ThoughtWorks, a global technology company based in the US state of Illinois, has announced that it will provide software engineering services for The Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Platform, a software platform launched in 2006. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ – German Technical Cooperation Center), a German government-owned international development organization, are providing technical assistance to the Philippines’ central bank in order to strengthen its supervisory and regulatory capacity for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. A study last year by Asia Business Monitor showed that approximately 83 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Philippines have experienced difficulties in accessing credit from banks. According to Will Beloe, IFC head of advisory services in the Philippines, greater support from central bank supervisors for commercial banks specializing in lending to small and medium enterprises is expected to increase credit flow to the sector. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, has recently released the Portuguese version of its most recent report on microfinance in Brazil, entitled “The 2009 Brazil Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.” Continue Reading »

With sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, Southern Sudan recently held what was billed as its first microfinance conference. The aim of the conference, which was held in the regional capital of Juba, was to provide a forum for stakeholders to exchange views about the status of microfinance in Southern Sudan and to develop a strategy to improve microfinance in the region. Continue Reading »

The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of connecting microenterprise practitioners, has recently announced that it will be adding updates and new standards to its “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative,” a voluntary compliance effort to bring together stakeholders on reporting standards for MFIs. The “Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative” is an update to SEEP Network’s 2005 financial performance publication entitled “Measuring Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Framework for Reporting, Analysis, and Monitoring” (SEEP FRAMEWORK). Continue Reading »

Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Lead Researcher, Mr Adrian Gonzalez, recently authored a report published by MIX discussing the funding sources for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the lowest quartile in terms of size, age, profitability and portfolio quality. Continue Reading »

BlueOrchard, a Swiss-based microfinance intermediary, has recently closed its BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund with USD 195 million in total commitments from institutional and individual investors. The BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund is a SICAV registered in Luxembourg in December 2007. It seeks to forge long-term partnerships with microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the world. It acquires minority stakes in MFIs and aims to play an active governance role by sharing international experience, information, networks and knowledge. Continue Reading »

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) recently announced that approximately 300 microfinance institutions (MFIs) plan to submit their performance record to the “Second Annual Social Performance Reporting Awards,” an event to take place in 2011 that is being put together by CGAP, the Ford Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) to promote transparency of MFIs and display their achievements. Continue Reading »

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press has released the second edition of “The Economics of Microfinance,” by Beatriz Armendriz and Jonathan Morduch. The first edition, published in 2007, provided an overview of microfinance by addressing a range of issues, including lessons from informal markets, savings and insurance, the role of women, the place of subsidies, impact measurement and management incentives. It endeavored to integrated theory with empirical data, citing studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America and introducing ideas about asymmetric information, principal-agent theory and household decision-making in the context of microfinance. Continue Reading »

Finance in Motion (FIM), a German asset management firm with EUR 800 million under advisory, has signed the United Nations’ (UNs’) Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), thereby pledging to integrate sustainability into its investment processes. The PRI are declarations jointly developed by the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released its first set of “Country Briefings” which provide information on microfinance institution (MFI) performance, funding structure and supply and demand. Continue Reading »

By The Louis Berger Group Incorporated, produced for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), June 2010, 56 pages, available at: http://www.imfi.org/files/StateOfIMFI_USAID_en.pdf

The authors of this paper report that Iraq’s microfinance industry was established in 2003 and is now comprised of 14 microfinance institutions (MFIs) spread out over Iraq’s 18 provinces. Continue Reading »

Event Name: V Central American Microfinance Conference ‘Crisis: Lessons Learned and New Strategies’ Continue Reading »

Promoters of Bharatiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), the microfinance arm of BASIX Group, have announced that they will buy back a seven percent stake in BSFL, or roughly INR 850 million (USD 18 million), from existing share holders. A report from TheHinduBusinessLine.com quoted Mr Sajeev Viswanathan, Chief Executive Officer at BSFL, as saying, “We are doing this as we wish to have control over the business and to continue our own source of capital.” The promoterss stake of BASIX will go up from 23 percent to 30 percent. The stake would be bought from Indian public charitable trust, ICICI Froundation for Inclusive Growth; microfinance investments vehicle (MIV), International Finance Corporation (IFC); and US financial institution, Shorecap International Limited. ICICI will most likely exit from the company by selling its 2.8 percent stake, while the others may sell just part of their stakes. Continue Reading »

Credit Analysis and Research Limited (CARE Ratings), a rating company based in Mumbai, India, has rated the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of SKS Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) that caters to women in India, as Grade 4/5, which indicates ‘above average fundamentals.’ The grading system takes into account the company’s financial position including asset quality, capital adequacy ratio, liquidity position and access to diverse sources of institutional funding; recent industry growth; prospects for future growth; and good corporate governance practices. As reported by MicroCapital, SKS Microfinance announced its intentions to sell shares as part of a USD 250 million IPO from July 28 to July 30. Continue Reading »

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a division of the United Nations (UN) focused on protecting natural resources, will invest USD 1.8 million to increase the use of solar power in Nepal through its Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (SEFI). The funds will be distributed via microloans disbursed by Ace Development Bank, a financial services provider in Nepal established in 1995. Continue Reading »

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF), a nonprofit organization created by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to rebuild Haiti following the January 12 earthquake, has announced USD 1 million in new grants aimed at creating new jobs and promoting economic opportunity, including microfinance. An unspecified proportion of the grant will be used to finance the Haiti Emergency Liquidity Program (HELP), which will give recovery grants to “key” microfinance institutions (MFIs), which are defined as those having approximately 50,000 clients or more. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released a new version of the “2009 Africa Microfinance Analysis & Benchmarking Report” in French, which covers information on 195 African microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »