of Freedom from Hunger, Says “Microfinance Groups can Serve as Catalyst for Major Changes”

Freedom from Hunger, a US-based nonprofit, recently announced that Mr Steve Hollingworth will be the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the organization after the retirement of Mr Chris Dunford who has held the position for approximately 20 years [1].

by Aaron Wee -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU Pledges Additional €5m to EBRD’s Small Business Programmes in Eastern Europe

The European Union (EU) has committed an additional EUR 5 million (USD 6.9 million) to the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for its “TurnAround Management” (TAM) and “Business Advisory Service” (BAS) programs in the Eastern Partnership region [1].

by Kristha Abores -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Philippines, Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Government Agencies Support Banks’ Expansion Into Microinsurance

The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Incorporated (RBRDFI), the research and development arm of the nonprofit Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), has been offering training on microinsurance to local rural banks, of which seven have so far been licensed to offer microinsurance services by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the Insurance Commission (IC), which regulates the country’s insurance industry.

by Alex Pattee -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Rural and Microfinance in the Lower Mekong Region: Policies, Institutions, and Market Outcomes: by Binh T Nguyen, Robert Vogel; Published by Asian Development Bank (ADB)

By Binh T Nguyen and Robert Vogel, published by Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2011, 126 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.9.51104/

by Jacqueline Foelster -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wall Street Journal Publishes “India Journal: Linking Health and Microfinance” By Somen Soha of Indian Institute of Public Health, Marcia Metcalfe of Freedom From Hunger

Mr Somen Saha, senior lecturer at the Indian Institute of Public Health in the state of Gujarat, and Ms Marcia Metcalfe, director of microfinance and health protection at California-based international development nonprofit Freedom from Hunger, recently co-authored an article that was published on the website of US-based newspaper The Wall Street Journal wherein they argue for the integration of health care with microfinance in India.