On February 6, 2012, as part of its Transparent Pricing Initiative US-based NGO MFTransparency released microloan pricing data from microlenders in Mozambique. Continue Reading »

Mobile payments in Kenya reportedly are out-pacing debit and credit cards, as 83.9 percent of customers who signed up for mobile phone services between July and September 2011 also signed up for money transfer services. Continue Reading »

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has exempted microfinance banks from participating in the Cash-Lite banking system in recognition of the challenges of training and persuading microfinance customers to use electronic and cashless banking services, such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and checks. Continue Reading »

Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a US-based member of the World Bank Group; KfW Bankengruppe, a German development bank; and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), a Netherlands-based public-private development bank, to create a microfinance bank in Oyo State, Nigeria. Continue Reading »

The Lending Association for Young People (LAYP) has been launched this month in Mauritania with the purpose of contributing to the financing of small business projects that are led by youth [1]. Continue Reading »

Geospatial mapping is being used to show the geographic distribution of banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) and banking agents in relation to low-income and other population groups, thus giving an indication of the accessibility of financial services to those groups. Continue Reading »

UK-based relief agency Oxfam International and Swiss for-profit microfinance investment intermediary Symbiotics have jointly launched the Small Enterprise Impact Investment Fund (SEIIF) that will increase access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia and Africa while offering investors both “measurable social impacts and financial returns” [1]. Continue Reading »

On January 27, 2012, as part of its Transparent Pricing Initiatives, US-based NGO MFTransparency released microloan pricing data from Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. Continue Reading »

Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit organization with a focus on microfinance, has received a three-year grant of unspecified size from Credit Suisse’s Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative, a Credit Suisse program that aims to contribute to the strengthening of microfinance institutions. Continue Reading »

The Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI), a nonprofit trade group, has become the sixth partner in the Bankers Without Borders (BwB) Alliance, a volunteer program started by the US-based Grameen Foundation. Continue Reading »

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), a French public development finance institution, has donated EUR 1.8 million (USD 2.4 million) in technical assistance (TA) funding to Incofin Rural Impulse Fund II. Valued at EUR 120 million (USD 173 million), Rural Impulse Fund II is one of two funds managed by Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management that invest in rural microfinance institutions [1].  Continue Reading »

Kiva, a US-based microfinance intermediary, is launching a new platform, Kiva Zip, enabling users to lend directly to microentrepreneurs around the world. Continue Reading »

K-Rep Bank, a Kenyan commercial bank focused on providing services to poor people, has spent an estimated KES 50 million (USD 582,000) to upgrade to a software system from Switzerland’s Temenos called “T24 for Microfinance and Community Banking” [1].  Continue Reading »

As part of its Liberian Inclusive Financial Sector (LIFS) Project, which is supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has launched a LRD 200 million (USD 2.7 million) “Loan Extension Assistance Facility” (LEAF) economic stimulus initiative which targets Liberian microfinance institutions [1]. Continue Reading »

Obopay, a mobile payments company headquartered in the US state of California, has partnered with Warid Telecom, a Pakistan-based postpaid cellular phone service provider, to launch a mobile banking and payment service in Uganda called Warid Pesa. Continue Reading »