During the month of June 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management GmbH issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 12 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, India, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. USD 1 million of this total was invested in
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WorldRemit Launches Money Transfer Service in Albania
WorldRemit, a UK-based online money transfer service, recently announced that it has launched its mobile money transfer service in Albania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Loans $420k to Burkina Faso’s ASIENA, $330k to Agora Microfinance Zambia
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently informed MicroCapital that it is loaning the local-currency equivalent of EUR 380,000 (USD 422,000) over three years to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Developpement international Desjardins (DiD) Supports Lenders of Centre de Traitement Informatise du Senegal in Reaching Clients via SMS Messaging
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a unit of Canada’s cooperative Desjardins Group that promotes financial services in developing countries, launched a pilot program
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan Sells $474m in Microloans to HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Yes Bank
Bandhan Bank, an Indian microfinance institution that is organized as a commercial bank, recently sold INR 32 billion (USD 474 million) of “priority sector loans to more experienced private sector rivals to help them meet lending targets.” Indian regulators require banks to invest certain percentages of their holdings in “priority sectors” such as agriculture. Chandra Shekhar, the Managing Director of Bandhan Bank, said that Bandhan Bank had used “inter-bank participation certificates” to sell the loans to India’s HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Yes Bank.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Guidance on the Application of the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision to Institutions Relevant to Financial Inclusion, published by the Basel Committee
“Guidance on the Application of the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision to the Regulation and Supervision of Institutions Relevant to Financial Inclusion”, published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, December 2015, 55 pages, available at http://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d351.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vodacom to Discontinue M-Pesa Mobile Money Service in South Africa
Vodacom Group Limited (Vodacom), a South African subsidiary of UK-based Vodafone Plc, recently announced it will discontinue its mobile money service, M-Pesa, in South Africa as of June 30, 2016.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Afluenta Raises $8m in Series B Equity Funding from International Finance Corporation, Elevar for Peer-to-Peer Lending in Latin America
Afluenta, an Argentina-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, recently announced it closed a series B funding round totaling USD 8 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, and Elevar Equity, a “development-focused” private equity fund based in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agora Microfinance, BRAC, Juhudi Kilimo, One Acre Fund, Opportunity, VisionFund International Launch “Propagate” Coalition to Support Financing of Small-scale Farmers
Six microfinance organizations based on four continents recently formed a coalition, called Propagate, to encourage the financing of small-scale farmers to help them improve their productivity and access to markets by (1) lowering economic barriers to entry; (2) enabling growth of financial services for smallholders; and (3) creating commercial and operational partnerships. The founding coalition members are Netherlands-based Agora Microfinance; Bangladesh-based development organization BRAC; for-profit Kenyan microlender Juhudi Kilimo; One Acre Fund, an NGO serving farmers in four African countries; US-based Opportunity International and UK-based VisionFund International.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Acquires Minority Stake in Microfinance Software Firm Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a for-profit social investment company based in the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a “significant minority stake” in Musoni Services, a Dutch microfinance software company with operations in Myanmar and nine African countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Provide Microfinance to Food Producers in Senegal in Partnership with Micronutrient Initiative
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canadian nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, recently joined the “Project integer de nutrition dans les regions de Kedougou et Kolda (PINKK)”, which is aimed at increasing food security for women and children in the Senegalese regions of Kedougou and Kolda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Olympus Capital Asia Invests $30m in Equity in Microfinance Institution Network CreditAccess
Olympus Capital Asia, a private equity firm with offices in Hong Kong, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and New York, recently invested USD 30 million in equity in CreditAccess Asia, a Dutch operator of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, aiming to help expand CreditAccess Asia’s retail lending services.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Mapping Pathways Out of Poverty; Marketing Insurance to Women; Sustaining Financial Inclusion in the Philippines
“Mapping Pathways out of Poverty: The State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, 2015;” published by the Microcredit Summit Campaign; December 2015; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/library/mapping-pathways-out-poverty-state-microcredit-summit-campaign-report-2015
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nepal Rastra Bank Requires Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to Create Client Protection Fund
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country’s central bank, recently announced that it is requiring microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the country to establish a “Client Protection Fund”[1] to which they must deposit 1 percent of their annual net profit.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Sells Dai-ichi Life Insurance $100m in Microfinance Bonds
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, recently announced that it has sold ten-year microfinance bonds valued at MXN 1.7 billion (USD 100 million) to Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, a firm that offers life, property and casualty insurance as well as investment trust and related services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Safaricom, MTN Rwanda Partner to Enable Transactions Between Kenya’s M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money
Safaricom, a Kenya-based telecommunications company, recently has partnered with MTN Rwanda, the Rwandan branch of South Africa-based multinational telecommunications provider Mobile Telecommunications Network Group (MTN), to enable cross-border transactions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banque Internationale Pour L’Afrique Au Congo (BIAC) Launches Heyano MasterCard Prepaid Card in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Promote Financial Inclusion, Transition to Formal Economy
Banque Internationale Pour L’Afrique Au Congo (BIAC), a commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, recently launched a prepaid card called Heyano [1].
SPECIAL REPORT: Good News, “Painful” News About Digital Finance at the Final Day of European Microfinance Week
In moderating Friday’s panel on “Integrating digital financial services” at European Microfinance Week, Philippe Breul of PHB Development opened with several examples of success: (1) Microfinance institution (MFI) Musoni Kenya reducing loan turnaround time from 72 to 6 hours; (2) Indian MFI Ujjivan boosting loan officers’ caseloads by 134 percent; and (3) Opportunity Bank Serbia, which operates in an area of better mobile connectivity than the other two MFIs, providing immediate credit decisions in response to 80 percent of loan applications. Mr Breul stated that the time period required to save enough on costs to offset the expense of the tablets and other elements of digital systems can be as low as