Accion, a US-based nonprofit organization, recently announced the acquisition of a 10-percent stake in Credinka, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Peruvian city of Cusco, from Diviso Grupo Financiero, a financial group that has been listed on the Lima Stock Exchange since 2007.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sodexo, Bluedrop Learning, Global Impact Announce Commitments to Middle East, Women-Owned Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) at 10th Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
The tenth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of US-based nonprofit Clinton Foundation, is being held in the US city of New York from September 21-24, and has entertained new commitments as well as progress reports on earlier commitments to address global challenges [1][2]:
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Excluded and Underserved;” Published by MasterCard
“The Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Excluded and Underserved;” Published by MasterCard; May 2014; 18 pages; available at http://newsroom.mastercard.com/asia-pacific/documents/the-road-to-inclusion-a-look-at-the-financially-excluded-and-underserved
This report, published by US-based financial services corporation MasterCard, seeks to shed light on how people manage with limited financial services in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment for Microfinance Institutions, Microinsurance Awareness in Ghana, G2P for Financial Inclusion: A Job Half Done
“Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment For Microfinance Institutions – A Pocket Guide;” by Tom Shaw, Marcella Willis, Daryl Skoog, Sonia Arenaza, Sudha Garg, Susan Salerno, Eve Hamilton and Shailee Adnolfi; published by The Digital Financial Services Working Group; September 2014; 15 pages; available at https://lextonblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/dfs_risk_guide_sept_2014_final.pdf
The authors of this “pocket guide”[1] argue for the importance of “Digital Financial Services (DFS)”[1] to reach low-income individuals who do not have access to traditional banking solutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Safaricom Lowers M-Pesa Transaction Fees for Electronic Person-to-Person Transfers in Kenya
Safaricom, a telecommunications provider in Kenya, recently decreased the transaction fees that the firm charges for its “person-to-person” fund transfers via M-Pesa, a mobile money service developed by Vodafone, a British multinational telecommunications company.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel, Grameen Foundation, Plan International to Launch Mobile Money Platform for Savings Groups in Uganda Under Which All Group Members Must Approve Each Transaction Via SMS
The Ugandan subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecommunications services provider with operations in 150 countries; Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization; and the Ugandan arm of Plan International, a UK-based child rights and anti-poverty nonprofit that operates in 48 countries, have entered into a partnership to launch a mobile money platform that is intended to serve savings groups in Uganda.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Symbiotics 2014 MIV [Microfinance Investment Vehicle] Survey Report: Market Data and Peer Group Analysis
“Symbiotics 2014 MIV [Microfinance Investment Vehicle] Survey Report: Market Data and Peer Group Analysis;” published by Symbiotics Group; 2014; 36 pages; available at http://www.symbioticsgroup.com/media/72461/symbiotics-2014-symbiotics-miv-survey-report.pdf
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company that is “specialized in emerging, sustainable and inclusive finance”, recently performed a survey of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) regarding their financial and social performance during 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin, Triodos Invest in Microfinance Institution (MFI) Arvand of Tajikistan
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a private company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Netherlands-based Triodos Investment Management (Triodos), the subsidiary of Triodos Bank that manages funds in “energy and climate, emerging markets, arts and culture and sustainable real estate”[2], jointly acquired a 36-percent equity stake in Microcredit Deposit-Taking Organization Arvand (Arvand), an MFI that operates in and around Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan as well as in the country’s Sughd region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group to Provide Funding of $42m to Lao People’s Democratic Republic to Support Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Hydropower and Mining Sectors
The World Bank Group (WBG), a group of five multilateral organizations that invest in developing countries, recently approved plans to disburse a total of USD 42 million to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the hydropower and mining sectors of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Announces $1m in Advisory Services to Airtel Zambia to Strengthen Financial Inclusion
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will enter into an advisory services agreement with Airtel Zambia, a subsidiary of the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $5m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Georgia, Bolivia, Tajikistan
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an arm of Austria-based asset management group C-Quadrat, disbursed a total of USD 5 million as loans from its two Vision Microfinance funds, the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance and the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance Local Currency, to unidentified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Georgia, Bolivia and Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Canada, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Support Small, Medium-sized Agricultural Enterprises in Ukraine
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) recently informed MicroCapital that the government of Canada and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, plan to work together to provide an unspecified level of financial support and technical advice to small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Ukraine.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan Encourages Banks to Reduce Microcredit Transaction Fees
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan, the government agency charged with regulating the island’s insurance and banking sectors, reportedly has encouraged banks to reduce the fees they charge on microcredit loans in Taiwan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: South Korean Hana Bank Establishes Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Myanmar
Hana Bank, a Seoul-based commercial bank that is the primary banking subsidiary of South Korean Hana Financial Group, reportedly has announced the establishment of Hana Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group Donating $22m to, Investing $2m in Agriculture Commercialization in Tajikistan
The International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank Group (WBG) that offers interest-free credits and grants to the world’s 82 poorest countries, is planning to disburse a grant of USD 22 million to support the “Tajikistan Agriculture Commercialization Project”[1] of the government of Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hatton National Bank (HNB) of Sri Lanka to Acquire 51% Stake in Sri Lankan Prime Grameen Micro Finance for $5m
Hatton National Bank (HNB), a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, reportedly is planning to acquire a 51-percent stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance, a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI), for LKR 660 million (USD 5 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Janalakshmi Financial Services to Buy $90m in Products, Services From International Business Machines (IBM)
Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), a Bangalore-based microfinance institution (MFI) that offers lending and insurance services, and International Business Machines (IBM), a US-based information technology consulting company, have signed a six-year agreement worth INR 5.5 billion (USD 90 million) to provide JFS with IBM products and services in support of the MFI’s proposed growth in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vodacom Relaunches “M-Pesa” Mobile Money System in South Africa
Vodacom South Africa, which is controlled by UK-based Vodafone Group, reportedly has relaunched its M-Pesa mobile payment system in the country.