FINCA Microfinance Bank Limited, the Nigerian affiliate of the US-based Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International), is serving 20,700 customers via 20 agents in the state of Imo.
Category: Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity Awards $3m to Ibero Uganda, First Access, Letshego; Is Accepting Applications for More Funding Through August 10
KPMG, a network of professional firms providing business services in 155 countries, recently informed MicroCapital that The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity has awarded USD 1 million each to the following financial services providers: Ibero Uganda for the provision of loans, training and related services to coffee farmers; US-based First Access for an agricultural credit scoring mechanism for lenders serving farmers in Tanzania; and Botswana-based Letshego Financial Services for an agency banking project in Mozambique.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Access Bank, FMO Launch Female Leadership Programme in Ghana
Access Bank Ghana, an affiliate of Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc, recently partnered with the Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, to launch a Female Leadership Programme for entrepreneurs in Ghana.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Literacy, Gender Disparity in the Solomon Islands; Savings Groups’ Impact in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda; Financial Inclusion Survey in Vanuatu
“Case Study: SolTuna – Tuna Processing, Solomon Islands;” published by the International Finance Corporation; September 2016; 20 pages; available at:
http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/d4561543-cc39-4a9d-9963-26eb5ab4169c/soltuna_updated_May2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
This case study investigates the connections between financial literacy and the reduction of absenteeism and other problems at SolTuna, a tuna processing plant in the Solomon Islands.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The Mastercard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion, $150k “Clients at the Centre” Prize; November 8-9, 2017; Accra, Ghana
Event Name: The Mastercard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion
Event Date: November 8 – November 9, 2017
Event Location: Accra, Ghana
Cost: This event is open by invitation only
Summary of Event: The symposium will focus on increasing the knowledge of financial service providers regarding the financial lives of poor people in an effort to enable the providers to design and deliver products that are more closely aligned with people’s needs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AgroCenta of Ghana Wins $20k Fincluders Startup Challenge for Online Agricultural Marketplace
Ghana-based AgroCenta recently won USD 20,000 in the Fincluders Startup Challenge, which was created to support new companies seeking to increase financial inclusion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Telkom Kenya Shutting Down Its Orange Money Mobile Money Service
Telkom Kenya, a telecommunications provider in Kenya, recently announced that July 4 will be the last day it will offer the mobile money service Orange Money.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vodacom Paying $2.6b to Its Majority Shareholder, Vodafone, for 35% Equity Stake in Owner of Kenya’s M-Pesa Mobile Money Service, Safaricom
Vodacom, a unit of UK-based Vodafone Group Plc that provides mobile communications services to 61 million subscribers in Africa, is paying Vodafone ZAR 34.6 billion (USD 2.6 billion) for a 34.94-percent stake in Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile network operator.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tunisia’s Union Internationale de Banques (UIB) Borrows $45m from EBRD for SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently announced it will loan EUR 40 million (USD 44.9 million) to Union Internationale de Banques (UIB), a Tunisian bank, to support small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) “lending activities and expand access to finance for underserved
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SureBüddy, Provider of Free Funeral and Handset Insurance, Expands to Uganda
South African technology firm AxMe International Services recently expanded its SureBüddy insurance application to Uganda, allowing users in that country to view advertisements in return for no-cost insurance for their mobile phone screens.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Apply by June 5 for The MasterCard Foundation’s $150k “Clients at the Centre” Prize
The MasterCard Foundation, which is based in Canada, is accepting applications through June 5 for its 2017 “Clients at the Centre” Prize, which includes a cash award of USD 150,000.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fidelity Bank Ghana Borrows $54m for SME Lending from FMO, BIO, Symbiotics, Oikocredit, Incofin
Two government-backed entities, the Netherlands’ Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), recently announced they are leading a senior loan package of USD 54 million to be onlent by Fidelity Bank Ghana to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan comprises USD 25 million from FMO
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 7th Annual Africa Banking and Finance Conference; May 30 – 31, 2017; Kigali, Rwanda
Event Name: Seventh Annual Africa Banking and Finance Conference (ABFC)
Event Date: May 30 – May 31, 2017
Event Location: Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda
Summary of Event: The theme of this year’s Annual Banking and Finance Conference is “Making Financial Inclusion a Reality in Africa: Connecting People to Banking
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Sectoral Migration Among Microenterprises in Madagascar, Tanzania Postal Bank’s Popote Digital Financial Services, Insurance Regulation in the Philippines
“Financial Constraint, Entrepreneurship and Sectoral Migrations: Evidence from Madagascar,” by Pierrick Baraton and Florian Léon, published by Making Finance Work for Africa, July 2016, 50 pages, available at https://www.mfw4a.org/nc/knowledge-center/resources/documents/documents-details/file/financial-constraint-entrepreneurship-and-sectoral-migrations-evidence-from-madagascar.html
The authors of this paper analysed data from 3,017 micro- and small enterprises that were clients of a microfinance institution (MFI) in Madagascar between 2008 and 2014.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canadian Government, KfW Contract with Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Develop Capacity of Benin’s Microfinance Industry
Canada’s Développement international Desjardins (DiD) recently announced it has received funding from the Canadian government and Germany’s KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) Development Bank to continue its work to strengthen Benin’s financial sector. The Canadian government awarded DiD a six-year contract to support 10 financial institutions and four related organizations
SPECIAL REPORT: African Microfinance Week (SAM) Registration Open for Sessions Starting October 9, 2017, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Registration opened today for African Microfinance Week, also known as Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance (SAM), which will focus on “Creating Value for SMEs.” The event, which will begin on October 9, 2017, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will include research presentations, an Innovation Fair and an Investor’s Fair. Several initiatives will hold events in conjunction with SAM, including ADA, the Africa Board Fellowship, CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), Connexus, Microfact, the Risk Management Initiative in Microfinance, the Social Performance Task Force and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. More details on the agenda will be forthcoming soon.
Although the standard fee to attend is EUR 550, MicroCapital readers may enjoy a rate of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zimbabwe May Require Banks to Accept Moveable Collateral Such as Livestock, Accounts Receivable, Vehicles in Effort to Boost Financial Inclusion
The party of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe recently proposed a law that would require lenders to accept “moveable” assets, such as machinery, vehicles, livestock and accounts receivable, as collateral. Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said the legislation would “promote
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Issues 13 Institutional, Credit, TrueLift Ratings to Microfinance Institutions in Haiti, Latin America, Togo
During April 2017, Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating issued four microfinance institutional ratings. Two of these were to affiliates of French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde: BB- with a stable outlook to Assilassimé Solidarité of Togo and CC “under observation” to Palmis Mikwofinans Sosyal of Haiti. The other two are