The World Bank Group and the German government intend to launch a 600 million USD “Microfinance Enhancement Facility,” according to a report from the New York Times. The fund aims to support microfinance institutions in developing countries facing difficulties as a result of wholesale credit tightening stemming from the recent turmoil in global capital markets.
Search Results for: microfinance financial crisis
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Lessons for Microfinance From the U.S. Subprime Financial Crisis
LESSONS FOR MICROFINANCE FROM THE U.S. SUBPRIME FINANCIAL CRISIS
FEBRUARY 4, 2009, 4: 30PM
LECRAW AUDITORIUM, GEORGIA TECH COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, 800 WEST PEACHTREE STREET NW, ATLANTA, GA, 30308
PAPER WRAP-UP: Fitch Ratings Report: Microfinance – Testing its Resilience to the Global Financial Crisis by Sandra Hamilton
Written by a team of Fitch Ratings analysts led by Sandra Hamilton, “Microfinance Sector – Testing its Resilience to the Global Financial Crisis, (January 22, 2009),” is a follow up to Fitch’s June 2008 report, “The Microfinance Sector: its Success Could be its Biggest Risk.” The report looks at the extent to which MFIs are immune to, or insulated from, the global financial crisis. The June 2008 report highlighted the growing integration of the microfinance industry into the global financial system. Fitch finds evidence of a positive relationship between the size and level of integration of an MFI and the impact that the financial crisis is having on its business plan, performance, and asset quality. Fitch outlines the dual impact that the crisis will have on MFIs: a funding or liquidity impact and an economic impact.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Still Hums, Despite Global Financial Crisis, by Jeremy Caplan
Ms. Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO of Women’s World Banking, a global network of 54 microfinance institutions and banks in 30 countries, spoke to Time magazine’s reporter Jeremy Caplan regarding the impact of the recent financial crisis on the microfinance industry. The conversation also addressed other key trends and challenges for microfinance. The article was published in Time during December, 2008. The full text is available at: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1863443,00.html
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Philippines Government Creates Microfinance Initiatives to Assist Large Numbers of “Financial Crisis Affected” Overseas Filipino Workers
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines, the People’s Credit and Finance Corp., and a representative from Pasig City signed a memorandum of agreement to grant loans of P20 million (USD 422 thousand) to overseas Filipino workers and their families who are also residents of Pasig City. The funds will come from the DFA’s savings. Applicants must apply to their district office and, if they meet the requirements, will be “endorsed” by the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation to their accredited microfinance institutions. While the MFIs will eventually lend them the funds and collect payments for the loan, specific implementing rules and regulations that have not yet been formulated will be designed for this initiative.
PRESS RELEASE: Second SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund Collects more than $171m Despite Financial Crisis
Source: SNS Asset Management.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Panel Discussion: Microfinance in the Wake of the Current Financial Crisis
THE FUTURE OF MICROFINANCE IN THE WAKE OF THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications
NOVEMBER 18 TO 20, 2008, INTERNET CONFERENCE HOSTED BY CGAP
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) will host a three-day virtual conference entitled “The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications.” CGAP hopes that virtual participants will share their experiences and insights on the financial crisis and its effects on microfinance and the global poor, and that the discussion will involve all types of microfinance players—microfinance institutions (MFIs), clients, and donors and investors.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: CGAP Virtual Conference: The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Experience, Insights, and Implications (November 18-20, 2008)
Join Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and industry experts at a Virtual Conference to discuss the impact of the financial crisis on microfinance and poor people.
Over the course of three days (November 18-20), participants will share their experiences and insights and discuss how to respond to upcoming challenges. The Virtual Conference will focus on microfinance institutions and their clients, and on donors and investors.
To register for this conference, please click here, or copy and paste the following URL in a new browser window: http://nutshellurl.com/24c.
For further information on CGAP click here.
To visit the event website visit here.
