As part of its Opportunities for the Majority initiative, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will provide USD 10 million to Mibanco, a Peruvian microfinance institution with a gross loan portfolio equivalent to USD 781 million, according to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse. The loan is expected to help Mibanco launch a financial product called Crecer Mi Negocio (To Grow My Business), which will provide women entrepreneurs with medium term investment loans averaging USD 2,000 to USD 3,000. Continue Reading »

Eton Park Capital Management and Financiera Independencia (FI), a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI), have signed an agreement by which Eton Park will subscribe for 70 million shares of FI for MXN 700 million (USD 54.5 million). Continue Reading »

Launched by the Guyanan government in cooperation with the World Bank and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Symposium on Agricultural Risk and Insurance was held in Georgetown, Guyana, from December 7th to 9th to address the primary risk factors affecting the agricultural sector of Guyana and to lay out a risk management strategy. The event included 70 participants from the policy, agriculture, risk management, and financial sectors. Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which provides multilateral financing in Latin America and the Caribbean, will provide a USD 5 million loan to a fund that is managed by Global Partnerships, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America [1,2,3]. The fund, which totals USD 25 million, will be used to invest in 20 MFIs in at least 12 countries [1]. The other USD 20 million will be provided by other, unspecified private institutions and investors [1]. In turn, the MFIs will lend to microentrepreneurs, mostly in the Central American and Andean regions [1]. Additionally, the MFIs will use the investments to provide the microentrepreneurs with technical assistance, “innovative technologies in areas such as loan management, insurance, evaluation and foreign currency hedging,” and social services such as protection of health [1]. Continue Reading »

The following regulators are profiled in this brief:

Mexico-National Banking and Securities Commission (Comision Nacional Bancaria Y De Valores CNBV), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=National+Banking+and+Securities+Commission+%28CNBV%29

Peru-Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Funds (Superintendencia de Banca Seguros y AFP SBS), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Superintendency+of+Banking%2C+Insurance+and+Private+Pension+Funds+%28SBS%29 Continue Reading »

The Faster Times website has reported that nine Nicaraguan farmers were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years for attacking staff of the Local Development Fund, a Nicaraguan microfinance institution. Continue Reading »

Erste Group Bank (EGB), an Austria-based financial services provider with over EUR 201.4 billion (USD 295.2 billion) in total assets, has launched the ESPA VINIS Microfinance Fund. The fund will focus on microfinance in emerging markets, particularly South-East Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. It will invest directly in microfinance bonds as well as other microfinance funds. Further financial information has not been released. Continue Reading »

Fundación BBVA Microfinanzas, the microfinance arm of the Spanish commercial bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has announced that it “will begin operating in tandem with [unspecified] local partners in Brazil and Mexico in 2010″ [1,2,3]. This comes soon after an announcement that BBVA Microfinanzas will “create a microfinance joint venture” with Credicoop, a Chilean cooperative bank [1,4]. BBVA Microfinanzas has already launched microfinance initiatives in Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Central America through an agreement with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), “a multilateral bank and financial arm” founded by the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica [1,3]. It also plans to begin a similar initiative in Argentina [1]. Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which provides multilateral financing in Latin America and the Caribbean, has extended a USD 17.5 million loan to Banco BHD, a commercial bank based in the Dominican Republic, in order to “strengthen its capital position and expand its long-term lending to the corporate sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)” [1,2,3]. The facility is made up of a USD 5 million loan with a five-year tenor and a USD 12.5 million loan with an eight-year tenor [1]. The USD 12.5 million loan will be extended in conjunction with an unspecified third party [1]. Continue Reading »

The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released three of its benchmarking reports. Two of these were produced in Spanish in cooperation with REDCAMIF, the Central American Microfinance Network: the 2009 Central America Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report, which covers 78 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the 2009 Nicaragua Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report, which includes coverage of the impact of the “No Pago” movement. The 2009 Azerbaijan Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report was produced in English in cooperation with the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA). Continue Reading »

