MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Predictors of Microfinance Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Bangladesh,” by Maeenuddin et al

This article examines the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bangladesh. Using data from the MIX Market database, the authors develop a

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 2nd Annual Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Africa Conference; October 4-5, 2023; Sandton, South Africa

This conference offers opportunities to collaborate on incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals into organizations’ operations. The themes are: (1) Investment and Financing; (2) Measurement and Reporting; (3) Governance, Leadership and Culture; and (4) Legal. The itinerary for Day One of the event includes

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Mind the Gap in Financial Inclusion! Microcredit Institutions Fieldwork in Peru;” by Pilar Lopez-Sancheza, Elena Urquia-Grande

Microfinance providers in Peru carry a combined outstanding loan portfolio equivalent to USD 12.7 billion, serving 5 million borrowers. Dr Lopez-Sancheza and Dr Urquia-Grande conducted a qualitative analysis of these loans based on

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TASC Borrows $3.5m from Spark+ Africa to Fund 90k Cookstoves, Reduce Carbon Emissions in Rural Zambia

Spark+ Africa Fund, a partnership of Switzerland-based Enabling Qapital and the Dutch NGO Stichting Modern Cooking (SMC), recently lent USD 3.5 million to The African Stove Company (TASC), which is based in Jersey, to sell 90,000 cookstoves in rural Zambia. Spark+ Africa raised the funds from the sale of “several million tons

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Grow to Zero Conference; June 26-27, 2023; London, UK

Themed “Catalysing Finance for Impact,” this event will cover ways of leveraging blended finance, carbon markets and digitisation to enable transition to net-zero emissions and other forms of sustainable development. The agenda features sessions such as: (1) Challenges to 2030: How to Finance

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satya of India Borrowing $35m from FMO, Finnfund for Microfinance for Rural Women, Youth – Including to Enable Green Transition

Satya MicroCapital, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI), recently borrowed the local-currency equivalent of USD 25 million from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) and USD 10 million from Finnfund, a development finance institution controlled by the government of Finland. The funding is intended to

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Impact Summit; July 13-14, 2023; Cape Town, South Africa

With a focus on impact investing, this event will explore how to build markets in Africa as well as pipeline opportunities and challenges. The agenda includes sessions such as: (1) Investing in SMEs [Small and Medium-sized Enterprises] and Start-ups; (2) Systems and Design Thinking for

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elm of Saudi Arabia Partners with IrisGuard to Bring Biometric Identification to Government-to-person (G2P) Payments in Africa, Asia

IrisGuard, a UK-based payment processor that uses the iris of the human eye to identify recipients, recently partnered with Elm Company, an instrument of the Saudi Arabian government, to use biometric identification when distributing

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Loans $214m to Sicredi for Solar Panels for Households, SMEs in Brazil

Banco Cooperativo Sicredi, a Brazil-based financial cooperative owned by its 6.5 million members, recently agreed to borrow EUR 200 million (USD 214 million) from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Sicredi plans to use the capital to equip houses and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Raises $26m from ASN Bank, Calvert Impact to Boost Financial Inclusion, Resilience in MENA

The Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME recently agreed to borrow EUR 15 million (USD 16.5 million) from Algemene Spaarbank voor Nederland (ASN) Bank, a retail banking member of the Netherlands’ de Volksbank, and USD 10 million from the US-based NGO Calvert Impact Capital. Sanad intends to use the fresh funds to facilitate

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Lending $3.4m to Financiera Finexpar for Agriculture, SME Lending in Paraguay

MicroVest, an asset management subsidiary of US-based DAI Global, recently issued a loan of USD 3.4 million to the Paraguay-based microfinance institution (MFI) Financiera Finexpar to support the MFI’s lending activities, specifically the funding of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in

MICROFINANCE EVENT: ANDE Annual Conference; September 12-14, 2023; Accra, Ghana

This event will observe the “half-way point” towards the 2030 target of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. It is themed “Accelerating Action: Small Business Solutions and the SDGs,” and is to focus on cataloging the progress and ongoing needs of small and

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS); November 2-3, 2023; Lusaka, Zambia

Twice a year, this event convenes to promote collaboration on entrepreneurship as well as issues and opportunities regarding financial technology (fintech) in Africa. Following a pre-event dinner on November 1, the first day will include a

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Impact of Microcredit on Household Consumption and Assets in Nepal;” by Shalik Ram Pokhrel

Dr Pokhrel hypothesized that microcredit is a sustainable tool for poverty reduction, based on the idea that access to microcredit can improve household income and employment opportunities, thus leading to increases in household consumption and asset ownership. The study employed data from

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance in India: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities;” by Mohammad Abu Saleh, Zubair Ahmad

Based on a review of existing literature on microfinance in India, the authors of this study seek to: (1) analyze the size and growth of the domestic microfinance market; (2)

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Green Energy Finance and Gender Disparity: The Case of Mountain Areas in Bangladesh,” by Sakib Bin Amin et al, Published by Copenhagen Business School

The authors of this study conducted a household-level analysis to examine the relationships among electricity access, green finance and gender disparity in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Although access to electricity can