MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Analysis for Microfinance Institutions organized by The Microfinance Association; December 7-11, 2009 in Canary Wharf, London.
Event Name: Financial Analysis for Microfinance Institutions
Event Description: This is a one week residential training course hosted by The Microfinance Association on strategic management in microfinance.
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events Continue Reading »
It was recently reported in the Yemen Observer [1] that a microfinance network or trade association will be established in Yemen with a view to promoting best practices, good governance and accountability in the country’s growing microfinance sector. A meeting was held by the Social Fund for Development (SFD) [2] and the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) [3] to select the board of directors for the network and to deal with preliminary matters. The report in the Yemen Observer stated that the establishment of a microfinance network is ’an integral part of the national strategy to develop the microfinance industry’ in Yemen and that the network will focus on providing the technical assistance, increasing the abilities of MFI officers as well as setting up and supporting a centre for exchanging information, experiences and techniques within the Yemeni microfinance industry. Continue Reading »
In a report on the Reuters website entitled ‘Balkan loan guarantors struggle to pay others’ debt’ by reporter Daria Sito-Sucic [1], it was stated that guarantors in the Balkan states are increasingly being pursued by lenders to pay up on loans to defaulting borrowers. The article notes that it was common for borrowers to secure guarantees from family and friends in order to rebuild their lives in the immediate aftermath of the war from 1992 to 1995. Mr Sito-Sucic notes that people readily guaranteed loans for friends and relatives after the collapse of Yugoslavia ’unaware that their backing was no longer a mere formality as during socialist times’. In the past, jobs were more or less secure until the age of retirement and the local currency did not suffer frequent redenomination as it has in post-war times. Now, the impact of the global economic crisis is affecting small businesses and the financial sector in the Balkan region. Continue Reading »
By Scott Gaul, Product Development Manager, published by the MixMarket Microbanking Bulletin, Issue 18, Spring 2009, pages 15-19, available at:
http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/MBB%2018%20Spring%202009.pdf
According to the report in the Spring 2009 MixMarket Microbanking Bulletin, microfinance practitioners have sought a single simple way to evaluate the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The report notes that the most commonly used (yet incomplete) indicator to model an MFI’s performance to date has been Financial Self-Sufficiency (FSS). On the other hand, the Subsidy Dependence Index (SDI) has been viewed as an alternative measure that more accurately reflects and MFIs reliance on subsidies (relative to its peers). The MixMarket attempts to investigate some of the similarities and differences between the Subsidy Dependence Index (SDI) and the Financial Self-Sufficiency (FSS) and compare these two indictors by utilizing data obtained from the microbanking bulletin (MBB) during 2003-2007.
The report explores when to use SDI or FSS and the distinction between the two models boils down to ‘where is your bottom line?’ While this may be a simple accounting treatment the report notes that the ‘bottom line’ may differ for policy-makers and MFI management and staff. Continue Reading »
At a recent conference on ‘Investments In Microfinance’ which was held in London and organized by Hanson Wade, a panel discussion was dedicated to the issue of client protection. The panel was led by Ms. Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director at the ACCION Centre for Financial Inclusion and Mr. Kenan Crnkic, General Director of Prizma Mikro, an MFI headquartered in Sarajevo. According to its profile on the MIX Market portal, a database which collects financial and other information about MFIs across the globe, Prizma is a non-bank financial institution and was established in 1997. Its total assets as at 31 December 2008 is USD 52,445,597 and it has a Debt To Equity ratio of 297.89 percent. Its Return On Equity is 8.17 percent and its Return On Assets is 2.28 percent. Prizma has 55,820 active borrowers as at 31 December 2008. Continue Reading »
In a recent report by Paolo Luis G. Montecillo in the Business World in the Philippines, it was observed that microfinance institutions in the Philippines have started to approach international rating firms with the hope that independent ratings will attract foreign investments and improve institutional operations. The president and chairman of Rural Green Bank of Caraga, Joseph Omar O. Andaya, noted that the bank was able to obtain a million-peso loan after securing a rating from Milan-based Microfinanza Rating. In addition, the assessment by Microfinanza Rating allowed Mr. Andaya to learn about institutional strengths and weaknesses of his institution, the latter of which included high operating costs and inefficient operations. Rural Green Bank is now in discussions with Blue Orchard Microfinance Investment Managers, a Switzerland-based fund, in relation to a loan for an amount almost equivalent to a quarter of its 1.6-billion peso loan portfolio. The Green Bank was established in 1975 and has a 4-diamond rating on the MIX Market portal. It does not appear to have submitted updated information for 2008. However, latest figures on the MIX Market portal show that Green Bank has a gross loan portfolio of USD 30,524,872 and 72,742 active borrowers as at 31 December 2007. Green Bank’s key sources of funding are loans, savings and shareholder capital. Continue Reading »
