The second Islamic Microfinance Challenge, a contest that encourages the design and application of microfinance products that are complaint with Islamic law (Sharia), is now accepting applications from Islamic financial services providers that offer Sharia-compliant products that are not based on the “murabaha” concept of “cost plus markup” [1].
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Approves $20m Loan to Edyficar of Peru to Support Housing Finance
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based financial institution that supports small and medium-sized businesses, reportedly has approved a loan of USD 20 million to Edyficar, a financial institution in Peru that specializes in serving microenterprises, to increase housing loans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) Issues $675m in Bonds to Fund Inclusive Finance, Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Other Projects
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, recently issued five-year “Sustainability Bonds” in the amount of EUR 500 million (USD 675 million) to finance environmentally friendly and socially responsible initiatives related to renewable energy, agriculture, food processing, forestry, transportation, access to water and microfinance [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Issues $165m in Bonds to Support Women-owned Businesses
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank Group, reportedly has issued USD 165 million in five-year, AAA-rated bonds to support women-owned businesses in emerging markets [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Inclusive Business Models Group Publishes Case Studies
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), through “Inclusive Business Models Group,” has presented eight new case-studies of initiatives that operate within inclusive business principles [1, 2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wholesale Microfinance Lender Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth (Ananya) of India Raises Equity Capital of $2.86m from Women’s World Banking, Industrial Development Bank of India
Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth Private Limited (Ananya), a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, has raised INR 180 million (USD 2.86 million) in equity capital from the Isis Fund of Women’s World Banking (WWB), a US-based network of 39 microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), an Indian public-sector bank [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya Commercial Bank, Safaricom’s M-Pesa Launch Mobile App KCB M-Benki to Increase Financial Inclusion
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), a publicly traded financial services company in Kenya, has partnered with Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile service provider that operates the mobile money service M-Pesa, to launch a mobile banking application called KCB M-Benki in Kenya and five other East African countries serviced by KCB [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Issues $12.5m in Local Currency Loans to Armenia’s Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA) to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Energy Efficient Investments
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution that finances development projects, has provided two local-currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 12.5 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), a microfinance bank partially owned by French bank Credit Agricole [1].
SPECIAL REPORT: Michael Chu: “Disrupt this Old Model to Unlock the Potential of Microfinance”
At today’s opening plenary of European Microfinance Week, which is hosted by Luxembourg’s 140-member European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), Michael Chu of the US-based Harvard Business School and the Mexico-based venture capital fund Ignia, argued that microfinance is generally implemented using a 20-year-old model that is inefficient and “ripe for disruption” through technology.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Habitat for Humanity Introduces Microcredit Program for Housing in Costa Rica
Habitat for Humanity, a US-based nonprofit that seeks to provide poor people with clean, safe and affordable housing, reportedly is launching a program in Costa Rica to provide microloans to people without access to traditional housing loans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gates Foundation, International Finance Corporation (IFC), MicroSave, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Partner to Create Helix Institute of Digital Finance
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that provides grants to organizations; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank; MicroSave, an India-based for-profit consulting center; and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the global development network of the United Nations, have partnered to create the Helix Institute of Digital Finance, an online platform that will train mobile network operators, financial institutions and third-party providers in an effort to increase the efficiency and impact of their digital and financial services [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Investments Loans $20m to Improsa Bank of Costa Rica, Supports Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Switzerland-based investment company responsAbility Investments recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of USD 20 million to Improsa Bank SA of Costa Rica, a financial institution that provides services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure, Telenor Pakistan, Jubilee Life Insurance Company to Offer Free Life Insurance to Prepaid Mobile Customers in Pakistan
The Pakistani arm of MicroEnsure, a UK-based microinsurance intermediary, has announced the launch of “Talkshawk Mohafiz Zindagi Beema,” a free mobile life insurance service, in collaboration with Telenor Pakistan, a unit of Norway’s Telenor Group. The insurance will be provided by Jubilee Life Insurance Company Limited, a Pakistani insurance provider [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Releases 2013 Financial Access Survey
The US-based International Monetary Fund, a United Nations institution aiming to foster global cooperation on monetary issues, recently announced the results of its fourth annual Financial Access Survey (FAS), which provides global supply-side data on financial inclusion [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Micro Pension Foundation, Invest India Micro Pension Services, Visa Partner to Promote Savings by Low-Income Households in India
Micro Pension Foundation, an Indian nonprofit that helps low-income households gain access to microsavings products, and Visa Incorporated, a US-based payments technology company, reportedly are partnering to establish the “Micro Pension Financial Inclusion Lab” [1].
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The International Bank of Bob,” by Bob Harris; published by Walker Publishing
“The International Bank of Bob;” by Bob Harris; published by the Walker Publishing Company, Inc.; March 2013; 400 pages, http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-international-bank-of-bob-9781620405222/
This book stems from the moment that US-based author Bob Harris met a group of South Asian day laborers while on assignment for ForbesTraveler.com in Dubai.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Disburses $515k of $872k in Loans to Mec Fadec of Senegal, Réseau National des Caisses Villageoises d’Épargne et de Crédit Autogérées (RENACA) of Benin
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other social businesses, recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed the first half of a 30-month loan of EUR 152,000 (USD 207,000) to Mec Fadec, a Senegalese microfinance institution (MFI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement International Desjardins (DID) Invests in Microfinance Currency Hedging Company MFX Solutions
Développement International Desjardins (DID), a nonprofit organization based in Canada that provides technical support and investment for development finance in emerging economies, has invested an unspecified amount in US-based MFX Solutions, a company that provides currency hedging solutions for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) [1].