By Jennifer Powers and Barbara Magnoni of EA Consultants, Published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), April 2010, 100 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getDocument.aspx?DOCNUM=35282406

The authors of this study focused on the differences between male and female entrepreneurs in six countries in Latin America: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has reportedly completed an initiative in which all commercial banks in Fiji have complied with a requirement to establish a “microfinance unit.” 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 »

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 »

Vineet Sukumar of the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Capital has recently written a counter-argument to an article written by Daniel Rozas and Vinod Kothari and published by Microfinance Focus which argued that “microfinance securitization does not, in reality, separate ‘pool risk’ from ‘originator risk’ and hence should not be rated very differently from the originator of the portfolio.” Continue Reading »

The Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee, recently commented that mainstream financial institutions are not currently, but should be, reaching India’s poor. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Transparent Pricing Initiative in Malawi

Event Date: August 31, 2010 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 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 »

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 »

Blue Financial Services Limited, a South African microfinance institution (MFI) that lost its operating license in Rwanda recently, has announced that it may take legal action against Rwandan borrowers who do not pay back outstanding loans. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has recently released funding structure data, which covers information on 890 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 86 countries, reporting on 13,000 outstanding obligations and USD 15 billion in outstanding debt. Continue Reading »

The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR), the central bank of Rwanda, recently reported that Blue Financial Services, a South African microfinance institution (MFI) with reported assets of ZAR 1.5 billion (equivalent to USD 200 million), has lost its operating license in Rwanda after operating in the country for three years, because of “fiscal fraud.” Continue Reading »

The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), a “global forum of microfinance experts,” held its annual meeting in Bern, Switzerland, from June 29 to July 3, 2010. Continue Reading »

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization of 186 countries that works to “foster global monetary cooperation,” has recently launched an online database intended to offer the public access to “financial access indicators” such as the availability of automated teller machines, amount of deposits, presence of bank branch networks, availability of loans, types of debt securities issued and types of insurance. Continue Reading »

The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that provides assistance for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries, has recently announced that its Global Fund will make an investment of EUR 4 million (equivalent to USD 5 million) in Triodos Microfinance Fund, a microfinance investment vehicle based in Luxembourg with total assets of USD 36.2 million. Continue Reading »