The government of Malaysia recently committed MYR 25 million (USD 6.4 million) to a microcredit program intended to help Chinese-Malaysian business owners to “evolve their businesses into tech-savvy outfits.” The program, called the Micro-Credit E-Commerce Scheme, is targeting entrepreneurs in Malaysia who are aged 18 to
Category: Technology
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Sustainable Finance Conference; July 12-13, 2018; Karlsruhe, Germany
Summary of Event: The eighth iteration of this conference is intended to act as a platform to discuss “innovations in financial services and business models for sustainability” through sessions such as: (1) Transition to a Green, Digital and Sustainable Economy; and (2) Sustainable Finance for All: Powering Micro to Large Enterprises for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria, Service Providers Partner to Establish 500k Financial Service Points via Shared Agent Network Expansion (SANE) Program
Under Nigeria’s new Shared Agent Network Expansion (SANE) program, the Central Bank of Nigeria, mobile-money operators, retail banks and “super agents” – organizations of 50 or more financial services agents – have agreed to create a network of 500,000 agents to offer services such as transferring funds to and from family members, vendors and the government. As part of the scheme, 50 million people will acquire biometric-based
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branch International Raises $70m in Debt, Equity from Trinity, Victory Park, IFC, Andreessen Horowitz, CreditEase to Expand Digital Financial Services in Africa, India
Branch International, a for-profit lender to 1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, recently raised USD 70 million with the goal of expanding within Africa, entering the Indian market, and launching savings and transfer services. US-based Trinity Ventures led the fundraising round, and its general partner, Schwark Satyavolu, will take a position on the board of directors of Branch. While the amounts invested by each entity have not been released, the other investors are US-based Victory Park Capital, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, US-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and China-based CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. Branch’s other shareholders are listed at https://www.branch.co/about.
Branch evaluates the creditworthiness of applicants by harvesting data from their phones: GPS data, contact lists, type of phone, data from social networks, and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Inclusion Summit for Practitioners in Sub-Saharan Africa; April 24 – 25, 2018; Accra, Ghana
Summary of Event: This event offers sessions on accelerating financial inclusion, financial technology, the role of donors, new products, raising capital, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Background on Organizers: The Microfinance Association is a UK-based membership NGO offering training, business development and other services. The Financial Inclusion Advocacy Center, which has offices in the UK and Ghana, seeks to provide technical support to “build the institutional strength and outreach of the microfinance sector.”
Cost: The fee to attend is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ant Financial Buys 45% Equity Stake in Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank for $184m, Anticipating Synergies Between Alipay, Easypaisa
Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, which is controlled by Jack Ma, a co-founder of Chinese web retailer Alibaba, recently agreed to pay USD 184.5 million to acquire a 45-percent stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank, a Pakistani unit of Norway’s Telenor Group. Telenor Microfinance, which has 20 million customers as of 2018, launched its Easypaisa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Offering Mobile Banking App in Cote d’Ivoire Without Retail Presence
Standard Chartered, a UK-based bank with operations in 63 markets on five continents, recently began offering mobile banking in Cote d’Ivoire although it has no bank branches there. Users of the bank’s app can open current accounts, earn up to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Iraq’s Ashur International Bank, Al-Amwal Company Building Digital Banking System with Support from IFC
Ashur International Bank, which serves personal and corporate clients in Iraq, and Al-Amwal Company, a payments company in Iraq, are collaborating with the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to offer digital banking services.
Nour Al-Handal, the Assistant Managing Director of Ashur, stated “Our partnership with IFC will help us to build the needed foundation to effectively and efficiently expand our outreach to
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
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
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Buys Equity Stake in Microfinance Software Provider Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a firm with offices in the Netherlands and South Africa that invests in companies serving people with low incomes, recently placed its second equity investment in Musoni Services, a holding of Musoni Investments that offers software for managing microfinance institutions. The sizes of the investment and the stake being taken by Goodwell remain confidential. Musoni Services plans to use the liquidity to
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: Opera Charging 1% Daily Interest on Short-term Loans in Kenya via OKash Mobile App, M-Pesa
OPay, a digital payment service developed by Norway-based technology firm Opera Software, recently began offering loans as small as KES 1,500 (USD 15) in Kenya via OKash, an app that works on Android smartphones. The minimum interest rate for initial loans is 1 percent per day, with a maximum term of 14 days. Repeat borrowers may apply for loans as large as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ecobank Offering Agency Banking in The Gambia via Rural Retailers
Ecobank, which is based in Togo and serves 36 countries, recently began offering deposit and withdrawal services via retailers in The Gambia in order to reach more people who live far from bank branches. Ecobank Managing Director Josephine Anan-Ankomah reportedly described the service as “the key component that completes
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: Senegal’s Expresso Telecom Rolls Out “E-Money” Mobile Payments in Partnership with Etisalat’s Emirates Data Clearing House
Expresso Telecom, a mobile services provider based in Senegal, recently rolled out a product called E-Money in partnership with Emirates Data Clearing House (EDCH), a unit of UAE-based Etisalat Services Holding. E-Money allows customers to store funds and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s IDA Commits $45m to Financial Inclusion of Women, Their MSMEs in Madagascar via Fintech, Credit Guarantees, Business Development Services
The International Development Association, a member of the World Bank, recently approved a wide-ranging program to boost financial inclusion in Madagascar, particularly among women. The program includes: (1) establishing e-money accounts for payments to and from the government; (2) credit guarantees to financial institutions serving micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); (3) helping financial institutions adopt new financial technology services; (4) offering business development
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Fintech Summit; April 19, 2018; Washington, DC, USA
Summary of Event: This meeting will cover topics such as fintech (financial technology) startups based in Africa, the move toward interoperability of mobile payment systems, regulatory “sandboxes,” virtual currencies, e-waste