Ujjivan, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Bangalore, India, is currently experiencing a churn of investors.
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Invests $1.7m in Russian Microfinance Institution Forus Bank
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently disbursed approximately USD 1.7 million in debt to Russian microfinance institution (MFI) Forus Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Data Bureau Limited Launch Tongan Credit Bureau
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group that supports private-sector development, and Data Bureau Limited, a Fijian-owned credit information company, recently set up a credit bureau in Tonga.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Releases Government Electronic Payment Program Guidelines
The World Bank Group, a US-based institution whose aim is to reduce poverty, recently released a report titled “General Guidelines for the Development of Government Payment Programs” that aims to assist governments and other stakeholders in developing efficient electronic government-payment systems.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance Apexes; Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic; Selling Microinsurance
“A New Look at Microfinance Apexes;” by Sarah Forster, et al; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); July 2012; 26 pages; available at: http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.9.58459/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Partners with Planet Rating, Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) of India to Improve Pricing Transparency
MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), recently partnered with Planet Rating, a microfinance rating agency that is a member of the France-based PlaNet Finance Group, and Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a trade association of microlenders in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Bank Ordinance Seen as Power Grab by Bangladeshi Government, Bank Refutes Claims by Prime Minister of 45% Microloan Interest Rates
The cabinet of ministers of Bangladesh has reportedly approved an amendment to the ordinance regulating Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi microfinance institution (MFI), that allows the bank’s chairman, Mr Muzammel Huq, to nominate a pool of three candidates from which a managing director of the bank will be chosen.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Progress Microfinance Facility Signs 20th Intermediary, Reaches $98m Committed
The European Progress Microfinance Facility, an organization managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the aim of increasing the availability of microcredit for small businesses, has signed its 20th microfinance intermediary, Italy-based credit cooperative Banco di Credito Mediocrati.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Buys 9% of Microfinance Institution CrediConfia of Mexico for $1.9m
Accion, a US-based nonprofit organization, recently made an equity investment of USD 1.9 million in CrediConfia, a microfinance institution (MFI) providing financial services to microentrepreneurs and low-income households in rural and semi-urban areas of east-central Mexico.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics of Pakistan Creates Centre of Excellence in Islamic Microfinance
The nonprofit AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) of Pakistan recently launched the Centre of Excellence on Islamic Microfinance in order to provide Shariah guidance and capacity building to microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation to Support Financing SMEs in Emerging Markets Through GATE Impact Investment Platform
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency that works with private-sector firms in the US to invest in emerging markets, has selected GATE (Global Alternative Trading Engine) Impact, a New York-based financial services company, to establish the Impact Investment Platform for the Enterprise Development Network, an OPIC effort intended to help finance and otherwise support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) doing business in emerging markets overseas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Invests $6.3m in Financiera Crear of Peru, Ecofuturo of Bolivia
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently issued loans totaling USD 6.3 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Peru and Bolivia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Citi Foundation Issue Call for Financial Capability Research Funding Proposals
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a US-based nonprofit research organization, and Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of US-based financial service provider Citigroup, have issued a call for expressions of interest (EOI) for the Citi-IPA Financial Capability Research Fund.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance Banana Skins 2012: The CSFI Survey of Microfinance Risk;” by David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson; published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI)
By David Lascelles and Sam Mendelson, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, July 2012, 50 pages, available at: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/microfinance/data/news120628.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citigroup Wins 2012 Business in the Community International Award for Excellence, for Microfinance Partnership with Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Citigroup, a US-based bank, has won the International Award of the fifteenth edition of the Awards for Excellence, the corporate responsibility awards offered by the Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Advisors on Sustainable Investing; Risk Management in Microfinance; Supply-Side Financial Inclusion Data
“Gateways to Impact: Industry Survey of Financial Advisors on Sustainable and Impact Investing;” published by Calvert Foundation; June 2012; 14 pages; available at: http://www.gatewaystoimpact.org/images/gatewaystoimpact.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNP Paribas, Russian Microfinance Department Award $2m Loan to FINCA Russia
Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas Russia, the Russian arm of French financial services provider BNP Paribas, and the microfinance department of Russia’s Ministry of Finance have reportedly awarded a two-year, USD 2 million loan to FINCA Universal Credit Organization CJSC, a subsidiary of US-based nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) FINCA International.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion to Launch $60m Frontier Investment Fund, Invest in Indian Microfinance, Other Ventures
Frontier Investments Group, an investment vehicle of US-based nonprofit Accion, recently announced plans to launch the Frontier Investment Fund, which reportedly will have a pool of between USD 60 million and USD 75 million and focus on emerging economies, especially India.