Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH (APM), Austrian-based investment and asset management company that offers microfinance institutions (MFIs) financing and investment strategy advisory services, recently disbursed a loan of USD 1 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kazakhstan, via the Dual Return Fund, a sub-fund of Vision Microfinance created by APM that issues direct loans to MFIs in developing countries.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions, Boom Financial to Offer Mobile Banking to Credit Unions Worldwide
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association and support organization for credit unions, and Boom Financial, a US-based mobile banking, payments and money transfer provider, have partnered in an effort to assist credit unions worldwide in offering mobile banking services to their customers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Omtrix’s Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF) Provides $3m Loan to Fundacion Genesis Empresial of Guatemala
Omtrix Incorporated, a privately owned fund management consulting firm based in Costa Rica, recently announced the first disbursement from its Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF), which will go to Fundacion Genesis Empresarial, a Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders Conference, Erbil, Iraq, October 23-24, 2012
Event name: Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders Conference
Event date: October 23 and October 24, 2012
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Communications of the Philippines Partners with Mobile Money Service Provider mHIT of Australia, Microinsurance Provider BenLife
Smart Communications, a wireless service provider in the Philippines, reportedly has partnered with mHIT, an Australian mobile payment service developer and operator, to facilitate mobile money transfers and remittances for Filipinos in Australia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Digicel, Voila Reach 5m Transactions, Receive $3.2m Award from Haiti Mobile Money Initiative
Two services of Bermuda-based mobile phone network provider Digicel Group, Tcho Tcho Mobile and Voila’s T-Cash, will share an award of USD 3.2 million from the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a competition developed by the Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises (HIFIVE) incentive fund that provides prize money from the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a US government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citigroup Wins 2012 Business in the Community International Award for Excellence, for Microfinance Partnership with Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Citigroup, a US-based bank, has won the International Award of the fifteenth edition of the Awards for Excellence, the corporate responsibility awards offered by the Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Productive Safety Net Program of Ethiopia Introduces Electronic Transfers
The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) of the Ethiopian government reportedly has introduced electronic money transfers for participants in the program, which provides money to food-insecure Ethiopians in return for labor on public works projects.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Amid Concerns of a Bubble In Kyrgyzstan, 94 Microfinance Institutions Are Shut Down, 31% of Borrowers Owe Multiple Loans
According to a quote attributed to Fatima Eshimbekova of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), MFIs in Kyrgyzstan have doubled their aggregate loan portfolio since 2010.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Absolute Portfolio Management Interviews CEO Nurhayrah Sadava of Microfinance Institution Thaneakea Phum in Cambodia (TPC) Regarding Client Protection Principles
The following text is re-posted with permission from Absolute Portfolio Management.
The microfinance industry has taken big steps forward in the last couple of years to better serve their clients. The Client Protection Principles for microfinance and the accompanying Smart Campaign have been introduced to protect clients, businesses, and the industry as a whole.
Austrian based asset manager Absolute Portfolio Management (APM) offers two “Dual Return – Vision Microfinance” funds, endorses the Smart Campaign and has incorporated the client protection principles into their investment criteria and due diligence. However, APM wanted to double-check how the Principles are employed at the microfinance institutions that the Vision Microfinance funds invest in.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Funds Managed By Incofin Loan $5m to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, Bai Tushum of Kyrgyzstan; Take 35% Stake in Unguka Bank of Rwanda
Incofin, a Belgian for-profit microfinance investment manager, has agreed to disburse loans of USD 3 million to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, a branch of US-based microfinance nonprofit FINCA International, and USD 2 million to Bai Tushum Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kyrgyzstan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, KfW Bankengruppe, Access Africa Fund Invest in Mobile Microfinance Institution Musoni Kenya
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that aims to help poor people access business opportunities and financial and information services; KfW Bankengruppe, the German development bank; and the Access Africa Fund, a US-based for-profit limited liability company launched by nonprofit CARE International, have each purchased a 25-percent stake in Musoni Kenya, a Kenyan MFI that provides financial services via mobile phone.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Insurance Timor-Leste (NITL), Tuba Rei Metin, Moris Rasik Introduce Life Microinsurance Products
National Insurance Timor-Leste (NITL), an insurance company in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, has partnered with local microfinance institutions (MFIs) Tuba Rai Metin and Moris Rasik to introduce regulated microinsurance products in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation India Launches Newest Version of Progress Out of Poverty Index
Grameen Foundation India, a subsidiary of the US-based Grameen Foundation that promotes access to microfinance and technological services, has launched an iteration of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool that measures poverty levels of groups and individuals, for India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swiss Government Sponsor Workshops for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Egypt
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, is sponsoring a series of workshops for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt “on how to implement sound corporate governance standards to improve their performance, increase access to finance and foster sustained growth.”
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Cracking the Nut 2012: Attracting Private Sector Investment to Rural and Agricultural Markets, Washington, DC, United States, June 25-26, 2012
Event Name: Cracking the Nut 2012: Attracting Private Sector Investment to Rural and Agricultural Markets
Event Date: June 25 – June 26, 2012
Event Location: Enrique V Iglesias Conference Center, Washington, DC, United States
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) Support Microfinance in Guatemala, Mexico with $4m Rural Technology Cooperative Program
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association for credit unions in 51 countries, and Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), an association of credit unions and cooperatives in Guatemala, is using technology to assist rural farmers in Guatamala and Mexico in achieving financial stability.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Competition, Loan Rates, and Information in Microcredit Markets; Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Snapshot; and Economic Strengthening of the Bottom Billion
“Competition, Loan Rates and Information Dispersion in Microcredit Markets” by G. Baquero, Malika Hamadi, and Andréas Heinen; published by the European School of Management and Technology; November 21, 2011; 58 pages; available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2006485&