The Smart Campaign, an initiative housed at the Center for Financial Inclusion to promote the use of a set of client protection principles, has partnered with the African Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of African microfinance networks, and Plan International, a UK-based children’s development organization, to promote and institutionalize client protection among microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout Africa and Asia.
Category: Transparency
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Calls for ‘Deeper’ Reform of Industry
Christoph Pausch, Executive Secretary of the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) of Luxembourg, recently argued in the Financial Times newspaper for “deeper” reform of the microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Backed by G20, Ashoka Changemakers Announces 14 Winners of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance Challenge
Ashoka Changemakers announced this month that it has selected 14 proposals as the winners of the SME Finance Challenge, which is hosted by Ashoka, a US-based nonprofit organization that invests in social entrepreneurship, and backed by the G-20, a group of financial ministers and central bank authorities representing 20 major economies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative Set Standards for Microfinance Investment Vehicle Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a policy and research center dedicated to providing financial access for the world’s poor, and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), a network of international investors created to promote the practice of responsible investing, have partnered to create the following criteria for measuring the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), LuxFLAG, United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), Eurosif Partner to Award Three Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center dedicated to providing financial access for the world’s poor, has teamed up with the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), a network of international investors created under the auspices of the UN to promote the practice of responsible investing; LuxFLAG, an organization that certifies that microfinance vehicles (MIVs) actually invest in the microfinance sector; and the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif), a pan-European network aiming to foster sustainable development through European financial markets, to create the CGAP Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Commences Certificate Program for Users of Its Progress Out of Poverty Index, Inductees to Appear on Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX)
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has launched a certificate program to recognize organizations that comply with new standards of use for its Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool developed by Grameen for tracking and reporting poverty data.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Launches Transparent Microfinance Pricing Initiative in Rwanda and Uganda
MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization launched in July 2008 that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing, the Association of Micro Finance Institutions in Rwanda and the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda, are partnering to expand MFTransparency’s Transparent Pricing Initiative to those two countries with the aim of providing training on interest rate calculations, publishing online pricing information and promoting consumer protection.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF:Chairman of Microfinance Association of Southern Sudan Warns of Opacity in Donor Funding
Vincent Olweny Oywak, chairman of the Microfinance Association of Southern Sudan (MASS), a coalition of six microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in southern Sudan, recently complained about the opacity of foreign donor funding to microfinance institutions in Sudan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund Release “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, in partnership with the Multilateral Investment Fund, an investment fund administered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), have recently published the “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Find Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG) Grants Label to Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) KCD-Mikrofinanzfonds I Global, KCD Mikrofinanz Fonds II Latin America, Finethic Microfinance SCA, Triodos SICAV II and Wallberg Global Microfinance Fund
The Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), an independent organization that certifies that microfinance vehicles (MIVs) actually invest in the microfinance sector, announced that it has granted the LuxFLAG Microfinance Label to five MIVs: KCD-Mikrofinanzfonds I Global and KCD Mikrofinanzfonds II Latin America of Luxembourg; Finethic Microfinance SCA of Switzerland; Triodos SICAV II (Triodos Microfinance Fund) of the Netherlands and Wallberg Global Microfinance Fund of Luxembourg.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sets Up a “Lenders’ Forum” to Promote Responsible Practices Among Indian Microfinance Institutions
Several major lenders to microfinance institutions in India have agreed to set up a “Lenders’ Forum” to promote transparent, responsible and commercially sustainable industry practices and codes of conduct so as to better safeguard the interests of the unbanked who form their client base.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The Economist Intelligence Unit “Microscope” Study Discusses Challenges to The Rapidly Growing Microfinance Industry
A study from The Economist Intelligence Unit, publisher of The Economist magazine reports that microfinance is increasingly gaining global recognition as a viable business model, whereby technology in particular is allowing for growth in lending and other financial services for the world’s low-income microentrepreneurs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Investment Fund Managers Calvert, Cordes and Giving Assets Plan to Establish “Global Impact 50” Alongside Rockefeller Foundation to Measure Social, Environmental and Financial Impacts of Impact Investment
A group of United States-based impact investment fund managers, namely the Calvert Foundation, the Cordes Foundation and Giving Assets Inc, recently announced plans to collaboratively establish the Global Impact 50, a global index for measuring the social, environmental and financial impacts of the top 50 impact investment fund managers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Trickle Up, Provider of Grants, Microfinance, Training, Announces Release of Documentary Film “The Test of Poverty”
Trickle Up, an international poverty alleviation organization based in the US, has announced the release of its documentary film, “The Test of Poverty,” which covers poverty’s effects on those living on less than USD 1.25 a day and the services that can help alleviate those effects.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Sector in Kyrgyzstan Continues to Grow Despite Previous Political and Ethnic Violence
Despite the political unrest and ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan earlier this year, the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI) of Kyrgyzstan, a network of 19 microfinance institutions (MFIs) launched in 2005, reports that the Kyrgyz microfinance sector continues to steadily grow.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency and Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) Partner on Initiative for Transparent Pricing in Microfinance
MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization launched in July 2008 that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing, and the Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN), an association of microfinance networks that is based in Benin, are partnering to encourage the participation of AFMIN members in MFTransparency’s Transparent Pricing Initiative, which aims to provide training on interest rate calculations, publish online pricing information and promote consumer protection.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria Revokes Licenses of 224 Microfinance Banks
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s central banking authority, recently revoked the licenses of 224 of the country’s 820 microfinance banks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Moody’s Corporation Developing Standards for Assessing Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions
Moody’s Corporation, a credit ratings and financial analysis company, announced at this month’s sixth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative that it is developing a quantitative, “globally consistent” set of standards for measuring the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs).