The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, recently released its third annual ranking of microfinance institutions (MFIs), The Mix Global 100. Continue Reading »

Paul DiLeo, Managing Partner at Grassroots Capital, plays a role in attracting private capital to the company, creating investment vehicles to address market gaps and raising funding to support new initiatives.  Mr. DiLeo launched and now co-manages the Global Microfinance Equity Fund and the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, which is a private, for-profit microfinance fund originally established to demonstrate the viability of microfinance investment.  He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts (US), has a master’s degree from Boston University (US) and completed studies in business accounting and finance at New York University (US). Continue Reading »

Mr. Crawford is Chief Executive Officer of MicroVest Capital Management, responsible for the development, management and growth of MicroVest, including developing and implementing business development strategies and supervising investment deals. He led the launch of MicroVest I, LP, a commercial private equity vehicle focused on microfinance in North America. He has over 20 years of experience with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and capital markets and has worked in Latin America, Africa and Asia. 

Previously, Mr. Crawford worked for the Latin American Financial Markets Division at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), created and ran Seed Capital Development Fund and was the Assistant Project Director for Africa Venture Capital Project. Mr. Crawford received his bank training at Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid 1980’s after working in Africa for the Red Cross and the US State Department. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) (US) in 1983 and Bates College (US) in 1980. Continue Reading »

Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on urban lending to individuals, has closed an MXP 530 million (USD 41 million) deal to acquire Financiera Finsol, a Mexican MFI that focuses on group lending in rural areas, and three related entities: Finsol Vida, an insurance broker; Finsol, a service company; and Instituto Finsol Brazil, an MFI in Brazil. Continue Reading »

The European Commission has officially launched the EUR 100 million (USD 135 million) “European Progress Microfinance Facility,” which was approved by members of the European Council and European Parliament. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, recently released the 2009 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report. Continue Reading »

PlaNet Finance Group is an international organization with the mission of alleviating poverty through the development of microfinance. The group consists of a non-governmental organization (NGO) called PlaNet Finance, which has historically been at the heart of the group and offers advisory and training services, as well as a set of social businesses. Among these, Planet Rating is a microfinance rating agency, PlaNIS is specialized in the structuring and management of microfinance funds, MicroCred is a microfinance holding company investing in greenfield microfinance banks and non-banking financial institutions, PlaNet Guarantee provides microinsurance and FinanCités is a venture capital company that invests in very small enterprises in French urban areas. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, recently released two benchmarking reports covering the microfinance market in Mexico and Paraguay. Continue Reading »

Standard Chartered has provided its first microfinance loan in the Philippines to CARD Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) with over 205,097 active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of USD 20.1 million as of year-end 2008. Continue Reading »

According to an article published on the Microfinance Focus website, Belgium-based microfinance fund manager Incofin Investment Management is on track to meeting its target of EUR 100 million (USD 139 million) for its second Rural Impulse Fund by next quarter. Continue Reading »

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided a USD 6 million grant to Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a pan-African bank with a network of over 500 branches in 27 countries. Continue Reading »

Mr Celestino Corbacho, the Spanish Employment Minister, recently announced that the European Commission is working on a plan to provide EUR 100 million (USD 139 million) in microloans to unemployed youth under the age of 25 and the long-term unemployed. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance, India’s largest microfinance institution, recently chose desktop virtualization software SoftXpand to meet its computing needs. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, has released its January 2010 issue newsletter in English, Spanish and French. Continue Reading »

The Indian government is planning to reintroduce a microfinance bill to Parliament that would significantly impact the regulation of the rapidly growing microfinance industry, which has reportedly been growing at almost 52 percent per year for the last three years in terms of client outreach. Continue Reading »

By Zoran Stanisljevic, based on his interview with Christina Leijonhufvud, Managing Director of the Global Social Sector Finance Group at JP Morgan, published by MicroCapital.org, December 2009, 5 pages, available at http://www.microcapital.org/downloads/whitepapers/Diligence.pdf Continue Reading »

The Australian government has agreed to provide AUD 2 million (the equivalent of USD 1.8 million) over the next three years to the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a program established with the intent of increasing access to financial services among low-income households in the Pacific Islands. Continue Reading »

Damian von Stauffenberg is the founder of MicroRate, a rating agency specializing in microfinance.  Mr. von Stauffenberg founded MicroRate in 1997 and served as its CEO until 2009.  Through its Latin American and African subsidiaries, MicroRate has conducted over 400 ratings of microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. 

Mr. von Stauffenberg previously worked for 25 years at the World Bank and its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).  He has been president of Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF), chairman of the investment committee of ProFund, chairman of the executive committee of MicroVest and a member of the executive committee of the Latin American Challenge Investment Fund (LA-CIF). Continue Reading »