Event Name: The Frankfurt School Summer Academies 2010
Event Date: July 2 to July 30, 2010
Event Location: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Bankakademie)
Event Website: http://www.frankfurt-school.de/content/en/intern_advisory/summer_academies
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
Event Name: Chicago Microfinance Conference (CFMC)
Event Date: May 7, 2010
Event Location: University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Event Website: http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/index.shtml
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
The Microenterprise and Development Institute (MDI), a US-based microfinance training program, has moved from Southern New Hampshire University to the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The program is now called the Sustainable Microenterprise and Development Program (SMDP).
A recent article in The Economist weekly magazine brings attention to the expansion of a new microinsurance scheme in Kenya, known as Kilimo Salama, or “safe farming,” which uses mobile phones and automated solar-power weather stations to provide crop insurance to low-income farmers.
Written by Thanuja Mummidi, published by the Rural Microfinance and Employment project (RUME) in June 2009, 27 pages, available at: http://www.rume-rural-microfinance.org/IMG/pdf_WP5.pdf
This study examines a methodology for analyzing whether or not microfinance promotes income-generating activities amongst the poor, specifically focusing on women.
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has released the 2009 benchmarking report for the UEMOA (Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine), the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
The global news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) recently reported that small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) in Senegal are struggling to access funding.
An article in The Economist weekly magazine titled, “Savings and the Poor: A Better Mattress,” examines the current market for microsavings products and argues for better technology and more flexible regulation.
At the Women’s World Banking (WWB) Microfinance and Capital Markets conference on March 23 and March 24, Ms Elizabeth Littlefield, the Chief Executive of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) who has been nominated to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), declared “There’s a huge untapped pool of savings in poor households that’s desperate to be taken out from under the bed.”
The nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has released the 2009 Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.
At a recent conference organized by the Bank of Albania, the German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank and the microfinance investment fund European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), panelists emphasized that amidst high growth rates in the region’s microfinance sector, irresponsible finance practices abound.
Plan Canada, a nonprofit children’s relief organization, has partnered with The MasterCard Foundation, a private Canadian foundation that supports microfinance, to create a USD 4.1 million program that aims to expand microfinance services to youth (ages 15 to 25) in Niger, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
There are now more details available regarding the much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of SKS Microfinance Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, which MicroCapital covered most recently on March 9, 2010.
According to a recent article on VCCircle.com, an Indian online news platform, Indian microfinance fund managers are diversifying their investment base to include more areas of social investing, such as microinsurance, micro housing finance, healthcare, mobile payments and rural supply chains.
At a recent three-day conference in Bangladesh titled, “Microfinance Regulations: Who Benefits,” the country’s Finance Minister, Mr Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, argued that high interest rates and charges are the main challenges facing Bangladesh’s microfinance industry.
Financiera Independencia, a Mexico-based microfinance institution (MFI) that is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange, has announced that it has successfully placed USD 200 million in senior guaranteed notes in the international market.
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the international development bank of the Netherlands. FMO uses loans, mezzanine financing and equity investments to invest in financial institutions and other companies in developing countries. With an investment portfolio of USD 6.5 billion, FMO is one of the world’s largest bilateral private sector development banks. FMO’s mission is to create flourishing enterprises that can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries.
According to the Bharat Microfinance Report released by Sa-Dhan, an organization of microfinance institutions in India, the portfolio of NGO microfinance institutions (MFIs) grew 97 percent to INR 351 billion (the equivalent of USD 7.7 billion) in 2009.