Macro to Micro: Performance of Investment in Microfinance in the Current Financial Crisis moderated by Andrea M Esposito, Managing Director (Standard and Poor’s NY) and sponsored by the Financial Women’s Associate of New York (FWA), Microfinance Club of New York.
May 7, 2009, at the McGraw-Hill Companies, Rockefeller Center, New York. Continue Reading »
CGAP has recently announced that they intend to collaborate with WIZZIT to expand mobile technology services to provide branchless banking to poor citizens in rural South Africa. CGAP insists that mobile services, for the first time, will link poor citizens in small towns and rural areas to banking services and local agents who manage cash. Continue Reading »
Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, President of Grupo Aval SA informed financial newspaper La Republica, he intends to provide micro-lending services to the poorest sectors of the economy. If Grupo Aval SA enters the microfinance industry, it will become the third financial institution on Columbia to specialize in microcredit. Mr. Angulo is also exploring the possibility of a joint venture with Bangladesh’s microfinance firm Grameen Bank. Continue Reading »
The 2009 Pacific Northwest Microfinance Conference, hosted and sponsored by Seattle Pacific University School of Business & Economics, the SBE Microfinance Initiative, and the Center for Integrity in Business
May 8-9, 2009 at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington Continue Reading »
According to S. Dilli Raj, CFO of SKS Microfinance, the first securitized deal by an Indian MFI has received the highest rating (P1+SO; very strong safety) by CRISIL (A Standard & Poor`s company). CRISIL assigned a very strong safety review based on an analysis of over 1 million loans that were extended by SKS Microfinance Private Limited. Also, the series of recent transactions concluded allows YES Bank to purchase 14,850 micro loans that have been extended to unbanked and minority families as identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as “weaker sections” The transactions covers roughly 400,000 micro loan borrowers (average loan size USD 178 dollars) and spans across three microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »
Leonce Kone, Committee Chairman for the Fourth Annual African Microfinance Conference in Ouagadougou
July 7-10, 2009, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Sub-Saharan Africa) Continue Reading »
Dambisa Moyo, author of “Dead Aid,” spoke with Charlie Rose on the “Charlie Rose” show, which aired on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. In the interview she discusses her book “Dead Aid,” with conversation on international development and the critical role that microfinance can play for developing nations. Her discussions on postwar international development policy and its effect on her native Africa helps question the current model and effectiveness of government to government aid. Continue Reading »
Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, spoke with Charlie Rose on the “Charlie Rose” show, which aired on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. In the interview she discusses her book “The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World,” with discussions on international development and the critical role that microfinance plays for developing nations and the global arena. Ms. Novogratz has been hailed by “New York Times” columnist Nick Kristof as “one of the most interesting innovators in aid and development.” Continue Reading »
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)/(Dow Jones) reported that Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB (Mexico’s fifth-biggest bank) is closing its microfinance division Creditos Pronegocio. The bank suffered losses of USD 8.4 million for 2008. Alejandro Valenzuela, Grupo Financiero Banorte, chief executive stated to the WSJ that the bank has been in liquidation mode since 2008 and that they “feel that right now it is a major distractions from the big challenges we face.” Continue Reading »
As the microfinance sector in India begins to unwind, more microfinance institutions in the country are increasingly looking at securitization as a method for off-balance sheet financing for capital relief. The intention is to free up capital and reduce borrowing costs. According to Dilli Raj, Chief Financial Officer of SKS Microfinance, “securitization is a win-win for both MFIs and banks/investors.” Continue Reading »
The Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) predicts 2009 with be the first year that remittances will decline in Latin America and the Caribbean after a decade of growth. The IBD has been tracking these flows since 2000. Remittances are transfers of money by foreign workers to their home countries. With the already shaken international banking system, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, Immigrants are feeling the credit squeeze as they reduce money sent to family in their home countries. Continue Reading »
Published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, October 2008, available at:
The Economist Intelligence Unit released a 62 page report that provides a framework of the microfinance business environment in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report was commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Corporacion Andina de Fomento and also looked at three major individual features that provide greater insight to the microfinance arena. The three categories are as follows: regulatory framework, investment climate and institutional development. The indicator scores are aggregated to produce an overall score ranging from 0 to 100 (note, 100 being the best score). While these scores are provided, the report utilizes these figures in a “strengths” and “challenges” framework. Continue Reading »
Published by the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AMFI), and Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), January 2009, available at:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/55357_file_08.pdf
“Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report, 2008,” analyzes the development of the microfinance industry in BiH with a focus on key growth trends for the last four years (2004 to 2007), legislative changes of 2007, funding flows and structure, and performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) as of 2007. The 14 page report is based on data submitted from 12 large Bosnian MFIs that are members of (AMFI). The report states that the 12 large Bosnian MFIs comprise 98 percent of the microfinance portfolio in the country. The report does not cite a source for the estimate of total market size. It is important to note that five microcredit organizations from BiH have been awarded the CGAP Financial Transparency Award in 2006. Only 20 MFI institutions worldwide have received this honor in 2006. (p1). Continue Reading »
Published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, October 2008, available at:
The Economist Intelligence Unit released a 62 page report (October 2008) that provides a framework of the microfinance business environment in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report was commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Corporacion Andina de Fomento and also looked at three major individual features that provide greater insight to the microfinance arena. The three categories are as follows: regulatory framework, investment climate and institutional development. The indicator scores are aggregated to produce an overall score ranging from 0 to 100 (note, 100 being the best score). While these scores are provided, the report utilizes these figures in a “strengths” and “challenges” framework. Continue Reading »
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