The Impact Insurance Facility of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) recently signed a three-year partnership seeking to strengthen the resilience of middle-income workers in the informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial details of this partnership have not been reported.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), Bima Partner to Offer Microinsurance in Rural Papua New Guinea
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), a Fiji-based United Nations initiative that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, and Bima, a Sweden-based microinsurance provider that partners with mobile operators, recently launched an effort with the support of the European Union, the Australian government and the Bank of Papua New Guinea to provide two microinsurance products in Papua New Guinea (PNG) [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: African Microfinance Week (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance), June 29 – July 3, 2015, Dakar, Senegal, With On-site Reporting by MicroCapital
Event Name: African Microfinance Week (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) 2015
Event Dates: June 29 – July 3, 2015
Location: King Fahd Palace Conference Center, Dakar, Senegal
Event Summary: The second annual African Microfinance Week will center around “accelerating innovative rural finance in Africa,” providing practitioners with a venue for exchanging ideas and reflecting on the trajectory of the industry. The event is designed to improve “the synergies” between the Benin-based African Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of 21 national microfinance networks; the African Microfinance Transparency Forum (AMT), a South Africa-based group that aims to strengthen the performance of African microfinance institutions (MFIs); the African Rural & Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), a Kenya-based group of 105 central banks, retail financial service providers and microfinance networks; and the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), a Cote d’Ivoire-based NGO with 71 members. The program is sponsored by the governments of Senegal and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with support from the US-based Citi Foundation; the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank; the United Nations Capital Development Fund; and Microfact, a nonprofit, web-based platform that provides toolkits for building the capacity of MFIs. The week will include plenary sessions, trainings, an investors’ fair and the general assemblies of AFMIN and MAIN. The primary languages of the event will be French and English. MicroCapital will provide sponsored, onsite coverage of selected sessions.
SPECIAL REPORT: Save the Date: African Microfinance Week (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance), June 29 – July 3, 2015, Dakar, Senegal
Event Name: African Microfinance Week (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) 2015
Event Dates: June 29 – July 3, 2015
Location: King Fahd Palace Conference Center, Dakar, Senegal
Event Summary: The second annual African Microfinance Week will center around “accelerating innovative rural finance in Africa,” providing practitioners with a venue for exchanging ideas and reflecting on the trajectory of the industry. The event is designed to improve “the synergies” between the Benin-based African Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of 21 national microfinance networks; the African Microfinance Transparency Forum (AMT), a group that aims to strengthen the performance of African microfinance institutions (MFIs); the African Rural & Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), a Kenya-based group of 105 central banks, retail financial service providers and microfinance networks; and the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), a Cote d’Ivoire-based NGO with 71 members. The program is sponsored by the governments of Senegal and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with support from the US-based Citi Foundation; the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank; the United Nations Capital Development Fund; and Microfact, a nonprofit, web-based platform that provides toolkits for building the capacity of MFIs. The week will include plenary sessions, trainings, an investors’ fair and the general assemblies of AFMIN and MAIN. The primary languages of the event will be French and English.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Bank to Host Global Forum on Remittances, June 16-19, 2015, Milan, Italy
Event Name: Global Forum on Remittances 2015
Event Date: June 16-19, 2015
Event Location: Centro Congressi Stella Polare Conference Centre, Milan, Italy
Summary of Event: This event is intended to promote awareness of remittances sent by migrants to their home countries. Session topics will include trends in remittances sent from Europe, best practices in regulation, opportunities for financial inclusion, competition and transaction costs, new technologies, opportunities for public-private partnerships and strategies for developing public-private partnerships to further financial inclusion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fonds pour l’inclusion Financière en République Démocratique du Congo (FPM) Receives Authorization from Central Bank of the Congo to Issue Wholesale Financing to Lenders Serving Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
Fonds pour l’inclusion Financière en République Démocratique du Congo (FPM) SA, a nonprofit organization based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that was formerly known as Fonds de Promotion de la Microfinance, recently received authorization to operate as a financial company from the Central Bank of the Congo, DRC’s central banking authority.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Expands into Yemen with $3m Loan to Al-Amal Microfinance Bank
The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise), a Germany-based fund providing medium- and long-term debt and equity financing in the Middle East and North Africa, recently disbursed a senior loan of USD 3 million to Al-Amal Microfinance Bank (AMB), a nonprofit minority-held by the government of Yemen, to support micro- and small enterprises (MSE) in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Loans $29m to Government of Uganda in Effort to Bring Financial Inclusion, Improved Nutrition to 576k Rural Households
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations that aims to alleviate poverty in rural areas, recently extended a loan of USD 29 million to the government of Uganda to support the Project for Financial Inclusion in Rural Areas (PROFIRA).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Investview Acquires Gate Global Impact, Gateway 2.0 Will Continue to Link Social Enterprises, Funders
Gate Global Impact (GGI), a US-based, regulatory-compliant electronic marketplace that focuses on impact investing, has been acquired by Investview, another US-based financial services company [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: African Conference on Remittances and Postal Networks; March 4-5, 2015; Cape Town, South Africa
Event Name: African Conference on Remittances and Postal Networks
Event Date: March 4 – March 5, 2015
Event Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Cost: The conference is free to all participants.
