MICROFINANCE EVENT: 10th African Islamic Finance Summit; May 3, 2023; Serrekunda, The Gambia – NEW DATE

Originally scheduled to take place during February, this event is structured as a one-day summit followed by a two-day workshop, all focusing on Islamic finance, which refers to financial services that comply with Shariah principles, such as the use of profit sharing in lieu of charging interest. The event is themed “Evidence of Impact – Financial Inclusion,” with the first day’s session titles include Islamic Banking, Finance, FinTech [Financial Technology]

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion That Works for Women,” by Sam Mendelson, Published by e-MFP

This paper explores model practices in financial inclusion for women through the work of the winner and nine semi-finalists for the European Microfinance Award 2022. Mr Mendelson sorts the lessons learned into three approaches to how financial services providers (FSP) can foster women’s financial inclusion: offering

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Loans Yellow of Uganda $5m for Off-grid Solar Energy in Africa

Oikocredit, a Netherlands-based cooperative, recently lent USD 5 million to Yellow, a Uganda-based supplier of pay-as-you-go solar electricity products and systems, to expand its operations in sub-Saharan Africa. Pay-as-you-go services are those

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Private Asset Impact Fund Report 2022;” by Anne Estoppey, Ramkumar Narayanan; Published by Tameo

This report is derived from a survey of managers of private asset impact funds (PAIFs), which are defined as investment vehicles “that have more than 50 percent of their non-cash asset[s] allocated both to private debt or private equity instruments and to emerging and frontier markets, with a development impact bias.” The survey sample comprises

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s IDA Lending $15m to Djibouti for Low-income Housing Finance, Policy Reform

The International Development Association (IDA), a unit of the World Bank, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to Djibouti for a project intended to: (1) scale up an existing partial guarantee fund to boost

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Publish What You Fund Releases DFI Transparency Index Ranking Disclosure Record of 30 Development Finance Institutions

Publish What You Fund, a UK-based NGO aimed at increasing the transparency of international development efforts, today launched its DFI Transparency Index, which examines and ranks the operational transparency of 30 development finance institutions (DFIs). The rankings are based on

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG Loans Husk Power $750k for Solar Microgrids in Nigeria, India

The German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) recently lent USD 750,000 to Husk Power Systems, an India-based supplier of small-scale electricity generation and distribution networks, to construct

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Arab Savings & Financial Literacy Conference; October 9-11, 2023; Cairo, Egypt – NEW DATES

This event, which originally was set to begin on May 7, 2023, will focus on the importance of financial literacy and long-term savings in improving household financial stability. It offers in-person and remote access to sessions such as: (1) Reconciling the

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Robos, General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) Partner on Events Promoting Financial Literacy, Savings, Social Insurance, Pensions

The Egypt-based General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) recently agreed to support Bahrain-based Fintech Robos in its production of the following annual events: (1) Arab Savings & Financial Literacy Conference; (2) the Arab Pension & Social Insurance Conference; and (3) the Arab Actuarial Conference. Fintech Robos CEO Ebrahim K Ebrahim noted that one of the goals of the partnership is

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SentBe Launches Remittances from US to 50 Countries

The South Korean money-transfer service SentBe recently announced the official launch of its service allowing individuals to send remittances from the US to Australia, Canada, Nigeria, member nations of the EU and 24 additional countries in Eurasia. The firm also serves individuals sending payments from