PlaNet Guarantee, a member of the France-based PlaNet Finance Group, and the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), a program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), have joined to launch a regional platform for index insurance in West Africa. The objective of the project is “to develop agricultural insurance systems in West African countries including Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso” [1]. PlaNet Finance Group reports that this will be done by developing indexes, designing insurance products, providing underwriting, making links between distribution channels and insurers, training farmers and disseminating information to partners [1]. The platform will be based in Senegal with satellite branches in the other two countries. Continue Reading »

The MasterCard Foundation of Canada recently committed USD 25 million to BRAC, a microfinance institution (MFI) formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, in an effort to support the expansion of BRAC’s “microfinance multiplied” program in Uganda, which enables poor clients to use microloans to build income and assets while simultaneously encouraging social and community development. The commitment aims to enable BRAC to expand its network in Uganda by opening 40 new branches. The BRAC program provides credit, training and technical support to economically active women, with a focus on those engaged in agricultural poultry and livestock. The program also assists adolescent girls in furthering their vocational and life-skills training. Continue Reading »

Leapfrog Investments, a private equity fund that supports microinsurance initiatives, recently made a USD 13.5 million equity investment in Apollo Investments Limited, an insurance company that operates in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, to improve access to microinsurance for low-income individuals. Continue Reading »

XDS Data, a privately owned credit reference bureau based in Accra, Ghana, recently reported that it is reaching out to microfinance institutions (MFIs), rural banks, insurance companies and utility companies for customer information to add to its credit reference database. Continue Reading »

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Kenya’s central banking authority, recently announced plans to connect deposit-taking microfinance institutions (MFIs) and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOS) with existing credit reporting systems that commercial banks have been required to use since 2008 [1]. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Investors’ Summit on Social Investing and Social Enterprise in Africa – Incorporating Sukuma Afrika Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Awards

Event Date: May 3, 2011

Event Location: Capetown, South Africa Continue Reading »

The World Bank Group, a Washington, DC-based group of five institutions with a mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world, has published a book titled “Protecting Mobile Money Against Financial Crimes”. The book was written as a guide to delivering mobile banking services to unbanked customers in rural areas [1]. Based on fieldwork in eight markets including Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines and Zambia and research in more than ten countries, the book suggests approaches to mitigate the risks associated with mobile money [1]. Continue Reading »

Most Nigerian microfinance institutions (MFIs) reportedly continue to place conditions on borrowers who are seeking to take out loans, despite the stated policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to de-emphasize such requirements. Continue Reading »

Faulu Kenya, a microfinance institution that was licensed to take deposits in 2009, reported a loss of KES 5.3 million (USD 63,400) in 2010 while Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT), an MFI that was licensed to take deposits in 2010, reported a 53 percent decrease in profits from 2009 to KES 321 million (USD 3.8 million) last year as a result of restructuring costs and increased regulatory expenses. Continue Reading »

Event Name: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money West Africa

Event Date: June 8 – June 9, 2011

Event Location: Accra, Ghana Continue Reading »

Barclays, a London-based international financial services provider, recently announced its commitment to the ‘Business Call to Action” (BCtA) initiative, a global initiative that aims to support the private sector in meeting the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it signed an agreement with Banque de L’Habitat du Burkina Faso (BHBF) through which IFC will purchase a 15-percent stake in BHBF for USD 600,000 to support housing finance. Continue Reading »

In its first five years of operation, EB-ACCION Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Cameroon, expects to open 71,000 savings accounts, accumulating total deposits of USD 30.8 million while serving 28,400 borrowers with an outstanding loan portfolio of USD 32 million [1]. Continue Reading »

The Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR) recently called for government support to address issues that it says are hindering the growth of the country’s microfinance sector. Continue Reading »

Guy Carpenter and Company, a reinsurance company headquartered in New York City, recently announced that it will receive a grant from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, in the amount of USD 1 million to develop agriculture microinsurance in Mozambique. Continue Reading »

Unguka Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) that was established in Rwanda in 2005, recently reported that its net profit increased 58 percent from RWF 146 million (USD 234,000) in 2009 to RWF 230 million (USD 384,000) in 2010. Continue Reading »

The International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations, recently announced a USD 90 million loan to the Tanzanian government to strengthen access to finance in rural areas and to promote private sector development through its “Marketing Infrastructure, Value Addition and Rural Finance Support Program”. The loan agreement was signed in Rome by Kanayo F Nwanze, the President of IFAD and Mustafa Mkulo, the Tanzanian Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs. Continue Reading »

The African Development Bank (AfDB), a development finance institution that disburses loans and grants to governments and private companies in Africa, recently presented its inaugural Thought Leadership Seminar to boost the development of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa, as part of its knowledge sharing program. Continue Reading »