Vodacom, a South Africa-based mobile communications company owned by UK-based Vodafone, reportedly has announced the expansion its mobile pesa (M-Pesa) cash transfer service to Mozambique.
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Ghana, EB Accion, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, USAID to Help Women Become Mobile Money Agents
The Ghanaian branch of Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, which is also known as Tigo and has operations in 15 African and Latin American countries; EB Accion, a Ghana-based microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with Togo-based Ecobank Group and US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Accion; Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a London-based charity focused on technology and access to finance; and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, reportedly have partnered on a mobile money project that is expected to involve hundreds of women in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equity Bank, Google Announce BebaPay Card for Paying Bus Fares in Kenya
In partnership with Google, a US-based provider of technology products and services, Equity Bank, a private bank based in Kenya, has announced that the bank will be offering a new cashless payment card system called BebaPay, which is expected to enable users to pay bus fares without the use of cash.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India Proposes Microinsurance Firms Provide Maturity Benefit Policies to Boost Sales
In an effort to boost sales of microinsurance in India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the country’s regulatory body for the insurance industry, reportedly has proposed that microinsurance firms offer policies with maturity benefits [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Commission, European Investment Bank Launch Small, Medium-Sized Enterprise Financing Website
The European Commission (EC), the legislative body of the European Union (EU), recently introduced an online portal featuring small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) stock prices and providing SMEs with information on the following EC programs: the Competitiveness and Innovation Program (CIP), which offers business support services; European Progress Microfinance Facility, which supports microcredit providers; Risk Sharing Instrument Facility (RSI), which supports debt financing to SMEs for research, development and innovation projects; and the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE), which allows EU member states to use EU structural funds to finance SMEs via equity, loans or guarantees [1].
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financing Africa, Social Performance Indicators for Microinsurance, Segmentation of Agricultural Households
“Financing Africa Through the Crisis and Beyond;” by Thorsten Beck, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, Issa Faye and Thouraya Triki; published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), World Bank Group, African Development Bank; 2013; 322 pages; available at: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Financing%20Africa%20Through%20the%20Crisis%20and%20Beyond.pdf
This book presents a review of trends in Africa’s financial sector in the context of Africa’s past economic development trends and broader historical background.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Azerbaijan Microfinance Association Considers Credit Bureau for Microlenders
Teymur Heybatov, a representative of the Azerbaijan-Central Asia Financial Markets Infrastructure (ACAFI) advisory services project of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), reportedly has announced that a meeting will be held with the leadership of the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMA) to discuss establishing a credit bureau for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nine Indian Impact Investment Companies Forming “Indian Impact Investor Council”
Nine companies that specialize in impact investment reportedly will be establishing the “Indian Impact Investor Council” (IIIC) to establish guidelines helping investment companies in India regulate their efforts to meet social goals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PKF Chartered Accountants Advises Royal Bank Zimbabwe to Downscale to Microfinance Institution
PKF Chartered Accountants, the Zimbabwean member of UK-based businesses services firm PKF International, reportedly has advised Royal Bank Zimbabwe Limited, a defunct bank, to convert its commercial banking license to a microfinance institution (MFI) license, which carries lower capital requirements set by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the country’s central banking institution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration, Venture Capital Trust Fund Establish Centre for Impact Investing
Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), an initiative of the government of Ghana to provide low-cost capital to private businesses, reportedly has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government-run business school Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), establishing a Centre for Impact Investing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Reveals Truth in Lending Tables Data Platform and Pricing Transparency Index
MicroFinance Transparency (MFTransparency), a US-based nongovernmental organization that provides information on microcredit products and their prices, recently revealed the Truth in Lending Tables (TILT) Data Platform that displays the interest rates and fees charged to 40 million microfinance clients of 429 institutions across 20 countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Low Repayment Rates Threaten Ghana’s Governmental Microfinance and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC)
The Microfinance and Small Loans Center (MASLOC), a Ghanaian government-funded program established in 2004 to implement microfinance programs targeted at reducing poverty and creating jobs, reportedly has indicated that low loan repayment rates are threatening to collapse the program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC to Loan $50m to BanBif of Peru to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it would loan USD 50 million to Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (BanBif), a Peruvian commercial bank, in an effort to double the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) served by the bank by 2017.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Promotes Entrepreneurship Through 20-week Startup Design Course, Supports “Small Business Credit Guarantee Scheme”
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), the monetary authority of six Caribbean nations including Antigua and Barbuda, in partnership with the Antigua Barbuda Investment (ABI) Bank, a private bank founded in 1990, recently hosted a 20-week entrepreneurship course in the country of Antigua and Barbuda aimed at helping aspiring entrepreneurs to improve their presentation and business plan development skills.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Trico Charitable Foundation to Host 2013 Social Enterprise World Forum, October 2-4, 2013, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Event Name: 2013 Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF)
Event Date: October 2-4, 2013
Event Location: Telus Convention Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Grants Licenses to 171 Financial Institutions as 116 Fraud Cases Involving Unlicensed Institutions are Pending
Dr Yaw Gyima-Larbi, the head of microfinance and banking supervision at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), reportedly has announced that the central bank has granted final operating licenses to 171 financial institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladeshi Microfinance Institutions Boost All-Time Microcredit Disbursals to $2.7b
A recent report from Bangladesh’s Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA), a Bangladeshi agency charged with licensing and supervising microfinance institutions (MFIs), reportedly indicates that as of June 2012, the end of the last fiscal year, Bangladeshi MFIs have disbursed approximately BDT 211 billion (USD 2.7 billion) in microcredit since such data has been tracked.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) to Offer Validated Social Data from Microfinance Institutions
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based nonprofit, recently announced plans to release a feature on its MIX Market website in 2013 that will allow users to search for “validated social data” from microfinance institutions (MFIs) and filter out those not reporting such data.