The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance data clearinghouse, recently argued that microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world have increased their commitment to transparency in social performance based on a surge in applications to the MIX’s 2010 Social Performance Reporting Awards, which acknowledge openness in reporting.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Assesses Potential Impact of Recent Microfinance Regulation in India’s Andhra Pradesh State
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit that seeks to offer objective data and analysis on microfinance players, recently examined historical data from 2003 to the present from 100 MFIs in India to assess the hypothetical impact of capping interest rates at 24 percent and return on assets (ROA) at 3 percent, two limits effectively imposed by the state government on MFIs amidst the ongoing crisis in the microfinance industry in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance Lowers Interest Rates in Andhra Pradesh to 24.55%
SKS Microfinance, a publicly traded microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, recently announced that it will lower interest rates to for new borrowers borrowers in the state of Andhra Pradesh from 26.69 percent to 24.55 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh Offer Debt Restructuring
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh, India, are offering many of their estimated 6.7 million borrowers the option of restructuring their outstanding loans in an effort to defuse recent popular and political hostility towards microfinance in the area.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Consider Legal Action Against New Regulations in Andhra Pradesh
Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) are considering using legal action to attempt to block regulations of MFIs proposed by the government of Andhra Pradesh.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Network May Link Up with Unique Identification Authority of India
The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a trade association of Indian microfinance institutions, has announced its interest in registering with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), India’s government organization established in 2009, for issuing identification numbers to Indian residents.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elevar and SVB make USD 8.6m Equity Investment In Indian Microfinance Institution Vistaar Livelihood Finance
Elevar Equity Advisors and SVB India Capital Partners have teamed to make an INR 400 million (USD 8.64 million) equity investment in Vistaar Livelihood Finance, an Indian microfinance institution catering to non-agricultural female entrepreneurs. While their stake in Vistaar was not disclosed, Brahmanand Hegde, CEO of Vistaar, stated that the two companies had bought a “substantial minority” in the company.
SPECIAL REPORT: Evaluating the Current Mindset of Investors Globally and Their Attitude to Microfinance as an Asset Class – Observations by Microfinance Investors at the Global Microfinance Investment Conference
“Raising Capital: Evaluating the Current Mindset of Investors Globally and Their Attitude to Microfinance as an Asset Class” was a panel discussion topic at the recent Global Microfinance Investment Conference which was held in New York. The conference was attended by a variety of participants in the microfinance sector: microfinance investors, representatives of microfinance institutions (MFIs), bankers, lawyers and researchers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Investments Microinsurance Fund Raises Additional $25m in Commitments from New Investors Including J.P. Morgan and TIAA-CREF
LeapFrog Investments, an international for-profit microinsurance fund, recently announced its final close raising USD 25 million for a total fund size of USD 137 million for investments in Africa and Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Investments Poised to Invest $30m to $37m in Microinsurance Projects in India
In a recent interview with the Indian online news platform VCCircle, Mr Jim Roth, Principal at LeapFrog Investments, a private equity microinsurance fund, said that of the fund’s USD 110 million in capital, it would commit USD 30 to 37 million to microinsurance products in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elevar Equity, a Bangalore-based Private Equity Fund, Raises $70m for Microfinance-focused Fund for Investments in India, Mexico, the Philippines and Peru
Elevar Equity Advisors Private Limited (Elevar), a Bangalore-based private equity fund, has raised a USD 70 million fund that will invest in microfinance and other services in India, Mexico, the Philippines and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mr Vijay Mahajan and Mr P N Vasudevan Debate Self-Regulation in Indian Microfinance Industry
Mr Vijay Mahajan, Chairman of BASIX and a Board Member of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), and Mr P N Vasudevan, Managing Director of Equitas Micro Finance, recently published an article entitled, ‘Microfinance in India: Twin Steps towards Self-Regulation.’
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Relaunches Website With New Tools, All Content Available in English, Spanish, French, Russian
The US-based, nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently re-launched its MIX Market website, with the support of Canada’s MasterCard Foundation.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Kinnevik, Locfund, Lok Capital LLC, Legatum Ventures
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF)), Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P), Gray Ghost Fund, Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF))
Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P)
Gray Ghost Fund
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Gray+Ghost+Fund
Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Provides $25m Loan to ProCredit Holding to Lend to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an “independent U.S. government agency” that provides services to facilitate foreign investment to “less developed countries,” has approved a loan of USD 25 million to ProCredit Holding, “a [German] parent company of 22 development-oriented banks” operating in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa with a gross loan portfolio of EUR 3.3 billion, the equivalent of over USD 4.9 billion, as of the end of 2008 [1,2,3]. This loan will be used by ProCredit to expand their loan provision to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) [1]. MicroCapital reported on a 2005 loan from OPIC to ProCredit worth USD 30 million [4]. OPIC also made a USD 3 million loan to a ProCredit microfinance institution (MFI) in Moldova in 2005, and a USD 5 million loan to ProCredit Bank in Ukraine in the same year [5,6]. OPIC Acting President Dr. Lawrence Spinelli has commented on the importance of the latest loan in terms of allowing ProCredit to “diversify its capital base” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Invests $6.8m in AllLife, a South African HIV and Diabetes Microinsurer
LeapFrog Investments, a for-profit, private equity microinsurance fund, has invested ZAR 50 million (USD 6.8 million) in AllLife, a South African insurer for people with HIV and diabetes. AllLife provides life insurance only to those who follow an appropriate health monitoring and treatment program, enabling it to maintain more competitively priced coverage. Mr. Ross Beerman, Managing Director of AllLife said: “These are potential policyholders, willing to pay for reasonably priced insurance and willing to take steps to manage their disease so that they lead long and productive lives. From a business risk and profitability perspective, of course they’re insurable – we simply had to invent systems to monitor and support them in the right ways.”
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Elevar Equity II
Overview:
Elevar Equity II provides equity to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and companies in developing economies.