Global Affairs Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, recently announced a contribution of CAD 100 million (USD 78 million) to the African Development Bank (AfDB), a multilateral institution that works to alleviate poverty in Africa, to support
Tag: Women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FICO, Círculo de Crédito Deploy Updated Credit Scoring System Seeking to Overcome Customers’ Lack of Credit History in Mexico
Círculo de Crédito, a Mexico-based credit bureau, and FICO, a US-based credit scoring company, recently implemented an updated credit scoring system to help lenders, insurers, automobile dealerships and other firms in Mexico to evaluate their customers. The companies estimate that “FICO Score 4” and “FICO Extended Score 4” will allow their clients to reach 8 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) Launches Campaign to Boost Personal, Business Financial Literacy Among Spanish-speaking Women
US-based Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) recently released a set of free resources to deliver financial education to women in Latin America, including 22 audio lessons spanning 1 to 4 minutes in length. The lessons mainly cover topics relating to digital financial services, including using
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ABC Fund Lends $3m to Finamiga to Fund 5k Vehicle, Agricultural Loans for Women in Colombia
The Luxembourg-based Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund recently announced it has lent USD 3 million to Finamiga, a Colombia-based lender to rural, small-scale farmers and independent workers, most of whom are women. Finamiga plans to use the wholesale loan to fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Palestinian Monetary Authority, European Investment Bank (EIB) Announce $63m Package for MSMEs in Gaza Adjusting to COVID-19 Pandemic, with Focus on Companies Run by Women, Youth
The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) recently announced it will disburse EUR 60 million (USD 63 million) to the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), with USD 50 million of the total to be on-lent by retail lenders in Gaza to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The remainder of the funding will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Banco Solidario Borrows $3m from MicroVest to Speed MSMEs’ Adjustment to COVID-19 Pandemic
Ecuador’s Banco Solidario recently agreed to borrow USD 3 million from MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, to support the microbank’s financial education of women as well as “the expansion of the company’s SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] portfolio to revive the liquidity needs of small businesses seeking working capital in the post-COVID environment.” Established in 1995, Banco Solidario offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Fundacion Espoir Receives $2m Investment from MicroVest, Targeting Women-led Businesses in Ecuador
MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 2 million to Ecuador’s Fundacion Espoir, an NGO providing microcredit, insurance and financial education. The goal is to support Fundacion Espoir in assisting women-led micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Annual Conference; September 13-15, 2022; Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Themed “resilient entrepreneurship,” this event will focus on how small and growing businesses (SGBs) across the globe are adapting to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and an otherwise changing world. The agenda includes topics such as climate change, sustainability, and how SGBs can plan for the future. Although the session titles for this year have not been released yet, sessions from last year’s iteration included “A Care-centered Economic Recovery: The Role of SGBs and Impact Investment” and “How Have We Co-created Gender-smart Accelerators that Actually Meet Female Founders’ Needs?”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aliada Digital Card from NanoPay Offers Financial, Medical, Legal Services to Women in Mexico
Mexico’s NanoPay is targeting its new Aliada Digital Card at women in Mexico. The card, which leverages the network of US-based Mastercard, offers lines of credit as well as a range of free legal and medical services. The medical services include online access to physical and mental health professionals as well as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNCR Raising $75m from IDB Invest, FinDev Canada via Social Bond Issue Focusing on Women Entrepreneurs in Costa Rica
IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently arranged a social bond issue in the amount of USD 75 million to benefit the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), a government-owned bank. The funding is intended to
SPECIAL REPORT: Christoph Pausch on the €100k European Microfinance Award Focusing on Women – Applications Are Open Until April 12
MicroCapital: Why was “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” chosen as the topic of the 2022 Award?
Christoph Pausch (pictured below): Women ostensibly have been the focus of financial inclusion for decades. But the reality is that a focus on outreach – the number of women clients a financial provider serves – can obscure lack of progress in addressing the many barriers that women face. Increasingly, stakeholders in the sector realise that much more needs to be done, based on a comprehensive understanding of these barriers: including social norms as well as the diverse needs and aspirations of women clients, staff and partners of financial services providers. So, over the months leading up to the launch of this year’s Award, our team has worked with experts to design the guidelines, application forms and assessment criteria to capture what financial providers can do with a gender-focused strategy – not only to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Major Development Funders Launch “Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa” to Support SMEs – Especially Those Run by Women, Youth
A group of organizations involved in international development recently launched the Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa (AforE) with the aim of supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those owned or operated by youth and female entrepreneurs. The alliance seeks to
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Market Opportunities for Women’s Savings: Evidence From India,” Published by Women’s World Banking (WWB)
Approximately 80 percent of people in India over the age of 15 own a bank account, however only 34 percent of adults – and just 30 percent of women – saved money in the year leading up to this study. The authors surveyed 2,000 women in the states of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Better Practice Guidance on Women’s Digital Financial Capability,” Published by Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
This paper addresses methods for increasing women’s “ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, evaluate and use financial services offered through digital technologies.” The digitalization of financial services and products is becoming increasingly prevalent, including in parts of the world that are underserved by traditional banks. Investing in building women’s digital financial capability can play a significant role in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Empire, Mosabi, Orange, UNCDF Seek to Boost Financial Inclusion in Sierra Leone with Focus on Financial Literacy, Recruiting Women as Mobile Money Agents
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently embarked on a partnership with France-based Orange Mobile Finance (Orange Money); Mosabi, a US-based digital education and finance platform; and Empire Solutions, a digital microfinance institution in Sierra Leone, in an effort to boost access to finance for low-income people – including women and youth – in Sierra Leone by increasing:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BOA Kenya Nets IFC Guarantee for Lending to Women-led, Climate-focused SMEs; Potential Performance-based Incentives
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced a partnership with Bank of Africa (BOA) Kenya to expand its lending to women-led and climate-focused small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). IFC will reimburse BOA Kenya for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aden Bank for Microfinance to Target MSMEs, Women, Youth in Yemen
Based on the authorization it received in October 2021 from the Central Bank of Yemen, Aden Bank for Microfinance is moving forward with plans to offer financial services in the country. Aden Bank is arranging partnerships with local
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Power of Jan Dhan: Making Finance Work for Women in India,” Published by Women’s World Banking
This paper concerns a pilot savings program for women that was designed as an add-on to the Indian government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (Jan Dhan) scheme, which allows any previously unbanked person to open a savings account at any bank in the country. Jan Dhan accounts have no minimum deposits or balances to maintain, and the customer earns interest on his or her savings. Jan Dhan was launched in 2014, and it has been credited in the rise in percentage of women with access to financial services from 26 percent in 2011 to 77 percent in 2017. One of the successes of Jan Dhan is its reach to illiterate customers due its minimal paperwork requirements.
The pilot program was to offer “Jan Dhan Plus” accounts in an effort to encourage more women to save. The new accounts offer users a credit facility of INR 10,000 (USD 134) if they