‘In God We Trust’: A Qualitative Study of Church-Sponsored Microfinance at the Margins in Nicaragua
by Michael J. Pisani

A qualitative study of CARITAS Matagalpa was undertaken in May 2003. CARITAS Matagalpa is a large, self-sustaining microfinance institution that is located in central Nicaragua and affiliated with Catholic Relief Services. In-depth interviews with 36 microentrepreneurs, all clients of CARITAS Matagalpa, reveal that access to microfinance has enabled these entrepreneurs to start, expand, and develop their enterprises. These interviews also reveal that access to microfinance has also enhanced the life chances of the microentrepreneurs’ households. Additionally, multivariate statistical tests suggest the following: (1) Loan size is directly related to urban location and length of repayment period. (2) The degree of firm-level informality diminishes in urban areas and increases relative to the work experience of the microentrepreneur. (3) Income for self-employed microentrepreneurs is influenced by business sales volume, work experience, number of employees, and loan size.  Continue Reading »

Fast Company Magazine named Mercy Corps as one of its 2009 Social Enterprises of the Year, recognizing the work it has done this past year as one of the “bold and timely ideas that wow us”. Mercy Corps is praised as “the bank of banks” for buying a struggling Balinese bank and reopening it as an organization that would “cut the costs and inefficiencies” of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and provide them capital, financial tools and tech platforms. Mercy Corps had also previously been recognized as one of the 45 Social Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World as a part of Fast Company’s 2008 Social Capitalist Awards. ACCION International, another organization involved in microfinance, was honoured with this recognition for the fifth year in a row. The other organizations that were honoured as 2009 Social Enterprises of the Year include Do Something, The Academy for Urban School Leadership, DataDyne, Civic Ventures, The Institute for OneWorld Health, The Acumen Fund, Husk Power Systems, and Hopelab. Continue Reading »

MicroCred, an investment company that creates companies and banks specialized in microfinance, approved a capital increase which includes investments from a new shareholder, Developing World Markets (DWM) and a founding shareholder, AXA Belgium. DWM will take a 22% stake in the company, while AXA Belgium will increase its shareholding to 25%. MicroCred’s total equity capital stood at USD 23.2 million at the end of November 2008. Continue Reading »

On November 18, the MasterCard Foundation, a private foundation in Toronto, Canada, and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a Bangladeshi microfinance institution (MFI), targeted two million Ugandans with a USD 19.6 microfinance program.  The need for deeper, more mature microfinance markets in Uganda is strong, implies a recent Business Wire story.  The government made expanding financial services for the rural poor a “top priority” in a country where more than 37 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day and 62 percent do not have access to financial services. Continue Reading »

Acumen Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in sustainable development operations, announced four new investments in Pakistan. The investments amount to over USD 2.8 million. Acumen Fund began investing in Pakistan in 2002 with a focus on the housing sector, providing slum-dwellers with affordable legal housing and infrastructure alternatives, as well as financial services that allowed low-income clients to improve their homes and supplement their incomes. Acumen Fund has since expanded its focus to address the broader set of critical issues keeping the majority of the population of 160 million people in poverty. Continue Reading »

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, predicted that Bangladesh will become a middle-income country in the next 10 years on a recent visit to Bangladesh.  Addressing the media at a press conference, he reflected on a visit to Bangladesh 33 years ago and lauded the changes and achievements in economic growth, poverty reduction, family planning, educating girls, and reducing the mortality rate.   Continue Reading »

Despite the continuing credit crunch, Kiva.org lenders loaned a record USD 3.8 million in October, the highest loan volume for any single month.  Since its inception three years ago, Kiva.org’s 364,153 lenders have lent USD 50.2 million to entrepreneurs in 42 countries.  The company expects to achieve a cumulative loan portfolio of USD 100 million by the end of 2009. Continue Reading »

