By Barbara Magnoni and Olga Jennifer Powers of EA Consultants, published by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), March 2009, microReport number 150, 54 pages, available at: 

http://collab2.cgap.org//gm/document-1.9.34169/11Will%20the%20Bottom%20of%20the%20Pyramid%20Hit%20Bottom_The%20Effects%20of%20the%20Global%20Credit%20Crisis%20on%20the%20Microfinance%20Sector.pdf

The produced report by USAID provides an assessment on the impact of the financial crisis on the microfinance sector.  The paper provides a framework for assessing the impact of the crisis on the microfinance sector by analyzing the effects on both the liabilities side (access to finance, cost of funding, financial risk) and the asset side (portfolio growth, portfolio risk, portfolio quality) of an MFI’s (Microfinance Institutions) balance sheet in order to determine the extent that MFIs may have been impacted. Continue Reading »

Huot Ieng Thong, President of the Cambodian Microfinance Association, has announced that non-performing loans (NPLs) at Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs) rose again to 2.5 percent from around 1 percent in the first four months of the year.  This compares to less than 1 percent for the same period last year.  MicroCapital recently reported on the rise of Cambodian NPLs above 1 percent and the generally high level of disclosure by Cambodian MFIs.  To read the story click here. Continue Reading »

A new survey of 150 microfinance institutions and investors conducted by Microfinance Insights, an international print magazine published by Intellecap, shows that 85 percent of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 61 Percent of microfinance investors say MFIs should offer more than financial services.  Of the MFIs polled, 79 percent offer “products and services that are consciously seeking to create social impact beyond simple financial inclusion,” including 63 percent that offer community development, 60 percent that seek inclusion of minorities, and 53 percent that offer better employment and labor conditions.  Over 83 percent of the MFIs polled said their primary goal was poverty alleviation and 78 percent stated their main objective was women’s empowerment.  Complete survey results can be found in the May/Jun 2009 issue of Microfinance Insights which can be purchased at www.microfinanceinsights.com/magazine_index.asp. Continue Reading »

Fitch has confirmed a downgrade of VG Microfinance – Invest Nr. 1 GmbH’s senior CDO notes to ‘BB+’ and assigned a Negative Outlook.  According to Fitch, the downgrade of the senior CDO notes is the result of the rating agency’s concern for the political uncertainty and sharp asset deterioration of the Nicaraguan MFI, Asociación de Consultores para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña, Mediana y Microempresa (ACODEP’s) loan book.  ACODEP currently represents 8.8 percent of the portfolio with default risks that have materially increased. Continue Reading »

According to a report in the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror, LB Finance has announced that 40 percent of its disbursements for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 were in microfinance.  The significant portion of its disbursements to microfinance resulted partly from its increased focus on micro-leasing of three-wheeler vehicles and agricultural equipment to the informal economy, as well as an expansion to more remote areas of Sri Lanka where there are limited financial services. Continue Reading »

Source: Microfinance Gateway
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Written by Mosieh U Ahmed, Syed Khairul Islam, Md. Abul Quashem, and Nabil Ahmed, commissioned by the International Labor Organization (ILO), and published by CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance, Case Study No.13, September 2005, 62 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/27889_file_Bangldesh_Health_Good_and_Bad_Practices_No._13.pdf Continue Reading »

Source: PR Newswire
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This article on the Society for Social Services (SSS) Health Microinsurance (HMI) program is the third in a series of MicroCapital case studies on HMI schemes in Bangladesh. Please also refer to Part I on Grameen Kalyan; Part II on the HMI scheme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC MHIB); and Part IV, a wrap-up of the CGAP research paper “Health Microinsurance: A Comparative Study of Three Examples in Bangladesh”. As explained in the Grameen Kalyan article, public health services in Bangladesh are urban-based, elite-biased, and curative-oriented (p.vi), and the World Health Organization (WHO) identified inadequate healthcare financing mechanisms to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving health outcomes of the poor. Continue Reading »

In a recent Forbes article, Michael Chu, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and former CEO of ACCION International, writes that microfinance is a scalable, sustainable model that can provide real hope of winning the war against global poverty, even in the midst of the global economic crisis. Continue Reading »

This article on the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee’s (BRAC) Micro Health Insurance for Poor Rural Women in Bangladesh (MHIB) is the second in a series of MicroCapital case studies on Health Microinsurance (HMI) schemes in Bangladesh.  Please also refer to Part I on Grameen Kalyan; Part III on the Society for Social Services (SSS); and Part IV, a wrap-up of the CGAP research paper “Health Microinsurance: A Comparative Study of Three Examples in Bangladesh”.  The Grameen Kalyan article explained that public health services in Bangladesh are urban-based, elite-biased, and curative-oriented (p.vi), and that the World Health Organization (WHO) identified inadequate healthcare financing mechanisms to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving health outcomes of the poor.

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Richard Rosenberg, Adrian Gonzalez, and Sushma Narain, CGAP’s co-authors, provide an in-depth look to address the question of whether microcredit borrowers are being exploited by unreasonably high interest rates.  CGAP is an independent policy and research center that provides market intelligence and is dedicated to advancing financial access for the world’s poor.  The organization is housed at the World Bank and is supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations.  This paper explores the components of microcredit interest rates in order to provide a framework for borrowers and other microfinance practitioners to determine whether “excessive” MFI lending rates are more than occasional exceptions. Continue Reading »

Source: Forbes
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This article on Grameen Kalyan is the second in a series of MicroCapital case studies on Health Microinsurance (HMI) schemes in Bangladesh.  Please also refer to Part II on the HMI scheme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC MHIB); Part III on the Society for Social Services (SSS); and Part IV, a wrap-up of the CGAP research paper “Health Microinsurance: A Comparative Study of Three Examples in Bangladesh”.

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Sam Daley-Harris, Microcredit Summit Campaign founder is interviewed by the Economic Times of India about how useful microcredit is and his reaction to its criticisms. The full interview can be found here. Continue Reading »

Akhand Tiwari and Michael Chasnow, IFMR Centre for Microfinance’s co-authors, provide an in-depth look at an acquisition in Indian microfinance: Sonata Finance’s purchase of Jeevika Livelihood Support Organization’s microfinance operation in August 2007. The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Centre for Microfinance was established in 2005 with the objective to improve the accessibility and quality of financial services for the poor through research, knowledge dissemination and evidence-based policy for MFIs. This paper explores the acquisition and insights it may have for other microfinance practitioners. Continue Reading »

Source: Business Recorder
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Speaker’s Corner 32: Value Chains for Vulnerable Populations

April 28 – 30, 2009, participate online: http://www.microlinks.org/ev.php?ID=37239_201&ID2=DO_COMMUNITY Continue Reading »