Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, a venture-equity initiative that seeks to invest in companies serving financially excluded populations, has invested an undisclosed amount in Eseye Limited, a UK-based machine-to-machine (M2M) technology provider, during Eseye’s series-B financing round, which raised a total of USD 9 million.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Investment Management Launches ProPulse Fund for Private Institutional Investors to Access Microfinance Institutions in Emerging Economies
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM), a microfinance fund manager based in Belgium, has announced the launch of its ProPulse Fund, which is designed specifically for private institutional investors to provide financing to entrepreneurs in emerging economies via microfinance institutions (MFIs) in response to “the large demand for local currency loans.”
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Self-Selection into Credit Markets: Evidence from Agriculture in Mali;” by Lori Beaman, Dean Karlan, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry
“Self-Selection into Credit Markets: Evidence from Agriculture in Mali;” by Lori Beaman, Dean Karlan, Bram Thuysbaert and Christopher Udry; released as a working paper by Poverty Action Lab; May 2014; 36 pages; available at http://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/self-selection-credit-markets-mali
In Mali, as in many parts of the developing world, agriculture sustains the livelihood of the vast majority of citizens.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) Increases Maximum Microinsurance Benefits for Clients in the Philippines to $11k
The Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, has issued Circular Number 841, which amends the Manual of Regulation for Banks, increasing mandated maximum microinsurance premiums and benefits.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gemalto, GSM Association to Provide Mobile Services to Support “Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative” for Mothers, Children
Gemalto, a publicly traded digital security firm located in the Netherlands, reportedly has announced its support of the Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative (PAMI), which uses mobile phones to address issues in nutrition and maternal and child health in seven African countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group (WBG) Loans $12m, Donates $12m to Government of Mozambique for Financial Sector Reform, Including to Boost Financial Inclusion
The World Bank Group (WBG), a US-based multilateral financial institution recently approved a USD 25 million financing package consisting of a loan of USD 12.5 million and a grant of USD 12.5 million to support the “First Programmatic Financial Sector Development Policy Operation (DPO)”[1] of the government of Mozambique.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance “Banana Skins” Risk Assessment; Effects of Microloans from Compartamos in Mexico; Youth Financial Inclusion Video
“Microfinance Banana Skins 2014: Facing Reality;” published by Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation; July 2014; 84 pages; available athttp://csfi.org/files/Microfinance_Banana_Skins_2014_-_WEB.pdf
This report, which is based on data collected by surveying 306 people associated with the microfinance industry, examines 19 risks faced by microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the globe.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group (WBG) Loans $500m to Government of Indonesia for Financial Sector Reform, Including to Boost Financial Inclusion
The World Bank Group (WBG), a US-based international financial institution, has recently approved a USD 500 million “Financial Sector Reform and Modernization Development Policy Loan”[1] (FSRM DPL) for the government of Indonesia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Invests $500k in Equity to Acquire 8% of Kenyan Microinsurer Agriculture and Risk Enterprise (ACRE), Loans $334k to Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) for Technical Assistance
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), which is based in Luxembourg and invests in “social businesses,” recently informed MicroCapital that it has made an investment of USD 500,000 in Nairobi-based Agriculture and Risk Enterprise Limited (ACRE), a microinsurance provider that aims to launch products in East and West Africa in exchange for an 8-percent stake in the company.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Biniog Sathi Banking Model Employs Islamic Concept of Zakat in Effort to Minimize Credit Default
Mabroor Mahmood, who operates the online “Ideas for Development” think tank, recently began selling his Biniog Sathi banking model, which incorporates Zakat, a Muslim practice of giving charity, to protect against credit default [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Harry Potter” Cinema Actress Emma Watson to Serve as Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations (UN) Women
United Nations (UN) Women, the UN organization “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women,” has announced Emma Watson, a British actress, will serve as Goodwill Ambassador for the organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US-based Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Appoints Jeffrey Binstock as CEO
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based nonprofit that provides performance data and analysis on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their funders, networks and service providers, recently announced the appointment of Mr Jeffrey Binstock as the organization’s new CEO.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Homeless International Purchases T24 MCB Banking Software from Temenos
Homeless International, a UK-based nonprofit housing consultancy and finance agency that focuses on reducing urban poverty in Africa and Asia, has purchased T24 MCB, a cloud-based core banking software platform that was developed for the microfinance and community banking (MCB) segment by Temenos Group AG, a software company based in Switzerland.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kaah Express, Silatech, American Refugee Committee (ARC) to Launch Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services in Somalia
Kaah Express, a US-based international remittances company, reportedly has partnered with Silatech, a Qatar-based enterprise focused on increasing employment and entrepreneurship among youth in the Middle East and North Africa, and the American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that offers humanitarian aid across the globe, to create Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS), a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Somalia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group’s Global Consumption Database Suggests 4.5b Low-income People Spend $5t Per Year in Developing World
The Global Consumption Database recently released by the World Bank Group (WBG) suggests that the total annual spending of approximately 4.5 billion people with low incomes in the developing world exceeded USD 5 trillion in 2010, more than the combined spending of the middle- and high-income groups in the same 92 developing countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Mobile Money Service Providers Finserve Africa, Zioncell, Tangaza Acquire Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licenses, will Access Airtel’s Wireless Network
The Communications Authority of Kenya, the regulatory body for the country’s telecommunications sector, reportedly has granted mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licenses to three mobile money transfer service providers based in Kenya: Finserve Africa Limited, Zioncell Kenya Limited, and Tangaza Mobile Pay Limited.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gambia Women’s Finance Association Adopts Towerplane Software to Enable Doorstep Microfinance
The Gambia Women’s Finance Association (GAWFA), a nonprofit organization in Gambia with approximately 49,000 members, reportedly has adopted software developed by Towerplane, a Spanish software company, that allows the microfinance institution to provide services outside of bank branches using mobile devices.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo, Airtel, Zantel Link Mobile Money Systems in Tanzania
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications company also known as Tigo; Airtel Tanzania, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel; and Zantel Tanzania, a telecommunications company owned by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates, recently announced an agreement to allow customers of the three firms’ mobile money services to send and receive money to and from users of all three systems.