The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance data clearinghouse, recently argued that microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world have increased their commitment to transparency in social performance based on a surge in applications to the MIX’s 2010 Social Performance Reporting Awards, which acknowledge openness in reporting.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Microfinance Forum Geneva Hosts Debate on Corporate Governance as it Relates to Managing Crises in Microfinance
The World Microfinance Forum Geneva recently hosted a debate on issues related to corporate governance and its importance in managing crises in microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Center for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (MFC) Implements “Debt Management” Training in Poland
The Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, an international network of approximately 100 microfinance institutions (MFIs), and the Polish Partnership for Financial Education, which is a program of MFC’s Partnership for Financial Education for Vulnerable Adults (FEVA), have introduced a training module for low-income families in Poland entitled “Debt Management.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Institute for Financial Management Research Mezzanine Finance Private Limited (IFMR Mezz) Provides $221k in Subordinated Debt to Saija Finance Private Limited
The Institute for Financial Management Research (IFMR) Mezzanine Finance Private Limited (IFMR Mezz), a microfinance investment arm of the nonprofit IFMR, has provided funds worth INR 10 million (approximately USD 221,000) to Saija Finance Private Limited, a non-banking finance company providing microfinance services in northern India, in the form of unsecured, subordinated debt.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States Concludes Meeting on Financial Education Program (FEP) for Low-Income Households in Uzbekistan
The Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, an international network of approximately 100 microfinance institutions (MFIs), has concluded the second meeting of a policy working group for its Financial Education Program (FEP) for Low-Income Households in Uzbekistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Intellecap Publishes White Paper Analyzing Events Leading Up to Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Lending Crisis and State, Media Responses to the Crisis
Intellecap, a social-sector advisory firm with offices in India and the US, has released a white paper analyzing the events leading up to the ongoing microfinance lending crisis in Andhra Pradesh, a state on the southeastern coast of India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Makes Debt Investments Worth $5m in Contactar of Colombia, FODEMI of Ecuador, FINCA Mexico and Edpyme Raiz of Peru
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it made five investments totaling USD 5.3 million in four microfinance institutions (MFI) in Mexico and South America.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Makes Debt Investments Totaling $6m in Microfinance Institutions Credo and Constanta of Georgia and Kompanion of the Kyrgyz Republic
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it made five debt investments totaling USD 6 million in three microfinance institutions in Central Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Muthoot Fincorp, ACCION International Join to Increase Microfinance Lending in India
Muthoot Fincorp, a finance company serving retail and institutional customers in India, and ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit with affiliated microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 23 countries, have joined together in an effort to increase lending in India’s microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Take Action! Impact Investing Conference Series, San Francisco, USA, March 14-16, 2011
Event Name: Take Action! Impact Investing Conference Series
Event Date: March 14 – March 16, 2011
Event Location: Sofitel Hotel, San Francisco, California, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Azerbaijan’s Postal Operator to Offer Microcredit Starting in 2011
Azerpoct Limited, the national postal operator of Azerbaijan, announced that it will begin offering microcredit services in 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network Publishes Proceedings of 6th International Microinsurance Conference in Manila, Philippines
The proceedings of the 6th International Microinsurance Conference that took place on November 9-11, 2010, in Manila, Philippines, have been published by its organizers, the Munich Re Foundation, a nonprofit founded by German reinsurer Munich Re, and the Microinsurance Network, a for-profit organization that promotes the development of microinsurance products through information sharing and stakeholder organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance to Offer Health, Savings, Harvest Insurance to Rural Poor in Tanzania through First Microinsurance Agency Tanzania
The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), a nonprofit international development agency based in Switzerland, will expand its insurance products for poor people in Tanzania to cover loans and agriculture in addition to health.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Pledges $500m to Expand Microsavings Over the Next 5 Years Including Grants To World Savings Bank Institute (WSBI), Vodacom Tanzania, ShoreBank International, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), World Bank and Yale University/Innovations for Poverty Action
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the US, has pledged USD 500 million over the next five years to expand savings and build a “new financial infrastructure” to bring savings services to the poor.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments Provides Debt Financing Worth $2.7m to Microfinance Institutions Opportunity Albania and FINCA Russia
responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that in November 2010 it made four debt investments in microfinance institutions Opportunity Albania and FINCA Russia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and Federacion Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Credito (FENACOAC) of Guatemala Partner to Launch Savings Guarantee Fund
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based global trade association for credit unions, and the Federacion Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Credito (FENACOAC), an association of credit unions and cooperatives in Guatemala, have partnered to launch Mi Cooperativa (MICOOPE) Savings Guarantee Fund, a private deposit insurance institution aiming to serve FENACOAC holders of savings and share accounts in Guatemala.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microfinance Latin América 2011, Lima, Peru, January 25-27, 2011
Event Name: Microfinance Latin América 2011
Event Date: January 25 – January 27, 2011
Event Location: Novotel, Lima, Peru
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Loans $2.5m to Microfinance Institutions Prasac, Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) of Cambodia
BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, recently reported to MicroCapital the following two loans it made to Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs):