Event Name: European Microfinance Network (EMN) 10th Annual Conference
Event Date: June 25-26, 2013
Event Location: Clarion Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microcredit Summit Campaign, Microfinance Council of the Philippines to Host 2013 Partnerships Against Poverty Summit, October 9-11, 2013, Manila, Philippines
Event Name: 2013 Partnerships Against Poverty Summit
Event Date: October 9-11, 2013
Event Location: Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, Philippines
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $8m to Banco Pichincha of Ecuador
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, has notified MicroCapital that it recently disbursed loans totaling USD 8 million to Banco Pichincha of Ecuador, a commercial bank that offers financial services to corporations; retailers; and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Launches $100m Credit Line for Russian Residential Energy Efficiency Improvements, Center-Invest Bank Borrows $24m
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently launched an energy efficiency credit line valued at USD 100 million to be on-lent via local private banks to benefit individual Russian households, housing associations, management companies, maintenance service providers, condominiums and energy service companies (ESCOs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cambodian Microfinance Institution Hattha Kaksekar Launches SmartVista E-Payment Service from BPC
Hattha Kaksekar Limited, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), recently announced its launch of SmartVista, an electronic payments solution created by Banking Production Centre (BPC) Banking Technologies, a mobile technology solutions provider with offices in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Russia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation, Bank of Shanghai Launch $80m Loan, Advisory Program Supporting Energy Upgrades for Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has provided a finance facility totaling CNY 500 million (USD 80 million) to China’s Bank of Shanghai to on-lend to energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US-Based Sequoia Capital Invests $2m in Equity in Electronic Payment Platform, Citrus Pay
Citrus Pay, a Mumbai-based digital payments service provider, and Ezetap Mobile Solutions, a Bangalore-based mobile payments service provider, have developed electronic payment platforms that address internet security and connectivity challenges, both of which have discouraged Indian consumers from using digital payment methods.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Caja Rural de Ahorro y Credito (CRAC) Nuestra Gente of Peru Now Controlled by Fundacion Microfinannzas BBVA, to be Merged into Financiera Confianza
The Peruvian Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Pension Fund Administrators (known as SBS in Spanish) recently approved the merger of two Peruvian microfinance institutions (MFIs) via the absorption of Caja Rural de Ahorro y Credito (CRAC) Nuestra Gente by Financiera Confianza.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Maroc Launches “Financial Solutions Youth” Project in Morocco
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a Canada-based nonprofit that aims to alleviate poverty through financial investment via 227 partner institutions in 56 countries, and its Morocco division, MEDA Maroc, are launching the “Financial Solutions Youth” project in an effort to support Moroccan microfinance institutions (MFIs) in improving access to financial services for youth.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Microlumbia’s 6th Annual Microfinance Conference, May 3, 2013, New York City, USA
Event Name: Microlumbia’s 6th Annual Microfinance Conference
Event Date: May 3, 2013
Event Location: Faculty House, Columbia University, 64 Morningside Drive, New York, New York, US
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Younger People in Kenya More Open to “Game Changer” of Buying Investment, Insurance Products by Mobile Phone
In July 2012, Old Mutual Kenya (OMK), a Nairobi-based investment subsidiary of UK-based Old Mutual Group, launched i-Invest, a platform that offers investment products that can be purchased via M-Pesa, a service of a Kenya-based mobile operator Safaricom.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Alliance for Financial Inclusion Launches African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI)
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a Thailand-based network of financial policymakers from approximately 85 countries, recently launched the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI), which will aim to address barriers to the “uptake of mobile financial services” in Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rockefeller, Tony Elumelu Foundations Launch “Impact Economy Innovations Fund” for Africa
The Rockefeller Foundation, a US-based organization, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, a Nigeria-based organization, recently announced the launch of the Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF), an impact investment fund operating across Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $197m to Turkey’s Isbank to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises, $350m to Turkish Banks for Energy Efficiency
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, plans to provide a financing facility of EUR 150 million (USD 197 million) to Isbank, a Turkish commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Macedonia to Boost Usage of $129m Credit Line from European Investment Bank to Support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
The government of Macedonia reportedly has announced plans to step up disbursements from a credit line of EUR 100 million (USD 129 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending bank of the European Union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Online Fundraiser Kiva, Microlender Microinvest of Moldova End Partnership
Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, and Moldovan microfinance institution (MFI) Microinvest have agreed to terminate their six-year partnership for undisclosed reasons.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs Partner with Fundacion para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico Rural (FUNDESER) of Nicaragua to Increase Financial Access for Micro, Small Entrepreneurs
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently partnered with Fundacion para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico Rural (FUNDESER), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Nicaragua, to improve its credit risk management system as part of the MFI’s ongoing transition into a regulated financial entity under Nicaragua’s Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions, known by the Spanish acronym SIBOIF.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $19m to UniCredit Serbia for Leasing to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, has provided a loan of EUR 15 million (USD 19.2 million) to UniCredit Serbia, a subsidiary of the Italy-based financial services company UniCredit, to expand lease financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia.