Thursday, June 12, 2008
In its June 5 issue, TIME magazine wonders whether the recent rush of big-name financial institutions to microfinance creates new pressures that unavoidably conflict with the mission of alleviating poverty.
The entry of banks such as Citigroup or Spanish giant BBVA into the microfinance arena has undoubtedly wrought some positive changes. Competition has spurred more industry development, driven down interest rates, and expanded the offerings of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to include new products, such as savings accounts, mortgages, and insurance.
Continue Reading »
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Banco de Crédito del Perú will make a USD 1.2 million-equivalent local-currency loan to microfinance institution (MFI) Pro Mujer Peru, according to a statement by the international non-profit Grameen Foundation, a major backer of the transaction.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Written by Graham A.N. Wright and David Cracknell, released Spring 2008 as Briefing Note No. 63, a publication of MicroSave, 2 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/content/article/detail/49430
In 1993, the Equity Building Society was a mess. Technically insolvent, having poor board oversight and incapable management, the predecessor to Equity Bank of Kenya saw a 54 percent non-performing loan portfolio, KES 33 million (USD 500,000) in accumulated losses, and liquidity of 5.8 percent. Today, it is the highest capitalized bank in Kenya with USD 250 million of equity, two million customers, and plans for expansion. This paper finds seven lessons to be learned from the remarkable reversal of fortunes for Equity Bank.
Continue Reading »
Friday, May 23, 2008
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has announced a EUR 7 million (USD 10.9 million) investment in I&P Capital II, a private equity fund that finances small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa’s Indian Ocean nations.
Continue Reading »
Friday, May 23, 2008
The chief of staff of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has said that the nation’s government has PHP 80 billion (USD 1.9 billion) available for microfinance programs and is looking for partners to help disperse the funds.
Continue Reading »
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reports that Finethic Microfinance S.C.A., a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment company, has issued loans of USD 1 million to microfinance institution (MFI) FINCA Armenia and USD 1 million to MFI FINCA Kyrgyzstan.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 19, 2008
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will partner with Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank, a commercial bank, by investing USD 45 million for bank-issued credit-linked notes, which will allow the bank to increase lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa and Asia.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reported that Incofin, a Luxembourg-based social investment company, has issued loans of USD 2 million to Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI) FUNDEA, USD 1 million to Bolivian MFI FADES, and USD 300,000 to Ghanaian MFI Sinapi Aba Trust.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 19, 2008
Legatum, an international private investment group, and the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, will invest USD 40 million in Unitus Equity Fund II, a newly created private equity fund that will provide capital to microfinance institutions (MFIs) with an emphasis on growth.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In a push to generate interest in the idea of African enterprises as investment opportunities, the sponsors of an East African entrepreneurial award competition have just released a documentary online about the selection process for the inaugural Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity Africa prize – which resulted in awards totaling USD 350,000 to six up-and-coming, home-grown companies. The prize was funded by Legatum, an international private investment group, and the John Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and also involved partners OTF Group, a competitiveness consulting firm; the S.E.VEN Fund, a non-profit that promotes enterprise-driven solutions to poverty; and the Inter-American Development Bank, a multi-lateral financial institution.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In an interview with the Financial Times, Muhammad Yunus, the founder of pioneering microfinance institution (MFI) Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, says that the bank is seeing a sharp increase in problems associated with the repayment of debts by poor borrowers as a result of rising food prices.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
MoneyBox Africa, an initiative of three Nigerian companies led by investment institution Integrated Capital Services, has announced a partnership with German mobile payment company Paybox in hopes of developing a pan-African mobile banking system.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a public-private partnership that promotes economic development, has signed an agreement with microfinance institution (MFI) BRAC Pakistan to provide it a loan facility of PKR 220 million (USD 3.4 million) for micro-lending activities.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 5, 2008
Writing in the Globalist, an online magazine that covers globalization issues, David Apgar, a risk manager with microfinance investment management firm BlueOrchard Finance, discusses the link between the U.S. sub-prime meltdown and the global food crisis and their potential impact on microfinance institutions (MFIs). In short, he relates the rising prices of food to the currently stumbling U.S. economy’s influence on world financial markets; as a result, he posits that the poor may turn against the very system that has made it possible for many of them to benefit from microfinance.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 5, 2008
Moroccan microfinance institution (MFI) FONDEP is to receive a loan of MAD 100 million (USD 12.5 million) from commercial bank BMCE (Banque marocaine du commerce extérieur) of Morocco, with a USD 3 million guarantee split between Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd, a for-profit venture that provides capacity building and financing to Arab MFIs, and the Grameen Foundation’s Growth Guarantee. It is the largest leveraged commercial transaction for a Moroccan MFI.
Continue Reading »
Monday, May 5, 2008
Société Générale de Banque – Jordanie has announced a loan of JOD 2 million (USD 2.8 million) to microfinance institution (MFI) Tamweelcom of Jordan, backed by a USD 846,000 guarantee from Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd, a for-profit venture that provides capacity building and financing to Arab MFIs.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm begun by the founder of eBay, has announced a three-year grant of USD 9 million in Unitus, a Seattle-based non-profit that facilitates access to capital and consulting services to high-potential microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Microfinance institution (MFI) Faulu Kenya has unveiled a KES 460 million (USD 7.8 million) expansion plan that would have it become a deposit-taking microfinance bank and grow its customer base to more than one million.
Continue Reading »
RSS 1.0
Blogs that Link Here
