Nigerian President Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua announced the creation of an N50 billion (the equivalent of over USD 426 million) microcredit development fund to be administered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The new fund will be used to provide existing microfinance institutions (MFIs) with funding for credit creation and operational expenses.

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Green Microfinance (GMf) of Pennsylvania and MicroEnergy International (ME) of Germany recently announced the creation of Energizing India, a program that aims to promote clean energy products throughout India. The first phase of the project will focus on four provinces in southern India and will be implemented through a partnership with the microfinance institution (MFI) Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF).

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Mexican Microfinance Institution (MFI) Financiera Independencia (FinDep) recently announced earnings results for the three and twelve month periods ending December 31, 2007. 

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COMPARTAMOS FOURTH QUARTER CONFERENCE CALL FEBRUARY 26, 2008, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL Mexican Microfinance Institution (MFI), Compartamos, will hold its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter conference call and release its earnings for the year ending December 31, 2007 on February 26, 2008 at 12 PM Eastern Time. Continue Reading »

SOCIAL BUSINESS AND MICROECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH  

MARCH 12-14, 2008, DENVER, USA 

Sponsored by Friends of Microcredit, this conference is targeted to social entrepreneurs, microfinance practitioners, business leaders, students, and thought leaders who address the issue of poverty with a particular focus on youth. It will identify and offer leadership opportunities and demonstrate social business projects.   Continue Reading »

Catalyst Microfinance Investors (CMI) of Mauritius announced on Tuesday that it had raised USD 125 million through the largest microfinance equity sale to date. Investors included private individuals as well as a number of institutional investors such as the Dutch pension fund, ABP and the US financial services organization, TIAA-CREF. The majority of the funds will be channeled to ASA International of Bangladesh, who will use the increased capital to expand operations in Africa and Asia. Continue Reading »

FINANCIERA INDEPENDENCIA FOURTH QUARTER CONFERENCE CALL

FEBRUARY 21, 2008, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL

Mexican Microfinance Institution (MFI), Financiera Independencia, will hold its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter conference call and release its earnings for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2007 on February 21, 2008 at 11 AM Eastern Time. Continue Reading »

Oikocredit of the Netherlands, recently announced preliminary results for 2007. The report reveals a 44 percent growth in dispersals since 2006. The microfinance financier disbursed EUR 135 million, the equivalent of over USD 195 million, in the form of loans, credit lines, equity investments, and guarantees to 266 project partners worldwide. The total amount outstanding with these project partners grew by 33 percent to EUR 277 million, the equivalent of over USD 400 million. This does not include the recent investment of USD 12.2 million in 11 different Latin America microfinance institutions (MFIs) earlier this month as reported by microcapital.org. Oikocredit also announced that it intends to continue paying a 2 percent dividend to its members. Continue Reading »

In a press release, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P) announced that it intends to launch a pilot ratings program for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will sponsor the pilot program and will work closely with the S&P throughout the process. Continue Reading »

Compulink and SKS Microfinance, both from India, recently entered into a contract wherein Compulink will provide SKS with its entire suite of business applications. The new system will utilize Compulink’s proprietary “Whizible” framework on top of Microsoft’s Net Platform to link all 650 SKS branches using a set of web-based applications. The contract covers all of SKS’s core businesses including microcredit, microinsurance and health insurance as well as providing new accounting systems and a centralized IT infrastructure. Continue Reading »

In a press release, the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced that they will supply Zhong An Credit, of Shenzhen, China with a USD 2.5 million convertible loan to “grow its business and extend loans to underserved segments of the market, including microentrepreneurs, small businesses, and other small cash-generation activities that find it difficult to obtain access to finance.” Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance of Hyderabad, India, recently raised 147 Crore Rupees, the equivalent of over USD 37 million, through its third round of equity sales in recent months. Investors include Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) of California, Columbia Pacific, Sequoia Capital of California, Vinod Khosala of California, and Odyssey Capital. Continue Reading »

In a press release, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced that it has completed a package to provide up to USD 2 million (11.8 percent of total new capital) of financing and over USD 400,000 of advisory services to create Banco Popular Covelo (Bancovelo), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Honduras. The announcement of the package last year, enabled Bancovelo, the creation of a 2007 merger of Grupo Microfinanciero Covelo’s (GMC’s) Popular Covelo, and its two sister organizations, Fundacion Covelo and Popular Asociacion de Ahorro y Prestamo AAP, to receive its banking license in December of 2007. Other funders and advisers of the newly created bank include ACCION International, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica (CABEI), all with equal equity shares of 11.8 percent. Continue Reading »

In a press release, Standard Chartered’s China division announced that they will provide the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), a China-based non-profit organization, with a local currency loan facility of 20 million Yuan, equivalent to over 2.75 million USD. According to the press release, this credit will be used to “finance the Microfinance projects aiming to provide financial support to farmers and owners of micro-enterprises in ten counties of seven provinces in China…” This will be the first loan facility by an international bank to a Microfinance Institution (MFI) in China. Continue Reading »

In a press release Paris-based Planet Rating, a microfinance rating agency, announced a number of changes in its GIRAFE rating methodology. These changes take effect as of January 14, 2008 and adjust rating factor weightings and evaluation methods with regards to microfinance institution (MFI) governance, capital structure, market/financial risk, and profitability structure. Continue Reading »

MICROFINANCE AND THE CAPITAL MARKETS Continue Reading »

Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, announced, in a press release, a multi-year grant of USD 3 million to Technoserve, a US based nonprofit organization that provides training and networking opportunities to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world. This grant will provide general support to expand the organizations private-sector initiatives in Africa. Since 2006 Google.org has awarded Technoserve USD 1.7 million to develop and implement a business plan competition to support entrepreneurs in Ghana and Tanzania. Continue Reading »