Event Name: Global Sustainable Finance Conference 2012: Greening Financial Institutions
Event Date: July 5 – July 6, 2012
Event Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA) Celebrates 2nd Anniversary, Reports Positive Financials for 2011
The Regional Micro-, Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA) SA, a Luxembourg-based investment fund that focuses on supporting micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the region, recently celebrated its second anniversary by presenting a summary of 2011 achievements along with an overview of its goals for 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfund for Women Offers Health Insurance Coverage to Microfinance Borrowers’ Families in Jordan
The Microfund for Women (MFW), a Jordanian microfinance institution serving microentrepreneurs, has extended health insurance coverage to family members of its clients as part of the second phase of its Caregiver Program, which helps to defray expenses associated with hospitalization.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Oliver Kinross Presents “Cards, Payments & Mobile Banking Africa Summit 2012 and The Mobile Banking Africa Awards 2012”, June 11 – 12, 2012, Johannesburg, South Africa
Event Name: Cards, Payments & Mobile Banking Africa Summit 2012 and The Mobile Banking Africa Awards 2012
Event Date: June 11 – June 12, 2012
Event Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROFINANCE EVENT: IBC Asia Presents 6th Annual “Mobile Financial Services Asia Pacific Summit 2012”, September 10 – 12, 2012, The Philippines
Event Name: Mobile Financial Services Asia Pacific Summit 2012
Event Date: September 10 – September 12, 2012
Event Location: Manila, The Philippines
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladesh Finance Minister: Management Structures in Microfinance Sector Too Dependent on Founders
Bangladesh Finance Minister A M A Muhith reportedly has urged microfinance institutions (MFIs) to adjust their management structures to ensure that the organizations do not destabilize due to the death of a founder.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Global Microfinance Equity Valuation Survey; Microfinance Governance Indicators; Audio Report: Role of Brokers in Microinsurance
“Volume Growth and Valuation Contraction: Global Microfinance Equity Valuation Survey 2012;” by Jasmina Glisovic, et al; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and JP Morgan; May 2012; 16 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.57526/VolumeGrowth.pdf
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion and Stability: What Does Research Show?”; by Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Timothy Lyman; CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Brief
By Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Timothy Lyman, published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), May 2012, 4 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/publications/financial-inclusion-and-stability-what-does-research-show-0
MICROFINANCE EVENT: First Affirmative Financial Network Presents 23rd Annual “SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing”, October 2 – 4, 2012, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
Event Name: 2012 SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing
Event Date: October 2 – October 4, 2012
Event Location: Mohegan Sun Conference Center, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group’s “Measuring Financial Inclusion: The Global Findex Database” Indicates 2.5 Billion Do Not Have Access to Formal Banking
A recent policy research working paper released by The World Bank Group, entitled “Measuring Financial Inclusion: The Global Findex Database” indicates that three quarters of the world’s poor people, 2.5 billion, do not have access to a bank account mostly because of cost, distance and the paperwork required to set up a bank account [1][2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Finds “Massive Problems” with Practices of SKS Microfinance
In conducting a set of field inspections, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), an Indian supervisory body, reportedly has detected “massive problems” in the handling of insurance by SKS Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khushhali Bank of Pakistan Takes Branches Online Allowing Customers to Be Served at Multiple Branches
Khushhali Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Pakistan, reportedly has launched an online banking system that “makes the customer of one branch, a client of the entire bank, enabling him to avail its services irrespective of location.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Insurance Commission (NIC) of Ghana Targets 10% Microinsurance Penetration in Three Years
The National Insurance Commission (NIC) of Ghana, the regulatory authority for the country’s insurance industry, reportedly has announced a goal to increase penetration of the microinsurance market from the current 1 percent of the population to ten percent within three years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Microfinance Bank (NMB) of Tanzania to Promote Savings for Education
The National Microfinance Bank (NMB), a microfinance institution (MFI) backed by the government of Tanzania, reportedly has launched the Financial Fitness Program (FFP) “that is aimed at promoting the culture of saving for the purpose of financing education.”
MICROFINANCE EVENT: European Marketing Research Center (EMRC) Presents “African Finance & Investment Forum 2012: Financial Inclusion through SMEs & Cooperatives”, June 17 – 19, 2012, Utrecht and Floriade – Venlo, Netherlands
Event Name: African Finance & Investment Forum 2012: Financial Inclusion through SMEs & Cooperatives
Event Date: June 17 – June 19, 2012
Event Location: Rabobank Headquarters, Utrecht and Floriade – Venlo, Netherlands
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kiva Boosts Funding Raised for Microfinance Loans by $18m to $89m in 2011
Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, has released its annual report for 2011 indicating that its loans to microfinance institutions increased from USD 71 million in 2010 to USD 89.5 million in 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chinese Government Starting Rural Financial Reform Project in Lishui
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central banking authority, reportedly has announced a pilot program in the city ofLishuito encourage the establishment of village banks, microcredit firms and rural credit cooperatives to expand financial services for villagers and increase agricultural production.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Regulatory Authority of Bangladesh Revokes Licenses of 12 Microfinance Institutions, to Deploy Observers to Others
The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh reportedly has announced that plans are in place to appoint administrators to observe troubled microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the country.