by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Credit Scoring Methods, Data for Farmers, Digital Financial Services on Offer as 30 Firms Showcase Inclusive Finance Products at SAM Innovators’ Village (Part One)

Dozens SAM 2019of firms presented their newest technologies and other products during the full-day Innovators’ Village of the recent SAM conference. Among these was ICCO Cooperation, whose representatives described their organization’s ACAT tool for evaluating the creditworthiness of agricultural producers. ACAT, which was designed in partnership with the French bank Crédit Agricole, offers features to help loan officers who do not specialize in agriculture to evaluate producers’ operations. The tool calculates the input needs per hectare for crops such as sesame as well as predicting farmers’ income. While the pilot phase has gone well, there have been a few challenges, such as poor internet connectivity and difficulty calculating the sizes of the farmers’ plots due to deficient land surveys.

Mohamed Asri of HPS (Hightech Payment Systems) discussed his firm’s PowerCard core banking system, which allows the “client to act as an agent.” The

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) Borrows $324k from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) recently borrowed the local-currency equivalent of USD 324,000 from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. The loan has a term of three years. During 2018, the microfinance institution (MFI) began offering

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Partnerships, Patience, Sizing Goals for Hummingbirds to Meet SDGs Via Financial Inclusion, Complimentary Services

“We SAM 2019need to develop services with added value to increase impact,” said Corinne Molitor of ADA during the first Wednesday plenary session at SAM. In the absence of non-financial services, financial inclusion does not lead directly to reduced poverty. To find evidence of poverty alleviation, she says, we must consider the long term because reducing poverty is a very slow process. Mathieu Ciowela of the UN Development Program said of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that, “We have been implementing this for four years. Maybe in 10 years we’ll have data on progress.”

Adrian Kamenitzer of the European Investment Bank also spoke in terms of decades rather than years. He told a personal story of growing up in Romania and observing the transition from communism. “In 1990, we had a new regime. We had hopes,

by Anna Gravois -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Lidya Expanding MSME Lending to Czech Republic, Poland

Lidya, a US-based financial technology (fintech) firm active in Nigeria, recently announced that it is beginning to lend to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Czech Republic and Poland, particularly in the agricultural, pharmaceutical and retail sectors. The projected average loan size in these countries is

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Sharing Tractors Like Uber, Selling Agricultural Inputs Like Mobile Phone Credit, Motivating Savers Like Clockwork

At SAM 2019a session on agricultural and financial technology during the recent SAM conference, Emmanuel Ansah-Amprofi of Ghana’s Trotro Tractor described how his company’s service helps small-scale farmers mechanize their operations. Farmers call a toll-free number to request a tractor for a short period of time, such as for harvest. Within 72 hours, the farmer is connected with one of the 320 tractor owners that partners with Trotro. Trotro takes a commission of 10 percent on the payment from the farmer to the tractor owner, which totals USD 20 to USD 25 per acre. Mr Ansah-Amprofi said the mechanization helps the farmers increase their yields by 50 percent to 66 percent.

With more demand for tractors than its tractor owners can supply, Trotro has developed several methods for supporting tractor buyers. For example, Trotro’s data can help a bank

by Jolene Khor -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance Barometer 2019,” Published by Convergences

Published by Convergences in partnership with the Advans Group, BNP Paribas, the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation; October 2019; 16 pages; available at http://www.convergences.org/en/104906-2/

This tenth edition of the “Microfinance Barometer” offers insights into the microfinance sector garnered through interviews, case studies and a review of data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). The publication explores trends in the sector over

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Sébastien Boyé of I&P on Microfinance Institutions Digitalizing for SMEs, Taking on “Aggressive New Actors” in Africa

At SAM 2019last week’s SAM conference, Sébastien Boyé, the Chief Investment Officer of Investisseurs & Partenaires, delivered a keynote address on the future of financial inclusion in Africa. Mr Boyé expressed optimism about Africa’s future because of the continent’s dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit. He cited forecasts that by 2050, 250 million new jobs will be created in Africa as the continent’s GDP overtakes that of the EU. In terms of weaknesses, there is significant volatility, and several countries are getting into trouble with too much public borrowing.

