This first conference by l’Afrique Numérique Limited is intended to address telecommunications, payments, e-government and other digital solutions in French-speaking Africa as well as to encourage integration between English-speaking and French-speaking African countries by bringing together public and private entities from across Africa and other parts of the world.
Category: Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lending Microloan Foundation (MLF) $292k in Local Currency for Microfinance in Rural Malawi
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently granted a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 292,000 to the UK-based Microloan Foundation (MLF) to support its work in Malawi. MLF offers
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Market Systems Symposium; April 8 – 11, 2019; Cape Town, South Africa
The annual Market Systems Symposium will focus on “inspiration, capacity building, and connections you need to strengthen and transform your market systems development practice.” The mission of the organizer, EcoVentures International, is to support “micro and small enterprises
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Access Bank Buying Diamond Bank to Reach Total of 12m Customers
Nigeria-based Access Bank recently agreed to purchase Nigeria’s Diamond Bank for cash totaling NGN 72.5 billion (USD 199 million) plus stock in Access Bank. Diamond Bank shareholders will receive the equivalent of NGN 3.13 per share
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State of Ondo, Nigeria, to Provide $1.5m in Subsidized Loans to Individuals, Groups, Cooperatives Under Apalara Micro-Credit Loan Scheme, Mostly to Benefit Women
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Nigeria, recently announced the launch of the Apalara Micro-Credit Scheme, which is intended to reduce poverty among people with low incomes. The scheme involves the distribution of NGN
SPECIAL REPORT: Using SAM to Align Financing Needs, Social Impact in Mozambique
When 
Francisco Cuamba, the Finance Director of Mozambique’s Microbanco Confianca (pictured at left), came to Luxembourg for European Microfinance Week in November, he was very pleased to win a free registration to the 2019 SAM, which will be held in late October in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Reflecting on the 2017 SAM in Ethiopia, he said, “My participation in SAM was an extremely important opportunity to meet different organizations from all over the world to share different experiences and meet some investors to which to present my organization…. The type of investors we sign should be social investors that are not only concerned with the profitability of the investment, but also our extensive involvement in the development of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $9m to Microfinance Institution Letshego Kenya
Letshego Kenya, a microlending unit of Botswana-based Letshego Holdings Limited, recently borrowed USD 9 million from Germany-based Invest in Visions’ (IIV’s) IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, a microfinance investment vehicle that lends to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. IIV Mikrofinanzfonds loaned additional amounts – denominated in a mix of euros and US dollars – totaling the equivalent of
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Arab #FinTex Symposium; December 12-13, 2018; Abu Dhabi, UAE
The Arab #FinTex Symposium 2018 will address how financial technology (fintech) solutions such as blockchain mechanisms can increase financial inclusion and economic development in the Arab region. This event, presented by the Financial Inclusion for the Arab Region Initiative (FIARI), is co-hosted by the Central Bank of the UAE, the UAE-based Arab Monetary Fund, Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Malaysia-based Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the World Bank. The plenary topics include (1) Blockchain & Crypto-assets Benchmarking – Opportunities & Challenges for Financial Inclusion; (2) Digital Identity; (3) The Blockchain – Hype vs. Reality for Digital Financial Transformation?; and (4) RegTech & SupTech Opportunities to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Egypt Launching Program to Measure, Increase Financial Inclusion
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is launching a program titled “Strengthening Financial Coverage, Censorship and Supervision of Banks in Egypt” with the intent of: (1) measuring the extent of financial inclusion in the country;
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Orange, MTN to Launch Mobile Wallet Mowali, Offering Interoperability With Other Mobile Money Services Across Africa
Two telecommunications companies, France-based Orange Group and South Africa-based MTN Group, are partnering to create Mowali, a mobile wallet allowing people to send payments to individuals and merchants
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Barclays, Jumo, MTN MoMo Partner on Mobile Savings in Zambia
Barclays Bank Zambia, a unit of the South Africa-based Absa Group; mobile telephone network operator Mobile Money, which is also known as MTN MoMo and is a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN Group; and Mauritius-based financial technology firm Jumo World Limited recently announced the launch of a mobile savings product
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Symposium; January 22 – 24, 2019; Cairo, Egypt
Session titles at the 2019 Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Symposium include: Data Privacy in Digital Finance, Policy Considerations Relevant to Digital ID in Finance, and Data Analysis to Understand the Reach of Digital Financial Services. Speakers will also address
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vision Microfinance Fund of C-Quadrat Lends to MFI in Madagascar
A unit of Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment, C-Quadrat Asset Management, recently told MicroCapital it has disbursed a loan from its Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund to an unidentified microfinance institution (MFI) Madagascar. The MFI was founded in 2006 and serves micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises with the dual goals of improving clients’ standard of living and developing
SPECIAL REPORT: Despite a “Solid” Willingness to Invest in Microinsurance, a “Terrifying” Lack of Coverage
On 
the last day of European Microfinance Week, Katharine Pulvermacher of the Luxembourg-based Microinsurance Network led a discussion on insuring people with daily incomes of USD 2 to USD 20. Those with lower incomes, she argued, will have to be covered by government safety nets.
Anup Singh of India-based consultancy MicroSave described the path to success in microinsurance as
SPECIAL REPORT: 15k Refugees in Uganda Receive Assistance via AirTel Mobile Money, Cutting Delivery Costs by 47%, Boosting Speed by 42%, Reducing “Money Truck” Problems: UNCDF Reports at European Microfinance Week
At this month’s European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg, Pamela Eser of the UN Capital Development Fund described her team’s rollout of mobile money to 15,000 refugees in Uganda and 1,800 in Zambia. Most refugees in these countries lack mobile phones, and very few of the participants had
SPECIAL REPORT: Growing Enterprises in Kenya from Micro- to Small to Medium-sized, With Help from SAM
Since 
ECLOF Kenya opened its doors in 1994, more and more of its clients – mostly group borrowers in rural areas – have been growing their businesses beyond the bounds of “micro.” Mary Munyiri, the CEO of the MFI, knew her organization had to find a way to grow with them. When she attended SAM in 2017, she benefitted from sessions on topics such as “Challenges Facing Actors Financing SMEs” and “Key Players of SME Growth: Incubators, Accelerators and Business Angels.”
Ms Munyiri says, “During SAM, my understanding was enhanced regarding the fact that
SPECIAL REPORT: RUFI Crosses Border with Refugees from South Sudan, Opens Doors in Uganda; Breaking MFIs’ Stereotypes About Victims of Conflict – Insights from European Microfinance Week
Friday at European Microfinance Week, Resi Janssen of Dutch NGO Cordaid described her institution’s Rural Finance Initiative (RUFI), which had been working in South Sudan when violence in 2016 caused most of its clients to flee to Uganda. With no license to accept deposits in Uganda, RUFI became an agent of Centenary Bank so it could continue to provide savings and other services to its customers – albeit in a different country – at a time of great need.
Not long after relocating, some of RUFI’s customers started asking how they could keep their children from being recruited as fighters. RUFI secured
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $113k to Société Sénégalaise des Filières Alimentaires (SFA) for Rice-storage Facility in Senegal
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently issued a loan of EUR 100,000 (USD 113,000) to Société Sénégalaise des Filières Alimentaires (SFA) to finance a rice storage facility. SFA buys rice from 1,500 farmers in the Senegal River Valley; processes it into