Summary of Event: This conference will involve African postal operators and key players involved in the remittance market, with the purpose of sharing knowledge and addressing challenges in the provision of remittances and other financial services through postal networks, as well as fostering dialogue between stakeholders and policy makers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD, OPEC Fund for International Development Lend $36m to Support Infrastructure and Rural Financial Support Programme in Armenia
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations that aims to alleviate poverty, has agreed to lend USD 11 million to the Republic of Armenia for a “Infrastructure and Rural Finance Support Programme,” a USD 52.8 million initiative that aims to create sustainable employment opportunities and higher incomes for people in “the business, financial and agricultural sectors” of the Armenian economy [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The MasterCard Foundation Commits $25m to Expand UN Capital Development Fund’s Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) Program
The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in Africa and other emerging markets, has partnered with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a UN initiative to increase access to microfinance and other forms of investment capital for small businesses and individuals in developing countries, to expand the UNCDF Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Technology Recognized as Tool to Improve Property Rights, Payment Platforms, Reduce Transaction Costs at International Monetary Fund (IMF) Seminar: “Future of Finance – Technology and Financial Inclusion”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a US-based arm of the United Nations, and the US-based World Bank Group, recently held a seminar on technology and financial inclusion as part of its seminar series entitled “The Future of Finance,” panelists discussed the role of technology as a tool to amend market failures in the provision of financial services for low-income people such as via the documentation of property rights and reductions in transaction costs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Releases 2014 Financial Access Survey (FAS)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a US-based organisation that is part of the United Nations, has released the results of its 2014 Financial Access Survey (FAS), a publication that provides data and analysis on financial inclusion around the world.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), Proxfin Members Endorse Draft Declaration on Food Security, Job Creation, Access to Healthcare
On the occasion of the recently convened International Summit of Cooperatives, Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian nonprofit corporation that specializes in providing technical support and investment for the community finance sector in emerging economies; the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), a Belgium-based nonprofit with 271 member cooperatives in 94 countries; and microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are members of the Proxfin Network, an international network of 30 community finance institutions coordinated by DID, endorsed a Draft Declaration to tackle the “challenges of food security,” “employment crisis,” and “access to health care and services”[1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Senegal, IFAD Engage Développement International Desjardins (DID) to Research Financial Inclusion in West Africa
Développement International Desjardins (DID), a nonprofit subsidiary of Canadian cooperative Desjardins Group, has been awarded two new mandates relating to financial inclusion in the Ivory Coast and Senegal.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO, Cordaid, Incofin, KfW Commit $25m to Launch Wholesale Fund for DRC Under Nonprofit Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM)
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), which is owned by the government of Belgium and seeks to support the sustainable development of the private sector; the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid), a Netherlands-based NGO; Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a private Belgian company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned development bank in Germany, jointly have offered a “capital contribution” of USD 25.1 million for Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM), a nonprofit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microinsurance Distribution Channels, Friendship Bridge, MicroVest Impact Reports
“Microinsurance Distribution Channels: Insights for Insurers;” by Alice Merry, Pranav Prashad and Tobias Hoffarth; published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization as Paper Number 33; June 2014; 25 pages; available at http://www.microinsurancefacility.org/sites/default/files/MP33.pdf
The Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations that addresses labour standards and related issues, recently analyzed the distribution channels available to microinsurance providers based on the experiences of 60 of its partner institutions.