The 
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) will hold the next European Microfinance Week from November 20 through November 22, 2019, at the Abbaye de Neumunster in Luxembourg. This will include the presentation of the European Microfinance Award. Details on how to participate
Category: Microinsurance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin; Microfinance Institutions Fundenuse, Fundeser, MiCrédito Operate Satellite-based Weather-index Microinsurance for Coffee, Grain Farmers in Nicaragua
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently launched an insurance plan with Nicaraguan microfinance institutions (MFIs) Fundacion para el Desarrollo de Nueva Segovia (Fundenuse), Financiera Fundeser and MiCrédito to help 6,000 coffee and grain farmers be better prepared for climate change. The program utilizes “satellite imagery to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $5m to The National Bank (TNB) of the Palestinian Territories for Microfinance
Sanad Fund for MSME recently loaned USD 5 million to The National Bank (TNB), a public-private partnership in the Palestinian Territories, to fund loans from TNB to low-income households as well as micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In addition
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund Lends in 11 Countries, Including for Women in Bolivia, Farmers in China
C-Quadrat Asset Management, a unit of Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment, recently informed MicroCapital that it disbursed loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 11 countries during December 2018. The identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential.
One of the MFIs is a Bolivian NGO providing health and financial services to women via 70 urban and rural locations. The MFI offers loans, financial education, health education and testing for cervical
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Reserve Bank of Fiji’s Experience With Financial Inclusion and Climate Change;” by Klaus Prochaska, Vereimi Levula, Andrew Levula; published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)
This is a summary of a case study written by Klaus Prochaska, Vereimi Levula and Andrew Levula; published by the Alliance For Financial Inclusion; 2018; 16 pages; available at: https://www.afi-global.org/publications/2899/Reserve-Bank-of-Fiji-s-Experience-with-Financial-Inclusion-and-Climate-Change
Following Tropical Cyclone Winston, which resulted in a nearly one-third reduction in Fiji’s GDP for 2016, government actors including the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) resolved to work to “make the country more resilient to extreme climate events, rising sea levels and changing weather patterns.” RBF had already decreed a
SPECIAL REPORT: Despite a “Solid” Willingness to Invest in Microinsurance, a “Terrifying” Lack of Coverage
On 
the last day of European Microfinance Week, Katharine Pulvermacher of the Luxembourg-based Microinsurance Network led a discussion on insuring people with daily incomes of USD 2 to USD 20. Those with lower incomes, she argued, will have to be covered by government safety nets.
Anup Singh of India-based consultancy MicroSave described the path to success in microinsurance as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFI in Ecuador Borrows from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
A microfinance institution (MFI) in Ecuador recently closed on a loan from Austria-based C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund. C-Quadrat Asset Management, the unit of C-Quadrat that manages the fund, tells MicroCapital that the MFI was founded in 1996 and provides microentrepreneurs with loans; insurance; and non-financial services, such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya’s BIMAS Borrowing $580k from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Rural Microfinance
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is lending the local-currency equivalent of EUR 500,000 (USD 580,000) to Business Initiatives and Management Assistance Services (BIMAS), a microfinance institution in Kenya. BIMAS, which is based in the city of Embu, was founded in 1997. The institution offers microinsurance as well as group and individual loans specific to youth, farming, dairy production, education, solar power and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nonghyup (NH) Bank Acquires Microfinance Institution Samic of Cambodia, Plans More Lending for Agricultural Equipment, Housing, SMEs
NongHyup (NH) Bank, which is controlled by South Korea’s NongHyup Group, recently obtained regulatory approval to acquire Samic, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia, for an undisclosed price. NH Bank reportedly plans to change the name of the MFI to NongHyup Finance Cambodia.
Samic’s 18 branches are mainly located in smaller cities, and NH Bank plans to expand the organization’s presence in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility, Prudential Foundation to Develop Microinsurance Services in Asia; Provide Technical Support for Insurers in Latin America
The Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the Prudential Financial Incorporated (PFI) Foundation, a unit of the US-based financial services company PFI, recently announced a program intended to: (1) develop microinsurance products for low-income households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in Asia; and (2) provide technical support to four financial service providers operating in Latin American countries.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 14th International Microinsurance Conference: “Inclusive Insurance for Emerging Markets;” November 6 – 8, 2018; Lusaka, Zambia
Speakers at this year’s event will explore strategies to expand the growth and the accessibility of microinsurance services in emerging economies. Although the details of this year’s agenda are still under development, last year’s edition covered topics such as the role of microinsurance in economic development and digital technologies for microinsurance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 4Di Capital, Accion Venture Labs, Lireas Holdings Invest Equity in Insurance Technology (Insurtech) Firm Lumkani of South Africa
Lumkani, a South Africa-based technology firm specializing in fire insurance and detection equipment, recently received equity investments of undisclosed amounts from the South Africa-based venture capital
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Toffee Insurance of India Secures $1.5m in Equity for Digital Microinsurance from Kalaari Capital, Omidyar Network, Accion Venture Lab
Toffee Insurance, an online microinsurance firm based in India, recently received a total of USD 1.5 million in equity from Accion Venture Labs, a fund of US-based NGO Accion; Kalaari Capital, an Indian for-profit investment firm; and Omidyar Network, a US-based NGO. Toffee will use the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Index Insurance Facility Issues Mayfair Performance-based Funding to Expand Crop Cover in Zambia
Mayfair Insurance Company Zambia, a subsidiary of Mayfair Insurance Company Kenya, recently secured an unspecified amount of additional funding for its crop insurance product from the Dutch government via the Global Index Insurance Facility of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). The goal is to help farmers both “protect their crops against losses and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FijiCare Providing Life, Disability, Fire Microinsurance to Fiji Co-operative Dairy Members, Supported by UN’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
FijiCare Insurance, a general insurer operating in Fiji and Vanuatu, has been working with the 300-member Fiji Co-operative Dairy Company to design an insurance package they plan to sell to cooperative members at a cost of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Barclays Bank of Kenya’s Timiza App Offers Mobile Savings, Loans, Insurance, Bill Payment
Barclays Bank of Kenya recently rolled out Timiza, an app for Android mobile phones that offers mobile banking services via M-Pesa, a mobile money service launched in 2007 by Kenyan internet service provider Safaricom. Timiza accounts are available to individuals as well as groups. To be eligible, one must have
MICROFINANCE EVENT: InsurTech: Rising to the Regulatory Challenge; March 20, 2018; Colombo, Sri Lanka
Summary of Event: The goal of this twelfth consultative forum of its kind is to explore how regulators can adjust to working with the hundreds of start-up firms leveraging technology to enter the insurance market. In particular, sessions will address how “to strike a balance between facilitating innovation, increasing the inclusiveness of the insurance sector, and maintaining the conditions for a fair, safe and stable insurance sector…”. Topics will include digitizing applications, premium collection, payouts and other processes as well as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania’s Second National Financial Inclusion Framework Calls for Radio Broadcasts, ID Cards, Credit Bureaux, Mobile Banking to Grow Economy to Middle Income
The government of Tanzania recently launched its second five-year National Financial Inclusion Framework with the aim of helping boost the country to middle-income status by 2025 by shifting focus from access to financial services to the usage of those services, especially by youth and women. By 2022, benchmarks include increasing the usage of formal financial services from 65 percent to 75 percent of the population and the usage of insurance from 15 percent to