MICROCAPITAL EXCERPT: Blogger Chronicles Effect of Financial Crisis on Indian Microfinance Institution’s Interest-Rates and Customer Service
Posted by Michael Chasnow at 1:55pm on Sunday, October 12, 2008, available at: http://www.indiadevelopmentblog.com/
The following is an anecdote detailing the effect of the financial crisis on the business operations of one Indian microfinance institution (MFI). Michael Chasnow does not provide any identifying information on the MFI, but the story is an interesting counter-balance to the claims of Yunus and Clinton on the balmy, if not ameliorative, effect of the credit crisis on microfinance. For more information, please see Microcapitol’s recent coverage of the crisis’ effect on microfinance and Jerry Peloquin’s recent guest editorial on the credit crunch and socially responsible investment.
NEWS WIRE: Muhammad Yunus on the Financial Crisis: The microfinance pioneer, of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, advocates a free market solution, not government takeovers
Source: Business Week.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Global Financial Crisis And Microfinance
As financial markets struggle internationally, some microfinance institutions (MFIs) have begun to see downstream effects in the form of rising lending rates. Royston Braganza, chief executive officer of Grameen Capital India observed “the demand for funds is high because microfinanciers have drawn up aggressive growth plans” and “the cost of funds remains a concern due to the 2 percent increase in just the last quarter.” These factors could make fundraising very difficult for microfinance institutions in cases where they have not built up proper reserves according to K. Vinod Kumar, Assistant Vice-President of member services at SKS Microfinance.
SPECIAL REPORT: Fortune Credit of Kenya, Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala, Yikri of Burkina Faso Are Finalists for European Microfinance Award 2023 on Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On September 19 and September 20, 2023, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award (EMA) 2023 on “Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition” selected the three finalists that will go on to compete for the prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 105,000): Fortune Credit Limited from Kenya, Fundación Génesis Empresarial from Guatemala and Yikri from Burkina Faso.
The choice of topic for the EMA2023 comes at a
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Land Titling and Microcredit in Cambodia: Examining the Reality of Hernando de Soto’s ‘Three Steps to Heaven,’” by Milford Bateman
In this paper, Dr Bateman examines the Cambodian microcredit industry and argues against prior claims that increases in land titling lead to access to credit that enables poor landowners to increase their incomes. The results are based on
MICROFINANCE EVENT: European Microfinance Network (EMN) Annual Conference; June 14-16, 2023; Paris, France
Themed “Economy for the People,” the 20th annual iteration of this event will focus on financial inclusion and social entrepreneurship. The agenda will include topics such as: (1) crisis management for entrepreneurs; (2) the needs of
SPECIAL REPORT: Christoph Pausch on the European Microfinance Award 2023 – Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
MicroCapital: Why was “Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition” chosen as the topic of this, the 14th edition of the European Microfinance Award?
Christoph Pausch: For a long time, it looked like progress in this field would be positive and continuous. But a combination of factors – among them climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the global inflationary context – means that progress in food security and nutrition may have stalled, or in fact reversed. According to the World Food Programme, “Conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertiliser prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions.” And the Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the number of people affected by hunger has grown by 150 million since the onset of the pandemic. But the problem is not only one of hunger – lack of access to sufficient food – it’s also one of insufficient quality, meaning poor nutrition, and lack of access to the micronutrients necessary for good health, all compounded by the stress of uncertain supply. There may be 2 billion people worldwide in this category.
There are many sectors that have to play roles in addressing food security and nutrition. And because the people most vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition are largely those who are low-income, living in low-income countries and financially excluded, there is a vital role for the financial inclusion
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Driving Financial Resilience Through Formal Savings Among the Low-Income Population,” by Laura Courbois et al, Published by World Savings and Retail Banking Institute
This paper explores the extent to which saving through the Scale2Save program allows customers to increase their financial resilience. Two NGOs, the Canada-based Mastercard Foundation and the Belgium-based World Savings and Retail Banking Institute, created
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Agri-SME Finance: Navigating Volatility in the Wake of the War in Ukraine;” Published by IFAD, IFC, SAFIN
The authors describe the recent turmoil in global food markets and the resulting “worst food crisis in generations.” The war in Ukraine has had a major impact on markets in Russia and Ukraine, which together previously produced a quarter of the wheat and most of the sunflower oil sold worldwide. Meanwhile, increases in