Telenor Pakistan, a subsidiary of Telenor, a Norwegian communications, IT, and media company, has acquired 51 percent of Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited (TMBL) for PKR 1 billion, approximately USD 12.5 million, sources say.  Established in 2001, Tameer Microfinance Bank is a USD 20.3 million commercial microfinance bank in Pakistan.  The transaction is subject to full regulatory approval including a no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the State Bank of Pakistan.  This partnership with Telenor will extend the bank’s operation and network across the country, specifically in rural areas, to promote the microfinance business in the country. Continue Reading »

Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore-based microfinance institution (MFI), has completed the fourth round of equity infusion by raising Rs 940 million (USD 18.7 million) making it the fourth highest capitalised MFI in India with total paid up capital and reserves standing at over Rs 1.08 billion (USD 21.5 million) The increase in capital was largely invested by existing shareholders including Unitus Equity Fund (UEF) managed by Elevar Equity L.L.C., Bellwether Microfinance Fund, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, A.W. Holdings and individual investors including promoter & CEO Samit Ghosh. The five new investors in this private placement transaction will include: Sequoia Capital, Lok Capital, Unitus Equity Fund II, India Financial Inclusion Fund and SIDBI. Continue Reading »

Source: Unitus Inc.
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Source: AccessBank.
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Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations, received a $1.2 million grant from the John Deere Foundation to provide increased access to financing for the hunger-afflicted in Africa. OI forecasts that the grant will have a $10.6 million economic impact over the next three years. The grant will be used to benefit farmers, food processors and retailers and their ability to provide affordable food to the rural poor in Malawi and Mozambique. Continue Reading »

The achievements of the Grameen Bank’s Nurjahan Begum, Indonesia’s Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, and Egypt’s Al Tadamun were recognized on November 12, 2008 at the Grameen Foundation’s 2008 Awards in Washington D.C. The awards were held in conjunction with its annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable discussion, which this year discussed the implications of the global financial crisis on microfinance. Nurjahan Begum received the Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in microfinance for over 30 years, including her efforts to organize women in Bangladesh’s poorest villages and leading the fight for the rights of disadvantaged women. MBK Ventura of Indonesia received the Excellence in Microfinance Award for its leadership its efforts to ensure that Indonesia’s poorest citizens receive financial services, and Al Tadamun of Egypt was awarded the Pioneer in Microfinance Award in recognition of its program to provide financial services to Cairo’s poorest women. Continue Reading »

Microcapital has identified the following six microfinance “pioneers,” individuals who have made long-standing contributions to the evolution and promotion of microfinance practices and/or technology. While not all of these pioneers hail from Latin America, all have been instrumental to the development of microfinance in that region. These pioneers are: Álvaro Dávila of Colombia, Joseph Blatchford of the USA, Theodore C. Ning, Jr. of the USA, Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico of the Dominican Republic, Clara Serra de Akerman of Colombia, and José Ignacio Avalos Hernánde of Mexico. Below are short descriptons of the contributions of each: Continue Reading »

Source: Nhan Dan.

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Vikram Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance (SKS ), has announced plans to step down from the role of CEO after 10 years.  Mr. Akula says that this change will allow him to focus on a new initiative - microinsurance.  As MicroCapital reported earlier this year, SKS partnered with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company to offer insurance products toclients.  This announcement comes amid rapid growth in the company. Suresh Gurumani, Director, Barclays Bank, will take over as SKS Microfinance’s CEO.  An official transition date was not given.  

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The nineteen awardees of the Royal Bank of Scotland and PlaNet Finance India’s Microfinance Process Excellence Awards were announced recently at a conference in Delhi. They were the third annual awards and the winners for the awards were selected from a pool of 67 nominees, which were shortlisted after receiving applications from the initial pool of applicants. The award winners were announced at the Microfinance India Summit 2008, held Nov. 11^th to 13^th in New Delhi. National winners for the three categories of awards were Nirantara Community Services, Arohan, and Sanghamithra. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd. has announced the closing of a fourth round of equity financing in which it raised Rs 366 crore, approximately USD 75.4 million.  The transaction was led by Sandstone Capital, a U.S. hedge fund based in Boston, MA.  Also participating in the transaction were existing investors Kismet Capital and SVB India Capital Partners, an affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank.  Edelweiss Capital was the investment banker to the issue. Continue Reading »