The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), a nonprofit think tank with offices in Ghana and the US, will be hosting approximately 40 stakeholders to discuss the financial inclusion of women and youth based on ACET’s key findings from a recent study in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Zambia. Those unable to attend in person may participate via
Category: Youth
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Malaysia Launches National Strategy for Financial Literacy
Malaysia recently launched a National Strategy for Financial Literacy for the years 2019 through 2023. The strategy outlines the following priority areas:
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Opportunity Collaboration; October 13-18, 2019; Cancun, Mexico
This is the 10th annual iteration of this networking event, which is dedicated to fostering relationships among social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and funders. The proceedings include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SEEP Network to Hold Annual Conference: Building Resilience through Market Systems; October 21-23, 2019; Arlington, Virginia, USA
The SEEP Annual Conference convenes hundreds of global development professionals who are working to create markets and financial systems that are more inclusive. The 2019 event, which is themed “Building Resilience through Market Systems,” will highlight proven and experimental strategies to harness markets for helping people, enterprises and communities avoid the “shock-stress-shock” cycle. Peer-learning sessions will address strategies within the following technical tracks
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Juhudi Kilimo of Kenya Sells Equity Stake to Incofin CVSO for $2.4m
Juhudi Kilimo, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) in Kenya, recently sold an ownership stake of unspecified size for EUR 2.2 million (USD 2.4 million) to Incofin CVSO, a cooperative fund managed by Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management. Juhudi, which mainly serves rural areas, intends to use the new funding to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Egypt Doubling Microloan Cap to $12k
Egypt is in the process of increasing the maximum loan size that microfinance institutions (MFIs) may disburse from EGP 100,000 (USD 6,000) to EGP 200,000 (USD 12,000). The goal of the change reportedly is to help microenterprises grow, thus “creating
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Guarantees $1.5m in Microlending by Tamweelcom of Jordan to Refugees from Syria via Nasira Program
The Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, recently committed to a risk-sharing facility of up to USD 1.5 million to support Tamweelcom, a Jordan-based microfinance organization, in funding entrepreneurship among refugees from Syria. Tamweelcom will make loans of JOD 1,000 (USD 1,440) to JOD 7,000 (USD 9,900) to the refugees to put towards income-generating businesses. To be eligible, borrowers must hold identification from both the UN High
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Ecuador, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan Borrow from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, Kosovo and Kyrgyzstan have borrowed unspecified amounts of funding from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund, which is managed by Austria-based C-Quadrat Asset Management (AM). C-Quadrat AM, a member of the C-Quadrat Investment Group, told MicroCapital hours ago that the transactions occurred during March. While declining to name the MFIs, the firm described
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Karandaaz Unifies Data on Financial Services in Pakistan into Single Portal
An NGO named Karandaaz Pakistan recently launched a collection of data on financial services and “selected socioeconomic indicators” on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity Awards $4.4m for Innovative Financial Services in Burundi, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Zambia
The Canada-based Mastercard Foundation recently announced the following organizations will share USD 4.4 million from the final competition phase of its Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP): Promotion du Sesame du Mali (PROSEMA), Lima Kwanza Limited of Tanzania, Savonor of Burundi, Sprint Money Limited of Zambia and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit: “The Opportunity Puzzle: Piecing It Together to Help Youth Learn, Earn and Thrive;” October 1 – 4, 2019; Washington, DC, USA
The thirteenth annual iteration of the Global Youth Economic Opportunities (YEO) Summit will focus on
SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (African Microfinance Week) Scheduled for October 21-25, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Luxembourgish NGO ADA recently announced that the next SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from October 21 to 25, 2019. The themes for this fourth SAM include Agricultural Finance; Macro-Level Alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals; Digital Finance and Fintech; Cash Transfers; Gender Inequality; and Small & Medium Enterprise Development and Youth Employment. In addition to the conference sessions on October 22 and October 23, there will be an Investor’s Fair, an Innovator’s Fair, “Research Meets Africa” discussions and 20 free
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ecobank, Terre des Hommes to Provide “SaVa” Digital Microsavings to Street-involved Youth in Togo
Ecobank, a Togo-based provider of banking services in 36 countries, is rolling out a pilot program with Switzerland-based NGO Terre des Hommes to deliver mobile savings services to children who work in the streets of the Togolese capital of Lome. To save money, the target youth sometimes bury it or
SPECIAL REPORT: RCPB of Burkina Faso Improves Youth Training, Links with Solar Provider at SAM
Réseau à la Faîtière des Caisses Populaires du Burkina, a savings and credit cooperative with 180 locations in Burkina Faso, has sent several staff members to all three SAM conferences. In 
Dakar in 2015, they made contact with a provider of solar light kits that hold a charge for four days. RCPB now lends to women to purchase these kits, which can have a wide range of benefits, such as increased student study time and reduced indoor air pollution from burning kerosene.
Azaratou Sondo-Nignan (pictured), the deputy director of RCPB, was part of a delegation that presented at SAM on the institution’s youth loans. In addition to sharing its expertise with other organizations, the delegation brought back ideas that helped improve the training that RCPB’s young borrowers receive in support of their loans.
RCPB staff also heard from a representative of a firm in Niger that offers a system to control irrigation canals remotely. Ms Sondo feels this would
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week; November 20 – 22, 2019: Save the Date
The 
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) will hold the next European Microfinance Week from November 20 through November 22, 2019, at the Abbaye de Neumunster in Luxembourg. This will include the presentation of the European Microfinance Award. Details on how to participate
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU, FMO to Guarantee $86m in Lending to Migrants, Women, Youth in Africa, Europe via “Nasira” Program
The EU’s European Commission recently signed a contract with the Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, to support FMO’s Nasira guarantee program, which promotes lending to entrepreneurs in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa who represent one or more of the following groups: migrants, women and youth. Nasira guarantees loans by retail financial institutions to micro-, small and medium-sized businesses owned by members of these groups. FMO will also deliver technical assistance to both the financial
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Produce Firm El Roda Benefits from Trade and Competitiveness, SEMED Youth Employment Programmes Entering Egypt
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently agreed to lend El Roda, an Egyptian producer and exporter of fruits and vegetables, an unspecified amount of funding to expand its packing facility and purchase additional grape varieties and cultivation machinery such as irrigation equipment. The company
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp Global Summit; December 11-12, 2018; Mumbai, India
Themed “Agenda 3 Billion – Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems,” the 10th Sankalp Global Summit is organized around the following sectors: agriculture, clean energy, health & sanitation, financial inclusion, and livelihoods. Sample presentation titles include: (1) Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age,