The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP’s) Credit Guarantee Scheme for Small and Rural Businesses (CGS), which aims to increase financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas via retail banks, reportedly will extend client loan terms from three years to five years in an effort to increase economic opportunities by facilitating the purchase of tractors and other agricultural tools. Continue Reading »

PFK Chartered Accountants, the Zimbabwean arm of UK-based businesses services firm PFK International, reportedly has advised Royal Bank Zimbabwe Limited, a defunct bank, to convert its commercial banking license to a microfinance institution (MFI) license, which carries lower capital requirements set by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the country’s central banking institution. Continue Reading »

Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), an initiative of the government of Ghana to provide low-cost capital to private businesses, reportedly has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government-run business school Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), establishing a Centre for Impact Investing. Continue Reading »

Dr Yaw Gyima-Larbi, the head of microfinance and banking supervision at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), reportedly has announced that the central bank has granted final operating licenses to 171 financial institutions. Continue Reading »

“Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012: Differing Behavior Across Subregions;” by Maria Luisa Hayem; published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF); 2013; 27 pages; available at http://www5.iadb.org/mif/HOME/Knowledge/tabid/426/idPublication/78709/language/en-US/Default.aspx

This report from the US-based Multilateral Investment Fund provides an analysis of remittances received across national borders by people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Continue Reading »

Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, recently reported on delinquent payments due to Kiva by non-profit institutions L’Association de Lutte pour la promotion des Initiatives de Développement (Alidé) of Benin and Faîtière des Caisses d’Epargne et de Crédit des Associations Villageoises (FECECAV) of Togo. Continue Reading »

The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), which is mandated to carry out the financial inclusion action plan endorsed at the 2010 summit of the Group of 20 (G20) large economies, has released a set of “basic” financial inclusion indicators populated with data from 192 countries. Continue Reading »

According to Cuba’s Domestic Trade Ministry, a government body charged with implementing and monitoring domestic wholesale and retail commerce, 2,041 businesses have been leased to 5,479 former employees as part of Cuba’s economic reform plan to introduce non-state management in 47 economic activities. Continue Reading »

According to data presented by Deepali Pant Joshi, executive director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), at the recent International Summit of Skill Development in New Delhi, the number of villages with access to banks has risen from 67,000 in March 2010 to 211,000 in December 2012 out of a total of 600,000 villages in the country. Continue Reading »

Since Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo vowed in 2012 to replace all cash wage payments in the hopes of minimizing corruption, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has issued wage payments to 270,000 of 1 million civil servants via mobile banking. Continue Reading »

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the regulatory body of the insurance industry in India, recently issued a circular expanding the types of entities eligible to serve as microinsurance agents and clarifying existing regulations that bar multiple microinsurance agents from employing the same individuals. Continue Reading »

“Microfinance Institution Tier Definitions;” published by MicroRate; April 2013; 2 pages; available at http://www.microrate.com/media/downloads/2013/04/MicroRate-White-paper-Microfinance-Institution-Tier-Definitions.pdf

This report proposes a “tier system that defines microfinance institution [MFI] peer groups by institutional maturity to provide a foundation for industry analysis and informed dialogue.” Continue Reading »

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a Thailand-based network of financial policymakers from approximately 85 countries, recently launched the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI), which will aim to address barriers to the “uptake of mobile financial services” in Africa. Continue Reading »

By Michal Matul, Aparna Dalal, Ombeline De Bock and Wouler Gelade, published by Microinsurance Innovation Facility, February 2013, 31 pages, available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility/download/mpaper20_buy.pdf

This paper published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, a Switzerland-based initiative of the UN’s International Labour Organization, examines the “determinants of demand” for microinsurance products in the developing world and looks at why, despite its potential to mitigate risk, the demand for microinsurance is low. Continue Reading »

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), a quasi-independent agency of the federal government that insures deposit-taking financial institutions, recently announced that it will grant an undisclosed amount of financial assistance to distressed microfinance banks (MFBs) and primary mortgage banks (PMBs) recently closed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently partnered with Fundacion para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico Rural (FUNDESER), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Nicaragua, to improve its credit risk management system as part of the MFI’s ongoing transition into a regulated financial entity under Nicaragua’s Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions, known by the Spanish acronym SIBOIF. Continue Reading »

By Jan Meissner; published by Ghana’s National Insurance Commission (NIC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); 2013; 243 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.61118/Promoting%20Microinsurance%20in%20Ghana_Full%20Book.pdf

This book analyzes potential ways to enhance the development of the microinsurance sector in Ghana, providing an overview of inclusive financial market development in the country as well as a series of recommended best practices for microinsurance development. Continue Reading »

“A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Nicaragua;” by Mark Schreiner; January 2013; 189 pages; available at http://www.microfinance.com/English/Papers/Scoring_Poverty_Nicaragua_2009_EN.pdf

This document introduces an “easy-to-use” poverty scorecard based on household expenditure data from Nicaragua’s 2009 Living Standards Measurement Survey. Continue Reading »