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
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development Asia-Pacific; May 8 – 10, 2018; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Summary of Event: This forum is intended “to showcase good practices and build partnerships to leverage the role of remittances in countries and communities of origin towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” of the UN. The sessions on May 8 are focussed on the private sector and include topics such as de-risking, encouraging savings and the “Diaspora and impact investment.” An award ceremony will recognize organizations that are “improving transparency, speed, cost, and reliability” of remittances. The second day is more focused on policy and public-private partnerships. The third day includes workshops on topics including
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Inclusion in a Digital Economy; November 23 – 24, 2018; Amritsar, India
Summary of Event: The goal of this seminar is to promote “new approaches to address the various problems in the field of financial inclusion” to boost the incomes of “all sections of the society in general and vulnerable groups in particular.” Topics will include treating clients
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 3rd BoP Global Network Summit; April 18 – 20, 2018; New Delhi, India
Summary of Event: Themed “New Strategies for Building BoP Ecosystems,” this event includes sessions on serving people at the base of the pyramid (BoP), such as: (1) How Can We Leverage Digital Financial Inclusion to Disruptively Enhance the Livelihoods and Life Quality of BoP Communities?; and (2) Leveraging Innovations in Tech and Finance to Scale-up Models that Can Solve the Most Pressing Health
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s Micro-Bank Limited of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Piloting 6 Branchless Banking “Mama-Bank Access Points” with Support from UN’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
Women’s Micro-Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the PNG Women in Business Foundation, recently announced it will establish six branchless banking locations, one each in six different regions of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Each of these Mama-Bank Access Points will be staffed by two employees with tablet computers that can identify users via biometric information without the need for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Outsized Adding Office in South Africa as Matching Service for Financial Inclusion Projects Grows
Outsized, a UK-based firm that matches financial services providers and investors involved in financial inclusion with vetted consultants, recently opened an office in South Africa. Since its launch in 2015, Outsized has developed a database of 1,300 consultancies, supporting 80 projects in areas including due diligence; digital financial services; and product design for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Outsized Managing Director Niclas Thelander tells MicroCapital, “We’re
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MetLife Foundation Donates $5.4m to Accion to Boost Microfinance Customer Capabilities in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Myanmar
MetLife Foundation, the philanthropic unit of US-based insurer MetLife, recently agreed to donate USD 5.4 million to US-based microfinance NGO Accion for an effort called Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations. The project includes: (1) partnering with the Microfinance Centre, a Poland-based nonprofit network, to create and share tools for financial service providers to use in identifying and addressing client barriers to “financial well-being;” (2) identifying and partnering with six financial institutions in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $10m to VisionFund for Microfinance in Fragile States, Rural Areas in Africa, Asia
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently agreed to lend USD 10 million from the Massif fund to VisionFund International, an NGO conducting microfinance activities in 32
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Commits $350m to Female Entrepreneurship, Women-led Private Equity Funds in Emerging Markets via 2X Women’s Initiative
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government that seeks to facilitate investment by US-based firms in developing countries, announced yesterday that it is committing USD 350 million to businesses and private equity funds led by women in developing countries. The includes applying a “gender lens to all the projects OPIC considers.”
OPIC CEO Ray Washburne said, “OPIC is proud to drive this effort through its 2X Women’s Initiative, which will mobilize USD 1 billion in investments to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Myanmar, LIFT Partner on Microfinance Loans of $370 to Garment Factory Workers from Rural Areas
The UN-managed Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) recently funded the Myanma unit of UK-based VisionFund International to offer a microloan product designed for people who have moved within Myanmar from rural areas to work in urban garment factories. Upon the product launch, 160 workers at the ZES factory borrowed up to MMK 500,000 (USD 370) for purposes such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Nets $19m in Equity from BMZ to Boost Funding of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Projects via Microfinance Institutions, Banks
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), which invests in reductions in pollution and energy usage in Eurasia and North Africa, recently accepted an investment of EUR 15 million (USD 19 million) from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is also known by its German acronym BMZ, to boost the fund’s investment in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance of India Raises $12m in Equity from Creation Investments, Oikocredit, Gawa Capital
Fusion Microfinance, a lender to groups of women in India, recently raised INR 800 million (USD 12.4 million) in unspecified portions from US-based Creation Investments, Netherlands-based Oikocredit and Spain-based Gawa Capital Partners. All three of the investors were already shareholders in the microlender. Fusion plans to use the cash to invest in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions LOLC Cambodia, VisionFund Lanka Each Borrow $2.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued three-year loans totaling the equivalent of USD 4.7 million to two microfinance institutions with ties to Sri Lanka.
LOLC Cambodia, which is owned by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, borrowed half of the total, denominated in US dollars. LOLC Cambodia was founded in 1994 as Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) by US-based NGO Catholic Relief Services. The MFI has since been acquired by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, which is a member of Orix, a Japanese conglomerate. LOLC Group, whose name derives from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Bolivia, Vietnam Borrow $11.5m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Bolivia and one in Vietnam – recently borrowed a total of USD 11.5 million from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund, an offering of C-Quadrat Asset Management, which is a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat. The identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management did tell MicroCapital that
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
MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Achieving SDGs by Supporting SMEs, Engaging Youth in Financial Services via Social Media, Effects of Financial Education on Credit Card Usage
“SMEs and SDGs: Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” by Maria Teresa Zappia and Lisa Sherk, published by BlueOrchard, November 2017, 28 pages, available at http://www.blueorchard.com/smes-sdgs-supporting-small-medium-enterprises-achieve-sustainable-development-goals-insights-blueorchard-survey/
In this report, the authors explore how improving the business climate for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), may help achieve many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 guiding principles intended to help combat poverty, protect the environment, and encourage economic and political stability.
Ms Zappia and Ms Sherk surveyed financial institutions that lend to SMEs in the Caucasus, Central and South America, East Asia and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: As China Tightens Online Lending Market, Ant Financial Pauses $37b in Annual Sales of Asset-backed Securities; Nexgo, Zhejiang Busen Garments Cancel Plans to Offer Loans
Amid criticism of China’s online lending industry as having “sometimes high interest rates and underhand lending practices,” the nation’s government has taken steps to slow the sector. It has urged local regulators to cease granting approvals to new microloan firms, citing the risk of over-indebtedness. It reportedly has also stopped approving the sales of asset-backed securities by Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group (Ant Financial), which is controlled by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. Anonymous sources indicate that such sales could continue for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Odisha State Encouraging Banks, Microfinance Institutions to Open 656 “Banking Outlets” in Unserved Rural Areas
By March 2019, the eastern Indian state of Odisha is encouraging financial institutions to open “banking outlets” in 656 gram panchayats (villages) that are at least