CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently announced the appointment of Mr Tilman Ehrbeck as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Continue Reading »

Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) are offering loan products with monthly repayment plans as opposed to weekly payment terms, and according to a recent article more Indian microfinance institutions are considering offering products with monthly payment terms [1]. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank group, and Daiwa Securities Group Inc, a Tokyo-based financial services group holding company, recently announced the details of a bond expected to be issued later this month and to raise USD 323 million. Continue Reading »

Barclays, a London-based international financial services provider, recently announced it will be expanding its Banking on Change program in India and will invest INR 55 million (USD 1.2 million) in microfinance initiatives. Continue Reading »

Polaris Software Lab Limited (Polaris), an India-based banking and insurance software company, and MFI Enterprise Solutions (MFIES), an information technology solutions provider and subsidiary of the MFI Group, recently signed a strategic agreement to “modernize” Ethiopian finance through software and software training. Continue Reading »

Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, recently announced the issuance of standards of use for its Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool developed by Grameen for tracking and reporting poverty data as reported by MicroCapital on February 26, 2009. Continue Reading »

Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, recently announced it is a winner and recipient of a $200,000 funding award from the Members Project by American Express, a global consumer services company, and TakePart, a social action network of people. Continue Reading »

Microfin Private Limited, a Bangalore-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) that provides financial services to MicroVentures India, has announced the disbursement of a INR 35 million (USD 746,000) loan to Indian microfinance institution (MFI), Suryoday Micro Financae Private Limited. Continue Reading »

Thailand post offices nationwide could be transformed into microfinance outlets as part of the government’s bid to extend financial services to lower-income groups, said Finance Minister Korn Chatikavan. Continue Reading »

Freedom from Hunger, a California-based international development nonprofit, recently published the results of a four-year grant program enabling the organization and partner microfinance banks to add healthcare options to microfinance offerings for 1.5 million of the world’s rural poor in Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines. Continue Reading »

On August 30, 2010, Brian Cox, the president of MFX Solutions LLC, a company which offers currency hedging instruments, highlighted several emerging challenges that microfinance institutions (MFIs) face as they expand such as currency risks, tighter regulation, and tougher capital adequacy requirements in a recent interview with Microfinance Focus. Continue Reading »

This month, the number of microfinance organizations endorsing the SMART Campaign, an initiative housed at the Center for Financial Inclusion. Continue Reading »

The Committee of Banking Supervisors of West and Central Africa, an organization that supervises credit establishments and sets prudential banking legislation in western and central Africa, announced earlier this week that starting from 2014, all commercial banks including microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), a subsidiary of the African Union [1], will need to have capital reserves of USD 20 million. Continue Reading »

By Bob Christen and Ignacio Mas, published by Practical Action Publishing, December 2009, 20 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.45939/Meeting%20the%20microsavings%20challenge.pdf

The authors of this paper begin their argument for microsavings by claiming that it will not only expand the livelihoods of poor people, but will help microfinance institutions (MFIs) secure a stable source of funding. Continue Reading »

Daniel Rozas, a microfinance consultant based in Brussels, and Vinod Kothari, a microfinance practitioner based in Kolkata, India, recently wrote an article published on the Microfinance Focus website [1] describing the risks and proposing solutions to the risks behind microfinance securitization, a process that involves aggregating assets in a pool and issuing securities backed by the pool’s assets and cash flows [2]. Continue Reading »

Sahil Sondhi, an associate consultant at Strategic Asia, a Jakarta based consultancy, wrote an article that appeared recently on the Jakarta Globe website calling for a new strategy in the Indonesian microfinance sector. Continue Reading »

Elisabeth Rhyne, the Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion, an organization founded by US-based nonprofit ACCION International, wrote an article that recently appeared on The Huffington Post website [1] outlining best practices that could help nonprofit microfinance institutions (MFIs) keep their social mission while transforming themselves into for-profit operations. Continue Reading »

Bandhan, an Indian microfinance institution, recently announced it is seeking INR 1 billion (USD 21 million) in investment capital from private investors. Continue Reading »