Micro Banking Summer Academy of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
 
Commercial Micro Banking
 
July 5-10, 2009
 
DB Training Center, Bad Homburg, Germany Continue Reading »

Micro Banking Summer Academy of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
 
MFI Management
 
July 5-10, 2009 Continue Reading »

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched three microfinance initiatives:  the Microfinance Credit Guarantee Facility, the Institutional Strengthening Fund, and Improving Access to Finance Services Fund.  The initiatives are part of the GBP 50 million, or USD 75 million, Financial Inclusion Programme (FIP), a joint venture between SPB and the UK Department for International Development.  Continue Reading »

LESSONS FOR MICROFINANCE FROM THE U.S. SUBPRIME FINANCIAL CRISIS

FEBRUARY 4, 2009, 4: 30PM

LECRAW AUDITORIUM, GEORGIA TECH COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, 800 WEST PEACHTREE STREET NW, ATLANTA, GA, 30308 Continue Reading »

Written by a team of Fitch Ratings analysts led by Sandra Hamilton, “Microfinance Sector - Testing its Resilience to the Global Financial Crisis, (January 22, 2009),” is a follow up to Fitch’s June 2008 report, “The Microfinance Sector: its Success Could be its Biggest Risk.”  The report looks at the extent to which MFIs are immune to, or insulated from, the global financial crisis.  The June 2008 report highlighted the growing integration of the microfinance industry into the global financial system.  Fitch finds evidence of a positive relationship between the size and level of integration of an MFI and the impact that the financial crisis is having on its business plan, performance, and asset quality.  Fitch outlines the dual impact that the crisis will have on MFIs: a funding or liquidity impact and an economic impact. Continue Reading »

MICRO BANKING SUMMER ACADEMY OF FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF FINANCE & MANAGEMENT

MICROFINANCE PRINCIPLES
 
JULY 3-5, 2009

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MICROFINANCE FROM BELOW: THE POWER OF SAVINGS AND SAVINGS GROUPS IN FRONTIER ECONOMIES Continue Reading »

IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a relatively new Indian private life insurance company, has launched a new Group Microinsurance Plan.  The plan provides affordable life insurance coverage to groups such as microfinance institutions (MFIs), self help groups (SHGs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  The plan insures the lives of the group members as well as provides protection from loan liabilities in the case of death of the primary earner of the family.  Continue Reading »

Incofin, a Belgian private social investment company that invests in MFIs, has signed an agreement with Asomi, an MFI operating in Assam, India.  Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund, which makes debt and equity investments in rural MFIs, acquired 25% of the capital of Asomi for an undisclosed amount.  The investment represents Incofin’s first entry into India.  Continue Reading »

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) intends to lend Rs 300 crore, USD 61.7 million, to microfinance institutions in Orissa, India, by the end of 2010.  To date, SIDBI has disbursed Rs 250 crore, or USD 51.4 million to MFIs in Orissa.  The terms of the financing were not disclosed.  Currently Rs 100 crore is outstanding to 20 Orissa MFIs.    The bank plans to increase this number by 50 new MFIs over the next two years.  Continue Reading »

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, LISNER AUDITORIUM Continue Reading »

PROCESS MAPPING TRAINING

JANUARY 6 - 8, 2009, HYDERABAD, INDIA Continue Reading »

Founded in 1999, Neptune Software Plc is a banking software provider.  The UK-based company has over 170 employees and offices in the UK, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and India.  Neptune partners with technology leaders such as BEA, Oracle, Sybase, IBM, and Business Objects.  While Neptune also provides financial services software to the broader financial services industry, the company has created a niche with microfinance institutions.  In Nigeria, Neptune has partnered with over 45 successful microfinance institutions.  In 2005, CGAP awarded the company the highest rating, 4 stars, for its operational excellence.  Continue Reading »

The MasterCard Foundation and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a Canadian Christian organization, have announced a USD 5 million five-year program that will provide financial services to youth between the ages of 15 and 24 in Morocco and Egypt.  Microfinance services for the youth market have traditionally been scarce due to the perception that youth borrowers are higher risk because they lack collateral or work experience.  The program, titled Youth Invest, will enable microfinance institutions to develop and test innovative products designed specifically for the youth maket.  Continue Reading »

HBS-ACCION PROGRAM ON STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP FOR MICROFINANCE Continue Reading »

Unitus, Inc. and Whole Planet Foundation (WPF), a Whole Foods Market foundation, announced plans to fuel the growth of microfinance in the coffee-growing regions of Kenya.  Specifically, the two will support Jamii Bora Trust, one of Kenya’s fastest growing microfinance institutions and a Unitus partner since 2003, expand into the rural coffee-growing regions of Central and Eastern provinces in Kenya.  This agreement, the amount of which was undisclosed, marks Whole Planet Foundation’s first entry into Africa. Continue Reading »

The Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) recently announced plans to attain status as a microfinance regulated institution by next year. Speaking at the opening of a new branch, Jennifer Riria, the Chief Executive Officer, said that the transformation would allow the company to provide better services to women as well as offer numerous development opportunities. To read MicroCapital’s profile on Jennifer Riria, click here. Over the last several years, KWFT has sought to find the best legal organization structure. In 1991, the company was restructured as a not for profit limited by guarantee in 1991. In 2007, the company announced, and MicroCapital reported, that they were seeking to attain status as a commercial bank, however, it is not clear whether or not that transformation was ultimately made. Continue Reading »

Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a microfinance joint venture between two government agencies, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and several private institutions, has established two investment funds: NMI Global Fund and NMI Frontier Fund.  A total of USD 100 million has been committed by NMI’s owners, half of which was committed by Norfund.  The funds are expected to make their initial investments during the first quarter of 2009. Continue Reading »