Advans SA, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) registered in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that two of its holdings have received local-currency refinancing loans.
Search Results for: Ghana
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana, Hollard Insurance, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Africa, MicroEnsure Pilot “mi-Life” Mobile Money Insurance Product in Ghana
Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana, a division of the multinational MTN telecommunications group of South Africa, recently partnered with Hollard Insurance, a private insurance provider based in South Africa; Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Africa, a mobile payments organization based in South Africa; and MicroEnsure, a UK-based insurance intermediary owned by US-based nonprofit Opportunity International, to pilot a life insurance product called mi-Life [1] [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Credit Reference Bureau XDS Data of Ghana Reaches Out to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Rural Banks for Customer Credit Information
XDS Data, a privately owned credit reference bureau based in Accra, Ghana, recently reported that it is reaching out to microfinance institutions (MFIs), rural banks, insurance companies and utility companies for customer information to add to its credit reference database.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money West Africa, Accra, Ghana, June 8-9, 2011
Event Name: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money West Africa
Event Date: June 8 – June 9, 2011
Event Location: Accra, Ghana
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency, Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN) Launch Transparent Pricing Initiative in Ghana
MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization launched in 2008 that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing, and the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN) have partnered to expand MFTransparency’s Transparent Pricing Initiative to Ghana with the aim of collecting and publishing pricing data for microfinance products offered in Ghana and providing training on financial literacy for microfinance clients.
SPECIAL FEATURE: An Interview with Chris Urdy on Agricultural Microinsurance in Ghana from the Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty
In many developing countries, the everyday well-being of the poor is profoundly tied to farming. In rural Ghana, where Chris Udry runs his Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty (CFSP) research project, this is especially true.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland Makes Loans Totaling $2m to FINCA DRC of Democratic Republic of the Congo, First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL) of Ghana
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, has recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling USD 2 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation, Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) Announce Scholarship Opportunities for Sustainable Microenterprise and Development Program (SMDP) in Ghana
The MasterCard Foundation of Canada and Women Advancing Microfinance’s (WAM’s) New York chapter recently announced scholarship opportunities for the University of New Hampshire’s Sustainable Microenterprise and Development Program (SMDP) in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Stanford University Study Indicates Success of Ghana Shea Value Chain Initiative, Olam International Enters As Buyer
A recent study from researchers at California’s Stanford University indicates that the Ghana Shea Value Chain Initiative, a program designed to improve the incomes and living conditions of women in Ghana who are engaged in the shea nut harvesting and shea butter business, has met many of its program targets. Additionally, Olam International, a Singapore-based processor of agricultural products and food ingredients, has signed an agreement to become a major buyer of the initiative’s products.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), MasterCard Foundation Announce Branchless Banking Partnership with MTN Ghana, Mobile Transactions of Zambia
Recently, Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), a microenterprise resource center based in Washington, DC, and the MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian foundation with approximately USD 2.9 billion in assets, announced that they have chosen MTN Ghana Mobile Money and Mobile Transactions of Zambia to participate in their Consumer Education for Branchless Banking (CEBB) program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: REGMIFA Invests $13m in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Sinapi Aba Trust and First Allied Savings and Loans of Ghana, Kenya Women Finance Trust, Faulu Kenya, FINCA Tanzania, Programme d’Appui aux Mutuelles d’Epargne et de Credit au Senegal (PAMECAS)
The Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa SA, SICAV-SIF (REGMIFA), a Luxembourg-based fund that seeks to invest in micro-, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa, has announced investments totaling USD 13.5 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) Sinapi Aba Trust and First Allied Savings and Loans of Ghana; Kenya Women Finance Trust; Faulu Kenya; FINCA Tanzania, an affiliate of FINCA International, a microfinance network serving 700,000 people through subsidiaries in 21 countries; and Programme d’Appui aux Mutuelles d’Epargne et de Credit au Senegal (PAMECAS).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investment Manager BlueOrchard Invests $5.5m in Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua, First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL) of Ghana and AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria
BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, reported to MicroCapital the details of three debt investments made to microfinance institution (MFI) Nitlapan’s Credit Program Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua (MFI), First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), an MFI in Ghana, and the commercial AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to Disburse $24m to Cover All Regions of Ghana During 2011
The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), an institution established by the Ghanaian microfinance industry to administer, coordinate and monitor microcredit schemes in the country, has announced a plan to increase its disbursements to cover all regions of the country through on-lending.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International Expands savings-based Microfinance in Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique
Opportunity International, a US-based organization with a microfinance program based in Malawi, announced that it will be expanding its savings-based microfinance services in Africa as part of its “Banking on Africa” campaign, which mainly targets small – scale farmers and other entrepreneurs in rural Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $1.1m in Microfinance Institution (MFI) Advans Ghana
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will invest GHS 1.58 million (USD 1.1 million) in Advans Ghana, a microfinance institution (MFI) established in 2008 that belongs to the Luxembourg-based Advans Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Managing Director of Ghanaian Area Rural Bank Apex Cautions Against Fraud by Interns
Eric Osei-Bonsu, Managing Director of the Area Rural Bank Apex Bank (ARB Apex Bank), an umbrella organization of rural and community banks (RCBs), some of which provide microfinance services, warned against individuals who might do significant financial damage to banks under the disguise of interns at a meeting of its member rural banks on September 11, 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank and ARB Apex Bank of Ghana Release Report on Rural and Community Banks, Categorize Fifteen for Liquidation
The World Bank, an anti-poverty international financial institution, and ARB Apex Bank, a Ghanaian bank that operates under the supervision of the Bank of Ghana and is held by rural and community banks (RCBs), recently released a survey report, “Rural Banking: The Case of Rural and Community Banks in Ghana”, which identified fifteen of 136 Ghanaian RCBs for possible liquidation.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) Hosts the Ninth Annual Microfinance Conference and General Assembly in Ghana, October 5 to 9, 2010
Event Name: 2010 Annual African Microfinance Network (AFMIN) Conference and General Assembly “Access to Financial Services: Reaching the Poor and Excluded”