To spur the development of innovative microinsurance products, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Microinsurance Innovation Facility has opened its fourth round of grant funding. Since “insurance providers often lack the know how to reach this market and need to experiment to develop sustainable business models…[these] grants are there to support those risk takers, cover their start up costs and harness lessons learnt,” said Craig Churchill, team leader of the Microinsurance Innovation Facility. Since its founding in 2008, the Facility has provided 34 innovation grants, ranging from USD 20,000 to USD 600,000, to insurance companies, cooperatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other microinsurance providers. The deadline for the fourth round of grant proposals is March 2nd, 2010. More information can be found at www.ilo.org/microinsurance. Continue Reading »

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an “independent U.S. government agency” that provides services to facilitate foreign investment to “less developed countries,” has approved a loan of USD 25 million to ProCredit Holding, “a [German] parent company of 22 development-oriented banks” operating in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa with a gross loan portfolio of EUR 3.3 billion, the equivalent of over USD 4.9 billion, as of the end of 2008 [1,2,3]. This loan will be used by ProCredit to expand their loan provision to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) [1]. MicroCapital reported on a 2005 loan from OPIC to ProCredit worth USD 30 million [4]. OPIC also made a USD 3 million loan to a ProCredit microfinance institution (MFI) in Moldova in 2005, and a USD 5 million loan to ProCredit Bank in Ukraine in the same year [5,6]. OPIC Acting President Dr. Lawrence Spinelli has commented on the importance of the latest loan in terms of allowing ProCredit to “diversify its capital base” [1]. Continue Reading »

The following regulators are profiled in this brief:

Bangledesh – Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Microcredit+Regulatory+Authority+%28MRA%29

India – National Bank of Agriculature and Rural Development (NABARD), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=National+Bank+of+Agriculature+and+Rural+Development+%28NABARD%29

Brazil – Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Central+Bank+of+Brazil+%28BCB%29

Bolivia – Superindendent of Banks and Financial Entities (SBEF), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Superindendent+of+Banks+and+Financial+Entities+%28SBEF%29

Egypt – Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), located at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Central+Bank+of+Egypt+%28CBE%29

Kenya – Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), located at: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Adr0wzXJKlP0ZGZiN3dwYnFfMzlocDhnZHZmNQ&hl=en Continue Reading »

Event Name: MicroInsurance Summit 2010: Evaluating Stategies for Delivery, Partner-Agent Models and Scalability

Event Date: February 23-25, 2010

Event Location: Le Meridien Piccadilly, London

Event Website: http://www.hansonwade.com/events/microinsurance-summit-2010/index.shtml

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here:
http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events Continue Reading »

Published by Lloyd’s 360 Risk Insight and the MicroInsurance Centre in November 2009, 38 pages, available at: http://www.lloyds.com/NR/rdonlyres/5CFE7CAF-0075-415C-B0F2-BEBF0323059E/0/Microinsurancereport_Nov2009.pdf

Produced by Lloyd’s, an insurance and reinsurance market, and the MicroInsurance Centre, a consulting and advocacy company, this report describes the current landscape of microinsurance and lays out the means and benefits of entering this emerging market. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Commission and Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced the launch of the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), a reinsurance vehicle aimed to mitigate catastrophic risks in developing countries. Index-based insurance provides policies that pay a set amount in the event of a measurable occurrence of a natural disaster, e.g. an earthquake registering a certain magnitude or a drought that has lasted for a certain number of days. The objective of the Facility is to “assist in the development of a truly global market for index-based insurance instruments” by providing four main functions: market intermediation, risk pooling, limited holding of risk or “risk warehousing,” and market development. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released “2008 MFI Benchmarks” covering financial and performance data from 1084 microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide, reflecting the impact of the financial downturn. Blaine Stephens, COO and director of analysis at MIX said, “By the end of 2008, MFI growth rates had already begun to slow, leaving MFIs faced with higher operating costs.” He attributed part of these costs to . “Increasing portfolio arrears in a number of markets shift[ing] the focus of MFI staff from making productive new loans to instead following up with current clients to encourage them to make payments.” Also newly available are reports covering 104 institutions providing microfinance in Tajikistan and 47 MFIs in Ecuador. Continue Reading »

ACCION International has reportedly received approval from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to operate in Brazil. The US-based nonprofit will be allowed to hold 99 percent of the Brazilian operations of its Gateway Fund, which holds shares in microfinance institutions in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Continue Reading »