Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, announced at the recent Microfinance Leadership Summit on Technology in Manila, Philippines, that it has launched a hosted version of its Mifos management information system, Mifos Cloud, that is available for a fee to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India. Unlike Mifos Cloud, which runs off-site, a version of the service has been available for free to MFIs around the world to run on their own hardware since 2006. Continue Reading »

Mexican microfinance bank Compartamos Banco recently announced that it plans to transfer its shares into the newly created holding company Compartamos SAB through an exchange offer. Continue Reading »

Ten months after the major earthquake that rattled Haiti in January 2010, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks still struggle to regain clients, manage late payments and deal with increasing loan defaults. New industry regulation is also expected after requests to the government from MFIs and banks that are concerned that their clients’ money is not well-protected in case of financial institution default. Continue Reading »

Munich Re Foundation, a nonprofit founded by German reinsurer Munich Re, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, announced in advance of a microinsurance conference in Manila, Philippines, that unnamed studies indicate microinsurance has the potential to reach three billion people. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Second Annual Microinsurance Summit Latin America

Event Date: March 28 – March 31, 2011

Event Location: Miami, Florida, USA Continue Reading »

Water.org, a nonprofit organization promoting access to clean water in Africa, and MasterCard Foundation, a Toronto-based foundation promoting microfinance and youth education, have launched a four-year, USD 3.6 million partnership to assist microfinance initiatives that relate to clean water in Sub-Saharan Africa. Continue Reading »

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, reported to MicroCapital the details of three debt investments made to microfinance institution (MFI) Nitlapan’s Credit Program Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua (MFI), First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), an MFI in Ghana, and the commercial AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria. Continue Reading »

Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation, a wholesale lender and loan guarantor to microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited, an MFI funder, have co-guaranteed an EGP 33 million (USD 5.74 million) three-year loan from the National Société Générale Bank Egypt to The Lead Foundation (Lead), an Egyptian microfinance NGO. Continue Reading »

Z Zurich Foundation, the charitable microinsurance arm of Zurich Financial Services, has contributed CHF 3 million (USD 3.08 million) to the Microinsurance Innovation Facility (MIF), an outfit within the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Social Finance Programme, to promote research on using technology and process innovations to protect low-income households. Continue Reading »

Standard Chartered Kenya, a branch of the London-based international bank Standard Chartered, loaned KES 300 million (USD 3.75 million) to Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kenya, with the goal being to benefit over 20,000 microfinance borrowers. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders’ Conference 2010. “Putting the Poor First: Improving the Regulatory Environment, Industry Infrastructure, and Institutional Performance for Greater Impact”

Event Date: November 28-30, 2010

Event Location: Erbil, Iraq Continue Reading »

Emmanuel Chukwuma, the Anglican bishop of the diocese in Enugu, Nigeria, announced that the diocese will establish a microfinance bank that will employ 80 people and assist community residents who are already engaged in microenterprises. Continue Reading »

Two Nigerian businessmen, Onochie Nduka and Christopher Eyisi, and SIMS Nigeria Limited, a company that sells power generators, were charged with forgery, obtaining money under a false pretence and stealing NGN 3 million (USD 20,000) from an unnamed microfinance bank. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an investment bank headquartered in the United Kingdom, will loan up to RUB 1.5 billion (USD 50 million) to Europlan, a Russian automotive leasing company, to meet rising demand for leases from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Russia. Continue Reading »

Comviva, a mobile commerce provider based in India, and Bangalink, a cellular service provider based in Bangladesh, have partnered to offer unbanked citizens of Bangladesh an “mWallet” service for managing their finances using mobile phones. Continue Reading »

Compartamos Banco, a microfinance bank based in Mexico, and researchers Dean Karlan of Yale University and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth University have announced that they will conduct a four-year study to determine how microfinance bank customers use financial products and to quantify the impact these products have on customers’ lives. Continue Reading »

In India’s Andhra Pradesh state, local government officials are reportedly telling microfinance borrowers to stop repaying lenders even if they have the money to do so. The state government there has begun to increase restrictions on interest rates and arrest thuggish lending agents for fear that high rates and harassment from lenders has contributed to an overwhelming debt burden on microborrowers and suicides in the region. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), an investment manager founded in 2003 in Switzerland, reported to MicroCapital that it made three debt investments totaling USD 4.3 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) Caja Municipal de Ahorro y Crédito (CMAC) Ica, Proempresa, and Asociación de Comités de Productores Agropecuarios (ACOPAGRO), all of Peru. Continue Reading »