MICROFINANCE EVENT: The SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance); October 18-22, 2021; Kigali, Rwanda

This year’s SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) includes five days of conference sessions, an investors’ fair, an “Innovators’ Village,” research presentations, training sessions and workshops under the theme “Resilience of the African Inclusive Finance Sector.” The two-day conference portion of SAM includes sessions on topics such as how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, financing agricultural value chains, risk management, serving youth, digital infrastructure and post-crisis reconstruction. The other days of SAM include workshops on topics such as social performance,

SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience for Microfinance Clients – the SAM 2021 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22

MicroCapital: How will the theme resilience be addressed during the SAM 2021?

Yombo Odanou: The EU has defined resilience as “the capacity of an individual, household, community, country or region to resist, adapt and recover quickly from crises and shocks.” The dual climate and COVID-19 crises and their effects on the global economy are forcing institutions to find new ways to take advantage of this austere environment.

Christophe Hebting: We believe the discussions at the SAM can build the resilience capacity of all actors in the inclusive finance sector. This includes addressing questions such as: How can resilience be increased through structural change? In the face of climate change? Through technological innovations?

MC: How are you addressing concerns attendees may have regarding the potential transmission of COVID-19 during the event?

YO: Since the beginning of this pandemic, MAIN has initiated actions to enable its members to minimise the risk of infection, allowing them to continue

SPECIAL REPORT: How Do We Build the Right Skills for a Sustainable Future?

There is no doubt that sustainability considerations recently have found their way into many areas of our lives. The global Fridays for Future movement is just one of several calls to action to significantly reduce carbon emissions and make the world more climate-resilient and socially equitable – and thus a better place to live. The adoption of the Paris Agree­ment and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are Sustainable World Academydriving demand for low-carbon goods and services around the world. Thus, the sustainability wave has spilled over into the real economy and the finan­cial sector, forcing stakeholders to rethink legacy business models and practices. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) con­sidera­tions, being the main pillars for sustainability, have become key drivers for investment and other business decisions, as sustain­ability-related risks (e.g. climate change) have started to gain wide recognition.

The COVID-19 pandemic: A (final) push for sustainability?

The fragility of unsustainable business models and lack of practices for a resilient and robust economy – as well as survivability – became

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Zeepay of Ghana, Dutch Government, SNV, UNCDF Partner on Financial Education, Remittances via EU-funded GrEEn Program

Zeepay, a financial technology (fintech) company with offices in Ghana and the UK, recently partnered with the embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana, the Dutch NGO Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as part of the EU-funded Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) program. The goal is to serve “youth, women and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nasira Guaranteeing $35m in Digital Lending by Sasfin to SMEs Owned by Migrants, Women, Youth in South Africa from Emergency COVID-19 Facility Funded by EU, FMO

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private partnership also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently selected Sasfin Bank of South Africa to be the first beneficiary of an emergency risk-sharing facility intended to counter the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility is part of FMO’s Nasira fund, which guarantees bank loans to

SPECIAL REPORT: Protecting Consumers, Tracking Business Cash Flows, Cutting Costs for Digital Microfinance

During European Microfinance Platform a session entitled “Digital Credit Beyond Consumer Finance” at European Microfinance Week 2020, Michael Rothe, the co-founder of UK-based Flow, argued that there are both good and bad players in digital lending. He said that “most development finance institutions think digital credit is dangerous” and that “because providers are not being differentiated, Flow is being lumped in with” consumer finance. In fact, Flow is a fintech that lends to businesses only. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some Flow customers – many of whom operate shops that offer mobile-money services as a sideline – had to close down due to government restrictions on travel and trade. However, those that remained open saw an uptick in transactions. This is partially because governments encouraged the use of mobile money in an effort to minimize virus transmission. While other lenders stopped operating during the early days of the pandemic, Flow continued to lend, resulting in brand loyalty that Mr Rothe describes as very high. The ratio of the firm’s portfolio at risk peaked at

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Action Group Meeting: Investors Not Incentivizing MFIs Sufficiently re Measuring Social Performance

DuringEuropean Microfinance Platform today’s opening sessions of European Microfinance Week, e-MFP’s Investor Action Group met to discuss social performance measurement within microfinance institutions (MFIs). Calum Scott of US-based NGO Opportunity International described his organization’s efforts to work with MFIs to measure client outcomes. He specified that Opportunity generally does not seek to measure client impact, as that has proven too resource-intensive for its purposes. However, he argued that, “The pandemic doesn’t make outcomes data less important. If anything it makes it more important to know if and how your products are helping clients.” Of Opportunity’s partners, 95 percent use

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Registration Open for Virtual Conference; November 18-20, 2020

From European Microfinance Platformthe European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): It has been a difficult few months, and during this time we at e-MFP have engaged with our members and friends to mobilize resources and adapt our activities to best mitigate the effects this pandemic brings to our sector and the vulnerable people we as a community serve.

