by Hawra Moochhala -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Michael Apel Named CEO of DAI’s MicroVest Asset Management

The US-based impact investing firm MicroVest recently selected Michael Apel as its new CEO and Chief Investment Officer. In taking on these roles, Mr Apel will be in charge of the company’s daily operations, including entering into new markets to expand the company’s deployment of private capital to boost micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Mr Apel has 25 years of experience at IDB Invest,

by Rohit Dayanand -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Al Tadamun Circulating Mobile Branches to Boost Microfinance for Women in Egypt

Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation of Egypt is launching three vehicles that will serve as mobile branches in the regions of Cairo, Dakhalia and Minya. Among the goals of the effort are to “contribute to the speed of disbursement of financing and reducing the cost of time and money incurred by the client in order to

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Solar-powered Onions in Senegal, Meso-insurance Against Storms in Nicaragua, Performance-based Interest Rate Reductions for Climate-smart Lending in India

e-MFP logoIn a session on strengthening agricultural value chains today at European Microfinance Week, Daphne van Dam of Cordaid described her organization’s work to support onion farmers in Senegal. The farmers were struggling with the cost of fuel for irrigation. Cordaid was able to partner with local microfinance and solar providers to supply farmers with solar-powered irrigation systems that they could pay for on a schedule attuned to the harvest time of their crop.

Magdalena Arbelaez of Incofin described her firm’s work enabling insurance for farmers in Nicaragua. Rather than microinsurance, which would have been unworkable for many of the smallholder farmers in the region, the project extended

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Via InsuResilience Investment Fund II, KfW Seeks to Grow Climate Microinsurance in Africa, Asia, Latin America

German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) recently funded the InsuResilience Investment Fund Private Equity II (IIF PE II) to invest in firms helping people in Africa, Asia and Latin America to manage climate risks. In particular, the fund targets

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Zeepay of Ghana, Dutch Government, SNV, UNCDF Partner on Financial Education, Remittances via EU-funded GrEEn Program

Zeepay, a financial technology (fintech) company with offices in Ghana and the UK, recently partnered with the embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana, the Dutch NGO Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as part of the EU-funded Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) program. The goal is to serve “youth, women and

by Bradley Shulman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfund for Women (MFW) Expands Digital Capabilities via MoneyPhone Technology

Microfund for Women (MFW), a nonprofit microfinance institution in Jordan, recently partnered with MoneyPhone, a Netherlands-based financial technology (fintech) company, to enhance its digital offerings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bdour Al-Hyari, the director of strategic planning and business development at MFW, cited the “opportunity for us to introduce new digital services, such as

by Nicholas Galimberti -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility, Prudential Foundation to Develop Microinsurance Services in Asia; Provide Technical Support for Insurers in Latin America

The Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the Prudential Financial Incorporated (PFI) Foundation, a unit of the US-based financial services company PFI, recently announced a program intended to: (1) develop microinsurance products for low-income households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in Asia; and (2) provide technical support to four financial service providers operating in Latin American countries.

by Nicholas Galimberti -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 4Di Capital, Accion Venture Labs, Lireas Holdings Invest Equity in Insurance Technology (Insurtech) Firm Lumkani of South Africa

Lumkani, a South Africa-based technology firm specializing in fire insurance and detection equipment, recently received equity investments of undisclosed amounts from the South Africa-based venture capital

by Nicholas Galimberti -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Toffee Insurance of India Secures $1.5m in Equity for Digital Microinsurance from Kalaari Capital, Omidyar Network, Accion Venture Lab

Toffee Insurance, an online microinsurance firm based in India, recently received a total of USD 1.5 million in equity from Accion Venture Labs, a fund of US-based NGO Accion; Kalaari Capital, an Indian for-profit investment firm; and Omidyar Network, a US-based NGO. Toffee will use the

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Prudential Financial to Invest $350m in African Insurers, To Be Managed by LeapFrog

Prudential Financial Incorporated, a US-based financial services company, recently announced an investment of USD 350 million in life insurance companies in African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Extends Microinsurance Compliance Deadline to March 31, 2016

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the government agency charged with overseeing the country’s insurance market, recently announced that it has extended the deadline for insurance companies to withdraw non-compliant microinsurance products from their portfolios to March 31, 2016.

by Meghan Gillis -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IndiaFirst Life Insurance to Offer Pension Products and Microinsurance

IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture backed by two public-sector Indian banks and the local arm of the UK-based Legal and General Group, reportedly has announced plans to start offering pension products and microinsurance during the financial year 2013-14 following the release of the updates to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) guidelines on microinsurance, according to a statement attributed to the IndiaFirst Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer P. Nandagopal [1].