responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling the equivalent of USD 2.5 million in microfinance institutions Asian Credit Fund LLP of Kazakhstan, Bank Eskhata (Eskhata) of Tajikistan and XacLeasing, a sister company of Mongolian microfinance institution XacBank [1].
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB’s Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) Annual Report Covers Partnership with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu
The Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI), an initiative established in 2006 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), recently outlined in its annual report its efforts to “encourage private sector led sustainable economic growth” in developing countries in the Pacific by “improving access to financial services, updating business laws and upgrading the delivery of services by state-owned enterprises (SOEs).”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Labour Organization (ILO) Backs Crop, Life, Property Microinsurance Scheme in Bolivia
The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, is reportedly supporting a pilot microinsurance scheme in the Tarija region of southern Bolivia with unnamed local partners to provide insurance against loss of food crops, life and property.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India Attempt to Raise Funds Using “Crowd Sourcing”
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India have increasingly been exploring “crowd sourcing” to raise funds since traditional sources of funding such as banks and private equity houses have significantly decreased their investments following the “microfinance crisis” that began in 2010 in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dr Muhammad Yunus Advises Nigeria’s Microfinance Banks to “Look At Conventional Banking And Do It the Opposite Way”
Dr Muhammad Yunus, the founder and former chairman of Bangladeshi microfinance institution (MFI) Grameen Bank, recently offered guidance to the leaders of Nigeria’s microfinance banks (MFBs) relating to social mission, capital structure and interest rates.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions Releases Client Survey Data from “Competition and the Role of External Agents: The 2009 Delinquency Crisis in Southern Karnataka” by CGAP, EDA Rural Systems
The Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions (AKMI), a community development organization in the rural Indian state of Karnataka, recently made public the client survey data from “Competition and the Role of External Agents: The 2009 delinquency crisis in southern Karnataka,” a study released in 2010 that was conducted by US-based nonprofit CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and EDA Rural Systems, an India-based research and capacity building organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vijay Mahajan of Microfinance Firm BASIX Says Firm to Explore Foreign Investors if Domestic Banks Refuse to Lend
Mr Vijay Mahajan, chairman of BASIX Group, an Indian company whose holdings include two microfinance institutions (MFIs), has reportedly announced that if the company does not get a capital infusion of INR 450 crores (USD 98 million) by end of September from domestic sources, it will have to explore partnering with foreign investors [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Filipino Rural Banks Prepare for Capital Injection from Foreign Investors
Rural banks in the Philippines are preparing for the possible entry of foreign investors into the rural banking market following the passage of a bill that would allow such banks to sell stakes as large as 40 percent to foreign interests.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Development Institute Releases “Bangladesh Microfinance Review,” Indicates Need for Product Diversity
The BRAC Development Institute (BDI) set up by the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), a Bangladesh-based development organization, recently released “Bangladesh Microfinance Review, August 2011” and concluded that “while the sector has achieved operational efficiency, it needs to diversify its products in order to serve unmet demand for credit.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) Establishes Trust Fund to Provide Funds to Member Microfinance Banks (MFBs)
According to a recent story in the Nigeria-based newspaper This DayLive, the Lagos chapter of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), a trade group of microfinance banks (MFBs) in Nigeria, has established the “NAMBLAG Trust Fund.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chuck Waterfield of MFTransparency Explores Ideas to Make Microfinance Prices More Transparent
Mr Chuck Waterfield, founder and CEO of MFTransparency (MFT), a US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that collects and publishes information on microcredit products and pricing, recently contributed to the CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) blog to suggest ideas for regulations that could encourage more transparent pricing in microfinance [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit in Colombia Continues to Grow at a Steady Rate, Driven By Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises (MSEs)
According to a report published by Visión Económica, a Colombian economic research institute, the value of microcredit disbursements in the country has risen from COP 2.29 billion (USD 1.12 million) in 2007 to COP 3.5 billion (USD 1.74 million) in 2011, at an annual growth rate of 15 percent. From 2007 to 2010, the number of borrowers grew from 1.68 million to 2.47 million, and it is expected that another 1 million people will become microcredit users by 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SKS Microfinance Scaling Up Non-Core Businesses of Financing Grocery Stores, Gold Lending
SKS Microfinance is reportedly scaling up its non-core businesses of financing Samgam stores, which are retail grocery stores owned by poor women, and increasing its gold lending operations in efforts to diversify its revenue stream.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Brazil Publishes “Inclusão Financeira” Calling for Increased Financial Inclusion, Urging Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to Boost Transparency, Product Innovation, Financial Education
In a recent report, “Inclusão Financeira,” the Central Bank of Brazil presents the bank’s financial inclusion initiative, which aims for improvements in governance, transparency, regulation, credit, technology, distribution channels and product diversity [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Survey by National Partnership of Microfinance Market Participants, Russian Microfinance Center Indicate Russian Microfinance Market Grew 13% During First Quarter of 2011
A joint survey conducted by two Russian associations of microfinance stakeholders, the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Participants and the Russian Microfinance Center indicates that non-banking microfinance institutions (MFIs) posted improvements in nearly all primary financial indicators during the first quarter of 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinsurance Network Report, “Commercial Insurers in Microinsurance,” Examines Trends, Challenges, Long-term Perspectives of Commercial Companies
Microinsurance Network, a member-based organization that works to advance insurance in poor countries, recently released its report, “Commercial Insurers in Microinsurance,” that examines the incentives and long-term prospects for the involvement of commercial companies in microinsurance [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU’) “2010 Statistical Report” Announces 12% Increase in Credit Union Deposit Holdings, 10% Increase in Reserves
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based membership organization representing 41 national-level credit union member trade groups, recently released its “2010 Statistical Report,” which is based on data from credit unions from 100 countries and reports a 12-percent increase in aggregate credit union savings from USD 1.1 trillion in 2009 to USD 1.23 trillion in 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Forbes, Nicole Skibola Explores Opportunities, Challenges for Insurance Industry in offering Microinsurance
Nicole Skibola, of Australian-US firm Apricot Consulting, recently published an article on the website of US-based Forbes magazine, discussing how some insurance companies are “reconfiguring the value chain to create shared social and economic values” through offering microinsurance to underserved consumers [1].