Written by Robert Peck Christen, working draft made available for field-testing, recommendations invited at r.christen@bouldermicrofinance.org, released June 2005 by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), 39 pages, full-text available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/26200_file_26200.pdf Continue Reading »
Source: Grameen Foundation
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The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, has sent a questionnaire to over 1,300 microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America in an attempt to develop a standardized measurement of social performance. Designed to evaluate social performance, the survey consists of 22 core indicators covering topics such as client poverty level, progress out of poverty, product design, and institutional policies and procedures. Continue Reading »
Compiled by project facilitator, Drew Tulchin of Social Enterprise Associates, and Ayani Consulting, this report outlines the Microfinance Industry Financial Reporting Standards Initiative (MRSI) – an initiative to promote standardized financial reporting in the global microfinance industry. The initiative is supported by the Small Enterprise and Education Program (SEEP) Network, a membership association connecting organizations from around the world that support micro- and small enterprise development programs. It is currently housed as a subcommittee of the Financial Services Working Group (FSWG). The paper is a draft and welcomes additional comments and suggestions. Full text of the document is twelve pages and is available here. Continue Reading »
The State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2009 was written by Sam Daley-Harris and is a 70 page report that discusses the human face of global poverty, reviews microfinance breakthroughs in helping slum dwellers move out of the slums and highlights innovations that have brought renewable energy to poor communities. The report is a summary of the achievements and innovations of the Microcredit Summit Campaign for the year 2008 as wells as notable achievements in the microfinance community in general and consists of contributions from a variety of experts in the microfinance industry. The original report is available here. Continue Reading »
At a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US Secretary of State designate Hilary Clinton, while speaking briefly about President-elect Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, implied that microfinance would be an important part of the Obama administration’s agenda. Senator Clinton noted that Ann Dunham had worked on microfinance in Indonesia and that she had been scheduled to attend a microfinance forum at a United Nations conference in Beijing in 1995, which Ms. Clinton attended. Ms. Dunham, however, could not make it to the conference as she was diagnosed with cancer that eventually claimed her life few months after the conference. MicroCapital recently reported on Ann Dunham’s work as a researcher and practitioner of microfinance in Indonesia and her philosophy on the empowerment of women as a means to address poverty. Hilary Clinton also expressed similar sentiments at the hearing where she stated how, through her work on microfinance around the world, she had ‘seen firsthand how small loans given to poor women to start small businesses can raise standards of living and transform local economies’. Continue Reading »
Figures released by Jordan’s Planning Ministry indicate that over 120,000 citizens have borrowed from local microfinance institutions (MFIs) with loans outstanding at JD 65 million, the dollar equivalent of over USD 91 million. Specifically, 7 Jordanian MFIs were recognized at a Ministry ceremony where each signed a code of ethics governing this joint effort. Continue Reading »
The World Bank Group recently published a publicly-available online database of global remittance prices in 120 “country corridors” (i.e. two countries between which remittances are transferred) with the aim of informing low-income migrant workers and households in emerging economies. While global leaders have talked about reducing remittance-sending costs for some time, little has been done on the issue in the way of substantial quantitative data until now, says remittances specialist Dilip Ratha. Continue Reading »
ACCION International, a microfinance organization founded in 1961 to address the desperate poverty in Latin America’s cities, has recently launched The Center For Financial Inclusion , a collaborative effort to promote commercial microfinance and simultaneously ensure that the needs of poor clients are being met. A key aspect of the Center is to connect the expertise of the non-profit, private and academic sectors to enhance the quality of microfinance. It is a sign of the times as commercial banks have been increasingly involved in socially responsible investing and the debate about what role for-profit activity should play in the microfinance sector continues to intensify. Continue Reading »
Ernst & Young LLP (E&Y), a “Big Four” accounting firm headquartered in London, has donated up to USD 1 million of in-kind resources over the next three years to provide oversight and accountability to the micro-lending process of Kiva Microfunds LLC, a micro-lending website that connects individual lenders with target entrepreneurs via microfinance institutions (MFIs). The partnership was announced at the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) summit, an annual gathering of global leaders in government, business and civil society for the purpose of discussing pressing development challenges and their solutions. Continue Reading »
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