One of our flagship activities is European Microfinance Week (EMW), held annually in November, and with it in mind we have been closely monitoring the public health situation globally. Now more than ever it’s vital to connect and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Al Hussein Fund, Sanad Fund for MSME Offer Online Curriculum for Young Owners of Small Businesses in MENA

The Jordan-based, nonprofit Al Hussein Fund for Excellence and the Sanad Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-domiciled investor in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), recently partnered to give young business owners in the Middle East and North Africa no-cost access to a course called “How to Start and Manage a Successful Business.” The course, which was delivered in Arabic on the Edraak online education platform, “comprises

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ethiopia, IFAD Focus 3rd Phase of Rural Financial Intermediation Programme (RUFIP) on Supporting Farmers Through Climate Change, COVID-19 Pandemic

The government of Ethiopia and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently launched a program with a budget of USD 306 million to support farmers that have been negatively impacted by recurrent droughts and the COVID-19 pandemic. This third phase of the Rural Financial Intermediation Programme (RUFIP 3),

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Women’s World Banking Partner on Digital Financial Inclusion for Women

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the US-based nonprofit Women’s World Banking (WWB) recently launched a strategic partnership to increase “access to digital financial services for women and girls, specifically in emerging markets and least developed countries.” The goals include to boost

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pan-Atlantic University’s EDC, Mastercard Foundation Launch “Transforming Nigeria Youths Program” to Create 40k Jobs for Young People, Women

The Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of Nigeria’s Pan-Atlantic University along with the Canada-based Mastercard Foundation recently launched the Transforming Nigerian Youths Program to “create a network of entrepreneurial and managerial changemakers particularly…across the micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises sector in Nigeria.” The goal is to provide 40,000 youth and women with

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF) Closing After 10 Years of Lending for Students in Latin America, Caribbean

The Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF), which was launched in 2011 by Costa Rica-based Omtrix, recently completed disbursing its volume of USD 30 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving low-income households in Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of the fund, which reached seven countries, was to support youth in accessing higher education as well as assisting in the diversification of

MEDIA OF THE MONTH: Refugee Youth from South Sudan Build Skills to Benefit from Microfinance Lending in Uganda: Agricultural, Financial, Social

This 3-minute video shows how ICCO Cooperation, War Child and ZOA are partnering to help youth “improve their social and economic wellbeing through psychosocial and livelihoods support in Africa’s biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi.”

This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fonds National de la Finance Inclusive (FNFI) Cuts Interest Rates, Boosts Commissions for 9 MFIs in Togo Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

To support nine of its partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Togolese government’s Fonds National de la Finance Inclusive (FNFI) is taking the following measures: (1) cutting interest rates on its loans to the MFIs by 1 percentage point; and (2) boosting the management fee that the MFIs receive for

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobi-Changa, ThundaFund, UNCDF Crowdfunding Platform to Help Youth, Women in The Gambia Raise Money for MSMEs, Build Financial Histories

As part of the EU-funded “Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Youth and Women in The Gambia Programme,” the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is partnering with crowdfunding platforms Mobi-Changa and Thundafund to develop a new fundraising platform. The service will allow individuals to donate to and invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab Takes Equity Stake in Pintek of Indonesia, Provider of Online Loans to Students, Schools

Accion Venture Lab, a unit of US-based NGO Accion, recently placed an equity investment in Indonesian financial technology (fintech) firm Pintek. While the size and price of the stake remain confidential, the typical size of an investment by Accion Venture Lab is USD 300,000 to USD 500,000. Pintek lends to private universities, secondary schools and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $14m to COFINA for Microfinance, SMEs in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which is also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan to Guinea-based microfinance group Compagnie Financiere Africaine (COFINA) to be distributed to its subsidiaries in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Of the loan proceeds, EUR 7.5 million (USD 8.2 million) is flowing to COFINA Senegal, and EUR 5 million (USD 5.5 million) is going to COFINA Côte d’Ivoire, which is