The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) in partnership with Sanabel, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Arab microfinance, and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently released the French edition of its 2009 Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report. Continue Reading »

An article in the Financial Times titled, “Microfinancing Spreads Beyond India’s Grassroots,” discusses recent concerns raised by some microfinance experts surrounding the increase in microlending by profit-oriented companies in India. Continue Reading »

By Jennifer Powers and Barbara Magnoni of EA Consultants, Published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), April 2010, 100 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getDocument.aspx?DOCNUM=35282406

The authors of this study focused on the differences between male and female entrepreneurs in six countries in Latin America: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance has launched India’s first initial public offering (IPO), anticipation of which stretches at least back to a report by MicroCapital on March 29, 2010. Continue Reading »

By Dean Karlan, Jonathan Morduch and Sendhil Mullainathan, published by Financial Access Initiative, June 2010, available at: http://financialaccess.org/sites/default/files/RFN11_Why_microfinance_takeup_rates_are_low%286-17-10%29.pdf

Evidence indicates that under half of eligible households participate in microfinance. In this paper, Mr Karlan, Mr Morduch and Mr Mullainathan begin by reviewing why take-up rates are important and how they can be measured. Data from thirteen projects show that take-up rates vary from 2 to 84 percent of eligible individuals. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance reported it has raised INR 2.98 billion (USD 64 million) in a share allotment to 36 undisclosed anchor investors prior to its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled to open July 27, as was previously reported by MicroCapital on July 22, 2010. Continue Reading »

ThoughtWorks, a global technology company based in the US state of Illinois, has announced that it will provide software engineering services for The Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Platform, a software platform launched in 2006. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has reportedly completed an initiative in which all commercial banks in Fiji have complied with a requirement to establish a “microfinance unit.” Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a USD 4 million loan facility to Turkmenistan for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Continue Reading »

In Kocaeli, Turkey, a “Special Provincial Administration” has reportedly distributed microloans totaling TRY 958,000 (equivalent to USD 629,000) to 993 female entrepreneurs. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ – German Technical Cooperation Center), a German government-owned international development organization, are providing technical assistance to the Philippines’ central bank in order to strengthen its supervisory and regulatory capacity for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. A study last year by Asia Business Monitor showed that approximately 83 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Philippines have experienced difficulties in accessing credit from banks. According to Will Beloe, IFC head of advisory services in the Philippines, greater support from central bank supervisors for commercial banks specializing in lending to small and medium enterprises is expected to increase credit flow to the sector. Continue Reading »

Since 2008 Saija Finance Private Limited, a nonbanking finance company with total assets of INR 11 million (equivalent to USD 240,000), has been providing microfinance services in the Indian state of Bihar, which according to a report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), has a credit-demand supply gap of 96 percent. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, has recently released the Portuguese version of its most recent report on microfinance in Brazil, entitled “The 2009 Brazil Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.” Continue Reading »

In a recent interview, Frontier Investments Group Managing Director Monica Brand discusses the sub-sectors within the microfinance investment industry in which Frontier Investments seeks to invest. Continue Reading »

With sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, Southern Sudan recently held what was billed as its first microfinance conference. The aim of the conference, which was held in the regional capital of Juba, was to provide a forum for stakeholders to exchange views about the status of microfinance in Southern Sudan and to develop a strategy to improve microfinance in the region. Continue Reading »

As a result of new Kenyan government regulation which requires registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards by mobile phone users, the country is experiencing growth in the mobile banking population because mobile phone operators in Kenya are encouraging subscribers to simultaneously activate a mobile bank account. Continue Reading »

Oikocredit, a microfinance investment fund in the Netherlands with total assets of USD 665 million, recently loaned a total of USD 4.7 million to four Bolivian microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of connecting microenterprise practitioners, has recently announced that it will be adding updates and new standards to its “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative,” a voluntary compliance effort to bring together stakeholders on reporting standards for MFIs. The “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative” is an update to SEEP Network’s 2005 financial performance publication entitled “Measuring Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Framework for Reporting, Analysis, and Monitoring” (SEEP FRAMEWORK). Continue Reading »