Event Name: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) 2012

Event Date: March 7 – March 8, 2012

Event Location: Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi, Kenya Continue Reading »

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s central banking authority, announced at the recent sixth Annual Microfinance Conference and Entrepreneurship Awards that it plans to create an investment fund targeting women entrepreneurs. Continue Reading »

As the number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ghana has grown over the last five years, there have been mixed reviews of the impact of microfinance. Continue Reading »

Citibank Nigeria and Citi Foundation, two arms of US-based financial services provider Citigroup, have announced the creation of the Citi Microenterprise Development for Rural Farmers Initiative (CMDRFI), a capacity-building and microlending scheme for smallholder farmers in Nigeria. Continue Reading »

Banks in Nigeria reportedly have been rejecting third-party cheques from microfinance banks (MFBs). Continue Reading »

The Ugandan arm of India’s Airtel launched its mobile money platform on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, allowing its customers to use e-money to pay bills, pay for mobile credit, and receive money via mobile network. Continue Reading »

Consistent with news reported by MicroCapital in January 2011, Nigeria’s federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) still plan to create a Microfinance Development Fund (MDF) with the intent of increasing financial inclusion and improving the operations of microfinance institutions. Continue Reading »

Event Name: “Mobile Money Connected Africa Forum Conference & Expo”

Event Date: May 14 – 17, 2012

Event Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Continue Reading »

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 »