Event Name: The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development 2017
Event Date: June 15 – 16, 2017
Event Location: United Nations Headquarters, New York, New York, United States
Summary of Event: This two-day event will address ways to achieve the United Nations Goals for Sustainable Development through discussions of global governance, migrant investment
Event Name: Global Symposium on Microfinance: Revolutionizing Microfinance: Insight, Innovation, Inclusion
Dates: May 22 – May 23, 2017
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Summary of Event: This symposium will consist of discussions and presentations on scaling up through innovative channels, deploying digital credit, design thinking, using “big data,” and credit risk assessment and risk management [1]. Following the symposium, the Asian Banking School is offering a three-day training
Event Name: Social Performance Task Force 2017 Annual Meeting
Event Date: June 6 – June 8, 2017
Event Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Summary of Event: This meeting will include plenary speeches, working group meetings and networking sessions relating to financial inclusion regulation, social outcomes data collection, and analysis and advances in “client-centric” technology [2]. The event will begin with an introductory session on the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (SPM) and the resources available to financial service providers for measuring and improving their social performance. This is the first time this event is taking place in Latin America since 2013.
Event Name: Dot Finance Africa
Event Date: May 17 – May 18, 2017
Event Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Summary of Event: This event will include speeches and discussions on financial technology (fintech) topics including artificial intelligence, blockchain databases, client protection, collaboration,
The government of Pakistan recently announced the start the Pakistan Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Project with funding totaling USD 130 million from two arms of the World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Three Pakistani organizations will carry out the project: the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, a new organization funded by
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 46 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia, India, Panama, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and
Event Name: 5th European Research Conference on Microfinance
Event Date: June 12 – June 14, 2017
Event Location: Portsmouth, United Kingdom
CreditAccess Asia, which is based in the Netherlands and provides microfinance services in four countries in Asia, recently acquired new equity investments totaling EUR 95 million (USD 103 million). The investors include the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Italian private equity firm Istituto Atesino di Sviluppo. Olympus Capital Asia, a previous equity investor in CreditAccess, was among the investors increasing their stakes through the conversion
The NpM Platform for Inclusive Finance, formerly known as the Netherlands Platform for Microfinance, and the Rabobank Foundation, an affiliate of the Dutch cooperative Rabobank, recently launched an effort called “Geodata for Inclusive Finance and Food Security.” The goal is to encourage the use of satellite data to improve agricultural yields, for example by
The 
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) has begun accepting applications for the eighth iteration of its European Microfinance Award, which is focused this year on financing housing improvements for people with low incomes. The deadline to apply is May 22. The award, which includes a cash prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 106,000), will be presented at European Microfinance Week, which is being held
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently informed MicroCapital that its agRIF, the successor to the Rural Impulse Funds I and II, has raised USD 27 million in unspecified portions from multiple investors, bringing its size
Mastercard, a US-based technology and payments company; and Unilever, a UK-based supplier of consumer goods, recently announced that they will develop a partnership to provide access to digital technologies to small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries with the aim of helping them buy supplies and sell goods more efficiently. The partnership’s first project will be to spread the use of Mastercard’s digital payment platforms via
Quona Capital Management, which is based in the US city of Washington, recently announced that it has raised USD 141 million from multiple investors for the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund (AFIF), a fund backed by the US-based nonprofit Accion and managed by Quona Capital. The participating funders are US-based corporates including JP Morgan Chase & Co., MasterCard, Prudential Financial
VisionFund International, a UK-based nonprofit with microfinance operations in approximately 30 countries, recently informed MicroCapital that its President and CEO Scott Brown will be leaving the organization at the end of
The non-bank financial institution (NBFI) sector, often referred to as the alternative finance sector or the shadow banking sector, around the world is largely dependent on the institutional market for funding. By regulation, NBFIs in most markets are prohibited from gathering deposits or restricted from transactional banking services, which are critical to attract deposits. In most markets, banks themselves are reluctant to lend to NBFIs, given the potential long-term competitive threat. For example, Capitec of South Africa and Equity Bank of Kenya, which are now very much fully-fledged banks, have roots as NBFIs. In South Africa, the deepest and broadest market in Africa, NBFIs have been largely focused on borrowing from the domestic market.
This is not without risks given, for example, the significant reversal in domestic investor sentiment following the collapse of African Bank in August 2014. African Bank’s largest peer, Capitec, was less affected because
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 17.5 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia,
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it will advise the Agency for Finance (AFK), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kosovo, on lending strategy and methods to finance the development of the country’s agricultural sector.
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced it will loan USD 52.5 million in two transactions to Climate Investor One (CIO), a facility managed by Netherlands-based Climate Fund Managers. The objective of the loan is for CIO to aid in the development