Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has raised INR 65 crores (USD 14 million) through a third round of equity capital fundraising. Citi Venture Capital International, a US-based private equity investor affiliated with Citigroup, has taken a “significant minority stake” in JFS that reportedly represents its first investment in India since 2008.
Search Results for: microfinance financial crisis
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Spurned by Commercial Banks, Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Raise Funds from Social Investors IFC, ACCION, MicroVest, ShoreCap, Aavishkaar, BlueOrchard
Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), which have seen new lending from commercial banks dry up since the “Andhra Pradesh crisis” broke in late 2010, instead have been accessing funds from social and philanthropic investors including: International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit organization; MicroVest Capital Management, a US-based family of microfinance investment funds; Shore Capital, a UK-based investment banking company; Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company Limited, an India-based financing company; and BlueOrchard Microfinance Investment Managers, a Swiss manager of microfinance funds.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution (MFI) TuranBank of Azerbaijan Receives Loan of $7m from IFC to Expand Rural Lending
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan USD 7 million to TuranBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan, in an effort to help the MFI increase its lending to rural micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The Wall Street Journal Reports on Expansion of Indonesian Banks into Microfinance Sector, $30b in Microloans Are Distributed in 5 Years
US-based newspaper The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Indonesian banks are quickly expanding into the country’s microfinance market [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Panel Discusses Balancing Profit, Mission, Impact at Microfinance USA Conference 2011, Presented by Opportunity Fund, ACCION, Kiva, in New York City, May 23 – 24
Opportunity Fund, a nonprofit organization based in the US state of California that offers microloans and microsavings primarily to people in the San Francisco Bay area; ACCION International, a microfinance organization that provides lending and financial education to small businesses in twenty-three countries; and Kiva, a US-based online portal that allows individuals to make loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) for on-lending to poor people in sixty countries, hosted the Microfinance USA Conference 2011 on May 23 and May 24 in New York City.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Members of “No Pago” Movement in Nicaragua Propose to Pay Back Microfinance Debts Over 10 Years, Government Would Repay $25m Upfront
Members of the “No Pago” (No Payment) Movement, in which thousands of Nicaraguan borrowers refused to pay back outstanding loans beginning in 2009, have proposed a deal wherein the government would immediately repay debts to microfinance institutions (MFIs) worth USD 25 million and the debtors would pay the government back over ten years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Release “Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010”
Two US-based nonprofits, the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) co-published the “Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Confusion Continues Over Regulation of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India, State of Andhra Pradesh May Adjust Law to Reconcile With Federal Rules
The Business Standard, an Indian financial newspaper, recently reported that the regulations recently issued for the microfinance sector by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, and the Regulation of Microlending act issued by the government of the state of Andhra Pradesh in 2010 are creating confusion over the regulatory jurisdiction of each entity.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance in India – A Crisis at the Bottom of the Pyramid; Published by Legatum Ventures
Published by Legatum Ventures; May 2011; 11 pages; available at http://www.legatum.org/attachments/MicrofinanceCrisis.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women Lose Out as Moneylenders Regain Ground From Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Pinched by Liquidity Crunch
A recent article in US-based newspaper The Washington Post spotlights the impact that the recent liquidity crunch for microlenders in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has had on women, who make up a majority of the microborrowers in the state, in particular as a result of a reemergence of unregulated moneylenders.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance Crisis in India: Local and Global Implications – A Panel Discussion, April 8, 2011, Hosted by the American University, Washington DC, USA
Event Name: Microfinance Crisis in India: Local and Global Implications – A Panel Discussion
Event Date: April 8, 2011, 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm
Event Location: Room 120, School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington DC
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 14th Annual Microfinance Centre (MFC) Conference, “Reorienting Microfinance Towards Balanced Growth”, May 18 – 20, 2011, in Prague, Czech Republic
Event Name: 14th Annual Microfinance Centre (MFC) Conference, “Reorienting Microfinance Towards Balanced Growth”
Event Date: May 18 – May 20, 2011
Event Location: Prague, Czech Republic
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Banana Skins 2011, the CSFI Survey of Microfinance Risk, by David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, Published by Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI)
By David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, February 2011, 48 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.49643/Microfinance_Banana_Skins_2011.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Malegam Committee Report on Microfinance Regulation in India Fails to Meet Expectations, Argues Sriram
On the website “livemint.com”, an Indian partner of the US-based Wall Street Journal, independent researcher MS Sriram presented his evaluation of the recommendations issued in response to the crisis in the microfinance sector in Andhra Pradesh by the Malegam Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While he argues that the report has some positive aspects, he states that it largely fails to deliver.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: “Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry” to be Held in London, United Kingdom, May 24-25, 2011
Event Name: Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry
Event Date: May 24 – May 25, 2011
Event Location: London, United Kingdom
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACCION’s Centre for Financial Inclusion Offers Lessons Learned from Nicaraguan Microfinance Crunch, Reiterates Six-Point Agenda For “Recalibration” of Industry Worldwide
The Centre for Financial Inclusion, a division of US-based nonprofit ACCION International, recently released an overview of lessons that can be taken from the Nicaraguan microfinance downturn. Triggered by a combination of the global economic downturn and the “No Pago” (No Payment) Movement, which was encouraged by the Nicaraguan government, the result was a reduction in the aggregate microloan portfolio from USD 420 million in 2008 to USD 170 million in 2011, a fall in the number of clients served from 324,000 to 225,000 and estimated portfolio at risk rising to 19 percent [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance of India Increases Loan Loss Provision, Reports 38% Fall in Quarterly Net Profit
SKS Microfinance, a for-profit, publicly traded microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, recently reported total income of INR 3.85 billion (USD 83.8 million) and a 38 percent drop in net profit to INR 341 million (USD 7.4 million) for the period October-December 2010. A 30-percent fall in the share price of SKS has also been recorded since October 2010 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) Releases “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011” Report, a Survey of Microfinance Risk
The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), a nonprofit think tank that was established in the United Kingdom in 1993, recently published “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011,” CSFI’s third survey of the global microfinance industry.