The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned USD 100 million to the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Egypt, which provides Islamic and traditional financial services to consumers and corporations in Egypt. The loan will allow NBK Egypt to boost its short-term lending to businesses that are experiencing
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Genie Enables 14m Bank of Ceylon Customers to Upload Funds for Digital Payments to Retailers, Utilities, Schools, Friends, Family in Sri Lanka
The operators of Genie, an app for performing financial transactions in Sri Lanka, recently partnered with the state-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to allow the 14 million customers of BOC to upload funds to Genie, which can “securely hold credit and debit cards, current and savings accounts and eZ Cash accounts to promote seamless payment experiences.” Genie and the mobile wallet eZ Cash are
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “2020 Annual Impact Investor Survey,” by Dean Hand et al, published by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)
The 10th edition of this survey includes responses from 294 impact investors, those that seek to “generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.” From the data the authors have collected, they reach the following conclusions:
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: (Accidental) Loans to Farmers Keep Food on the Table
Barbara Magnoni, President of EA Consultants, discusses her column in the May 2020 issue of the MicroCapital Monitor on what the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can teach us about the role of agricultural lending in a diversified portfolio.
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sudan Establishing Digital Transformation Agency to Promote E-payments, Financial Inclusion; Joins UNCDF’s Better Than Cash Alliance
The Republic of Sudan recently joined the Better Than Cash Alliance, an initiative of the UN Capital Development Fund, as part of its effort to expedite the country’s transition to the use of digital payments. This effort is a major element of Sudan’s economic reform
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Raises $7.8m for Pan Asia Bank of Sri Lanka in Sale of “Green Bonds” to Investors Including SEB
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based manager of international investments in small business, recently issued a four-year loan of LKR 1.42 billion (USD 7.75 million) to Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation for on-lending to projects with reduced effects on the environment in sectors such as energy and agriculture. Symbiotics raised the money through an issue of “green” bonds. Of the bond buyers,
SPECIAL REPORT: Digital Education: Up-skill Yourself for Life After COVID-19
As the world continues its fight against COVID-19, we are all beginning to wonder just what “normal” life may look like in a post-pandemic world. For education, the disease has acted as a catalyst for online learning, with even grade-school teachers and students grappling with lessons delivered virtually.
The ability to study at one’s own pace, whenever, wherever and however one desires, makes online learning hugely accessible for most, especially in a time when direct interaction is not an option. That said, it must be noted that the benefits of classroom training have not been completely superseded – it is hard to imagine a world where the value of learning through direct human interaction becomes obsolete.
The progressive way: Blended learning
With this in mind, the FS Sustainable World Academy is delighted to unveil brand-new diplomas in Financial Inclusion and Green Finance. These 12-month blended learning programmes combine the benefits of online learning with classroom training, allowing participants to develop their skills beyond what they can learn in our standalone Certified Expert courses.
The new programmes allow participants to create their own
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zola, EDF Harness Securitization to Expand Solar Energy in Côte d’Ivoire with Support from Credit Agricole CIB, Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, Societe Generale, AfDB
Credit Agricole CIB (Corporate and Investment Bank), a member of the France-based Credit Agricole Group; the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation; and French investment firm NEoT Off-Grid Africa recently launched a securitization vehicle to enable Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire to increase its sales of solar power systems to households that are not connected to traditional power grids. Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire, which uses a
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Increasing Financial Inclusion in the Muslim World: Evidence from an Islamic Finance Marketing Experiment;” by Dean Karlan, Adam Osman, Nour Shammout; published by the World Bank Group
In spite of the growth of the Islamic finance sector, which promotes loans, insurance and other services that comply with the religious laws known as shariah, financial inclusion rates in predominantly Muslim countries remain low. In collaboration with Tamweelcom, a microcredit institution in Jordan, the authors analyze how the following factors influence people’s decisions to borrow:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Good Return, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) to Support Women’s SMEs in Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Samoa with Credit Guarantees, Technical Assistance
Good Return, the Australia-based affiliate of the US-based NGO World Education, recently partnered with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to support women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a credit guarantee scheme in Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal and Samoa. Under the program, “International impact investors will be providing the funds to be guaranteed to partner financial institutions” in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans $2m to Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) of South Africa from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF)
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management recently disbursed a loan of USD 2 million to the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), a microlender in South Africa, from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF). According to Kevin Kamemba, Incofin’s Regional Director for Africa, “SEF has enabled thousands of vulnerable women in South Africa to sustainably
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Axis, Innpact Launch MIFGA to Facilitate Creation, Management of Impact Investment Funds in Africa
The financial-services groups Axis Fiduciary, which is based in Mauritius, and Innpact, which is based in Luxembourg, recently launched the Mauritius Impact Finance Gateway to Africa (MIFGA) platform to serve as “turnkey fund management solution” for impact investment vehicles, which Innpact defines as “funds that facilitate investments to drive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.” The intent of MIFGA is to solve “challenges typically faced by new impact funds:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Network Gojo Takes $14m Equity Stake in Satya Microcapital of India
Japanese microfinance holding firm Gojo and Company recently increased its minority equity holding in New Delhi-based Satya Microcapital with a share purchase in the amount of INR 1.05 billion (USD 13.9 million). Satya plans to use the capital to expand its work with migrant laborers and other poor people to create and preserve jobs, especially to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Satya CEO Vivek Tiwari said, “the capital infusion will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Approves $1b for Health, Food Security, Financial Services, Small Business
The government-backed US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently approved the disbursal of a total of USD 1 billion to 12 projects in emerging markets in Africa, Latin America and the Indo-Pacific region that seek to strengthen health systems; food security; employment opportunities; technology; education; and access to financial services for women, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and other underserved groups. Sixty percent of the funding is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Technical Assistance Facility, Egyptian Credit Bureau I-Score Seek to Boost Finance for Farmers; Agricultural Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt
The Sanad Technical Assistance Facility, which is affiliated with the Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), has collaborated with the Egyptian Credit Bureau, also known as I-Score, to build an agricultural credit evaluation and risk assessment system (ACERS). I-Score will implement this “web-based credit assessment and scoring tool,” with the goal of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Impact of COVID-19 to MFIs in Indonesia: A Rapid Assessment,” published by Rise Research and Training
The authors of this paper conducted a “rapid assessment” of microfinance institutions (MFIs) that operate in ten provinces of Indonesia to: (1) identify key challenges that MFIs face due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (2) define support mechanisms to sustain their business operations. The data is based on a survey of
SPECIAL REPORT: COVID-19 Edition of Financial Inclusion Compass Survey Launches – Looking at Challenges and Priorities of a Sector Under Threat – An Invitation to Participate
From 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): e-MFP has launched the third e-MFP survey of financial inclusion trends, but as a special edition focused solely on the challenges and priorities facing the sector as a result of the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. Several months into this global crisis, with its critical threat to vulnerable populations, financial inclusion providers and the entire ecosystem that supports them, the scale of the challenges ahead is becoming increasingly clear, and stakeholders can think not just about the immediate effects, but their priorities in the medium term as the sector recovers from this and puts in place measures to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Approves $4b “Rapid Response Liquidity Facility” for Microfinance, Other Ongoing Projects Impacted by COVID-19
The government-backed US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently allocated USD 4 billion to a “Rapid Response Liquidity Facility,” through which it will provide additional funding to in-process DFC projects that have been impacted by COVID-19. This financing will go to a range of current DFC clients, including microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are struggling to collect retail loan repayments, infrastructure projects experiencing delays, and hospitality businesses that have experienced “precipitous revenue losses.” The intent is