MICROFINANCE EVENT: Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network to Host 10th International Microinsurance Conference, November 11-13, 2014, Mexico City

Event Name: 10th International Microinsurance Conference

Event Date: November 11-13, 2014

Event Location: Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel and Towers, Mexico City,

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Islamic Social Finance, Transforming Client Complaints into Loyalty, Microinsurance Profitability

“Islamic Social Finance Report 2014,” by Thomson Reuters and the Islamic Research and Training Institute, published by Zawya, 2014, 64 pages, available at: http://www.zawya.com/islamic-finance/isfr/

This report examines opportunities and challenges for Islamic social finance in Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore.

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Responsible Equity Exits in Microfinance; Greenfield Microfinance Models in Africa; Mobile Financial Services Usage Among Rural Women in India, Philippines

“The Art of the Responsible Exit in Microfinance Equity Sales;” by Daniel Rozas, Deborah Drake, Estelle Lahaye, Katharine McKee and Danielle Piskadlo; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); April 2014; 32 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Forum-Art-of-the-Responsible-Exit-April-2014.pdf

This paper explores how microfinance investment intermediaries (MIIs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) can exit responsibly from microfinance institutions (MFIs) in which they have invested equity as well as how investors can contribute to healthy development of the overall market. The authors conducted six case studies and interviewed representatives from MIIs, nongovernmental organizations, DFIs, MFIs and merger-and-acquisition specialists.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: International Conference of Social and Solidarity Finance, May 8-9, 2014, Bochum, Germany

Event  Name: International Conference of Social and Solidarity Finance

Event Date: May 8-9, 2014

Event Location: GLS Bank (Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken eG), Bochum, Germany

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mobile Money and Digital Payments Africa Conference and Workshop, May 20-22, 2014, Johannesburg, South Africa

Event Name: Mobile Money and Digital Payments Africa

Event Date: May 20-22, 2014

Event Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mutual-Aid Credit Cooperative for Private Farmers of Bulgaria Among Finalists for $69k 6th Giordano Dell’Amore Microfinance Good Practices Europe Awards

Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, an Italian foundation that supports microfinance, in partnership with the European Microfinance Network (EMN), a Belgium-based nonprofit organization, recently announced three finalists for the Sixth Annual Giordano Dell’Amore Microfinance Good Practices Europe Award, a series that recognizes initiatives that promote financial inclusion as a tool for development. 

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Saving for Change Reaches 85k Members in Cambodia, 680k Worldwide

Saving for Change (SfC), a saving-group initiative that was established in 2005 by nonprofit organizations Oxfam America, Freedom from Hunger and the Stromme Foundation, has grown to serve approximately 85,000 women in Cambodia as of March 2014 since its launch in that country in 2011.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United Nations, Smart Communications, Land Bank of Philippines Use Mobile Money in Recovery from Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in partnership with Smart Communications Incorporated (Smart), a Philippines-based telecommunications company, and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), a government bank specializing in serving farmers and fishermen, reportedly have commenced using mobile money to facilitate wage payments under UNDP’s “cash-for-work ” program that was launched for the 12 month period beginning in November 2013 in areas of the Philippines struck by typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Student Microfinance Movement Accepting Entries for Competitions to Raise Awareness of Microfinance

The Student Microfinance Movement, a US-based network of student organizations, through a partnership with US-based financial institution Citi and US-based nonprofit organizations AboutMicrofinance and Kiva U, is accepting entries for its student microfinance essay and video competitions, which are aimed at raising awareness of the impact of microfinance on poverty and gender inequality.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fish Farming Project in Nepal Wins Social Venture Challenge at Seventh Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

The “Sustainable Fish Farming Project”, proposed to provide 500 families in the Baseri village of Nepal with funding to start fish farms, recently won a grant of USD 7,500 from the Resolution Project Social Venture Challenge, a competition among aspiring entrepreneurs who attended the seventh annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting at the US-based Arizona State University, Phoenix [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Lends $4m to Arvand of Tajikistan, Bina Artha Ventura of Indonesia, Thaneakea Phum of Cambodia

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced the disbursement of the first tranche of a 54-month loan of EUR 1.04 million (USD 1.43 million) to Arvand, a financial institution that provides microcredit to low-income individuals in Tajikistan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Investments Lends $4m to Opportunity International Bank of Malawi

ResponsAbility Investments AG, a Swiss-based investor in microfinance and other sectors, recently announced the disbursement of a loan of USD 4 million to Opportunity International Bank of Malawi Limited (Opportunity Malawi), a member of the US-based Opportunity International network.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Receives Innovation Grant from GSMA’s mWomen

The Global Systems for Mobile Association (GSMA), a London-based association of 1,000 mobile operators and associated companies, recently announced that its mWomen programme has awarded the Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization, its Innovation Fund grant of an undisclosed amount.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branchless Banking Transactions in Pakistan Quintuple in Value to $8b

According to a report entitled “Access to Finance in Pakistan” that was recently published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central bank, the total value of branchless banking (BB) transactions in Pakistan during 2013 increased by PKY 651 billion (USD 6.73 billion) over the previous year, reaching PKY 802 billion (USD 8.29 billion).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Lends $220k to PAIDEK of the Democratic Republic of Congo, $210k to COOPEC SIFA of Togo

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced the disbursement of the first tranche of a 30-month, USD 220,000 loan to Programme D’Appui aux Initiatives de Developpement Economique du Kivu (PAIDEK), a microfinance institution (MFI) that lends to microenterprises in the region of Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.