Two Nigeria-based companies, the financial services portal Credit Café Africa and Sterling Bank, recently agreed to collaborate to distribute NGN 10 billion (USD 21.7 million) in loans to health and education facilities. The loans, which will be sized between NGN 100,000 (USD 217) and NGN 20 million (USD 43,400) are to focus on
Category: Education
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financing the Blue Economy;” by Michael Adams et al; Published by Asian Development Bank, UNDP, UNEP
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) describes the “blue economy” as including 16 ocean-related market segments. The authors rank these segments in order of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cambodia Microfinance Association, NBC Launch Project to Increase Financial Literacy, Consumer Protection
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the country’s central bank, and the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) recently launched a project called Strengthening Safe Finance in Community. The goal is to boost “financial literacy, consumer empowerment, and protection” to “enhance safe and secure use
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Lab Accepting Applications from Entrepreneurs in Latin America, Caribbean for WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition, Partner of Google for Startups, Through March 31
WeXchange, a program of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group’s IDB Lab, recently started accepting applications from female entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean for the WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition. The competition targets women whose businesses
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Impact of Microfinance Institutions on Poverty Alleviation,” by Collin Chikwira et al, Published by Journal of Risk and Financial Management
The authors of this report reviewed evidence of the effects of microfinance institutions (MFIs) on poverty in developing economies. Although a number of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Copal App to Help Parents, Youth in Egypt to Manage Finances via Mastercard Payment Network
Copal, an Egypt-based financial technology (fintech) firm, recently entered a partnership with US-based payment processing corporation Mastercard to launch an app that helps families in Egypt to make payments and otherwise manage their finances. Plans for the app include
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance, Over-indebtedness and Climate Adaptation: New Evidence from Rural Cambodia;” by Vincent Guermond et al; Published by Royal Holloway, University of London
The authors of this report argue that microfinance loans in Cambodia are leading to over-indebtedness amongst farmers, inhibiting their ability to adapt to climate change. The aggregate
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IMBE Using Finbit Technology from L-IFT to Support Child Care Providers in South Africa
Low-income Financial Transformation (L-IFT), a Netherlands-based firm, recently entered into an agreement with South Africa’s Imbe Enterprise Incubator whereby Imbe will provide L-IFT’s Finbit financial tracking software to its clients. The goal is to reach all of Imbe’s clients, who are primarily Black women who operate creches – child care facilities – in low-income neighborhoods. Finbit helps its users
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion That Works for Women,” by Sam Mendelson, Published by e-MFP
This paper explores model practices in financial inclusion for women through the work of the winner and nine semi-finalists for the European Microfinance Award 2022. Mr Mendelson sorts the lessons learned into three approaches to how financial services providers (FSP) can foster women’s financial inclusion: offering
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Digital Finance Campaign Replication Guide,” Published by USAID
This paper describes a digital finance education campaign called “Hey Sister! Show Me the Mobile Money,” including efforts to make it easy to replicate from one geographical context to another. The program facilitates low-income women’s access to digital financial services (DFS) by addressing the challenges of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Offering AgriAcademy Graduate-level Education Courses in Ukraine to Boost Agriculture Sector
The multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is rolling out a remote, free-of-charge learning platform called AgriAcademy with a target of educating 10,000 agri-food workers in Ukraine. The goal is
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Remote Coaching to Prevent Dormancy Among Low-income Savers,” by Scott Graham et al, Published by WSBI
This report addresses the phenomenon of “dormancy” in the savings accounts of new owners of financial accounts, whereby the newly established accounts go unused after initial deposits are complete. The authors describe the use of coaching – via phone calls and SMS messages – to increase
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 19th Inclusive Finance India Summit; January 17-18, 2023; New Delhi, India
This event is intended to advance dialogue on the challenges associated with financial inclusion. Although the agenda has not been released to date, last year’s iteration of the summit featured sessions including
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Life Organization Borrows $3m from Oikocredit to Invest in MSMEs, Education in Nigeria
Standard Life Organization, an NGO in Nigeria, recently agreed to borrow USD 3 million for three years from Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative. Standard Life provides health services and skills training as well as lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, including many
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zubaida Bai Is New CEO of Grameen Foundation
Zubaida Bai has been selected to lead the Grameen Foundation, a US-based NGO that works to reduce poverty in Africa and Asia via “community agents,” who support people – especially women – in learning how to use digital financial services and farm in a “climate-smart” manner. Ms Bai is the founder of Ayzh, a provider of maternal and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 18th Annual Global Microfinance Forum; March 16-17, 2023; Prague, Czech Republic
In the context of lingering pandemic-induced caution among investors, this event promises to cover a variety of topics relevant to microfinance investors, practitioners and other stakeholders. In addition to addressing “how MFIs [microfinance institutions] adapt to and run in the new reality [and] complications for micro clients,” sessions will cover
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Themed “Inclusive Growth in a Digital Era,” Financial Inclusion Week 2022 Offers 180 Virtual Sessions, October 17-20
For the eighth year, the Center for Financial Inclusion, a program of the US-based NGO Accion, is organizing Financial Inclusion Week, an opportunity for all stakeholders to attend virtual sessions – both live and on-demand – at no charge. The theme for 2022 is “Inclusive Growth in a Digital Era,” with sessions covering 14 topics such as Climate Change, Client Protection,
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Columbia University Social Enterprise Conference; October 14, 2022; New York, USA
Themed “Capital for Good,” this conference focuses on the role of capital in solving global issues. The program includes