Mr Boyé argues that stakeholders in the financial inclusion sector need to focus on topics such as human resources, academic research and digitalization. When it comes to digitalization, institutions must look to

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: At SAM, Meeting the SDGs by Decreasing Hunger, Increasing Digital Access, Embracing Change to Modernize Microfinance in Africa

On SAM 2019the second day of this week’s SAM conference in Burkina Faso, Mathieu Soglonou of the UN Capital Development Fund commented on several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a session on the “State of the Inclusive Finance Sector and Its Contributions to Development in Africa.” Despite general progress toward the SDGs, Mr Soglonou noted that there have been setbacks in SDG 2, “Zero Hunger.” The number of people living with hunger has increased by 800 million due to problems such as extreme weather, war, and difficulties with the storage and distribution of agricultural products. Mr Soglonou noted that one challenge in reducing hunger is that lenders tend to

by Jolene Khor -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Making Digital Credit Truly Responsible: Insights From Analysis of Digital Credit in Kenya;” published by MicroSave Consulting, SPTF, Smart Campaign, AFD

Published by MicroSave Consulting, the Social Performance Task Force, the Smart Campaign and Agence Française de Développement; September 2019; 103 pages; available at https://www.microsave.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Digital-Credit-Kenya-Final-report.pdf

This report draws on first-hand data, secondary research and the use of data analytics to provide insights into the Kenyan digital credit sector from the perspectives of both customers and suppliers of digital credit. The authors highlight advances that have been

by Anna Gravois -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange to Discontinue MIX Market, Focus on Financial Technology (Fintech), Agricultural Finance

The US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently announced that it will focus exclusively on “catalytic data initiatives” in financial technology (fintech), digital finance and agricultural finance. The NGO will stop adding to

by Chee Meng Ng -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: FinovateMiddleEast; November 19-21, 2019; Dubai, UAE

FinovateMiddleEast is part of an annual international conference series that focuses on financial technology (fintech), with events in five cities around the world. The final two days of this event offer keynote addresses and panel discussions on topics including:

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Maj Places $10.6 in Equity in BASIX Group’s Sub-K, Business Correspondent Providing Microfinance on Behalf of Banks in India

Sub-K, a unit of India’s BASIX Social Enterprise Group, recently secured an equity investment of INR 750 million (USD 10.6 million) from Maj Invest, an asset manager based in Denmark. Sub-K is a financial technology (fintech) company that acts as an intermediary between financial institutions and their individual and microenterprise customers. It delivers lending, saving and payment services by “recruiting, training and equipping local entrepreneurs as Business Correspondent agents who serve as human

by Chee Meng Ng -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Inclusive Finance India Summit; December 4-5, 2019; New Delhi, India

This conference series began in support of India’s national financial inclusion strategy, which first was introduced in 2005 under Dr Y Venugopal Reddy, who was then governor of the Reserve Bank of India. This year, the event will cover issues related to

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance / African Microfinance Week); October 21 – 25, 2019; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

The SAM 2019fourth SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) includes five full days of trainings, conference sessions, an investors’ fair, an innovators’ village and research presentations, all on the theme “Pathways Towards Impact: African Inclusive Finance for the Sustainable Development Goals.” The training presenters are ADA, Amarante Consulting, Arendt, Banca Etica, BNP Paribas, BRS, Caritas Africa, Food and Agriculture Organization, Graine, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, the Microinsurance Network, MicroSave Consulting, Pamiga,

by Chee Meng Ng -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Banking on the Last Mile Annual Conference; October 1-3, 2019; Kampala, Uganda

Themed “Enhancing Financial Inclusion at the Last Mile Through Partnerships,” this conference will explore the impact of technology on the end-users of microfinance services. In particular, the organizers seek to address how financial technology disrupts