At the the initiative of the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, microfinance lenders and other operators in the inclusive finance sector have agreed to a set of “Key Principles to Protect Microfinance Institutions and Their Clients in the COVID-19 Crisis.” The commitment involves measures including: operating in a customer-centric manner, protecting staff members, sharing
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Brazil Launching Open Banking Regulations in Partnership with TecBan, Ozone
Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), the central bank of Brazil, is introducing open banking regulations “enabling licensed institutions to share customer data” with the goal of encouraging “the rise of comparison platforms, financial management tools and more customer-friendly payment initiation procedures.” The central bank plans to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cybercrime Up During Pandemic As FSP Clients, Staff Increase Usage of Digital Payments, Remote Technologies
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of digital payment services has risen, leading to an increase in fraud and thus a renewed urgency to educate and otherwise protect consumers of these services. Financial services providers also are boosting their vigilance in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) Loans $5m to Vitas Palestine for Microfinance
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently loaned USD 5 million to the microfinance institution (MFI) Vitas Palestine. FMO sourced the funding from MASSIF, an investment vehicle it manages for the Dutch government that is meant to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jazzcash, Mastercard Partner to Expand Card-based, Digital Payments in Pakistan
Jazzcash, a unit of Netherlands-based Veon, recently partnered with Mastercard, a US-based payments company, to broaden the offerings of the mobile wallet service it operates in Pakistan. Jazzcash, which was founded in 2012, enables its users to send and receive money via mobile phones. Under the new partnership, Jazzcash customers will be able to use
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ipak Yoli Bank of Uzbekistan, IFC Collaborate to Manage Currency Risk, Increase Local-currency Financing for SMEs
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Uzbekistan’s Ipak Yoli Bank recently signed an International Swaps and Derivatives Association Master Agreement under which they plan to execute currency-swap transactions. Saidabror Savdakhmedov, Chairman of the Board of Ipak Yoli, explained that the goal is to “help expand our lending to customers in local currency, while effectively mitigating financial risks and managing our currency-risk exposure.” In particular, the bank plans to increase local-currency financing to small and medium-sized
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Conflicting Telecom Regulations, Cumbersome Utility Account Processes Limit Impact of Credit Bureau Act on Financial Inclusion in Pakistan
Mumtaz Hussain Syed, the CEO of Pakistan-based technology consultancy Aequitas Information Services, reportedly has argued that at least two factors have reduced the effectiveness of his country’s Credit Information Bureau Act of 2015. The law requires “financial and credit institutions to…share data with
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wave Money – Joint Venture of Telenor, Yoma – Raises $74m in Equity from Ant Financial for Mobile Money in Myanmar
Ant Financial Services Group, a member of the China-based Alibaba Group that operates the online payment service Alipay, recently agreed to invest USD 73.5 million in Wave Money, a joint venture of the Telenor Group and the Yoma Group that provides digital financial services in Myanmar. Ant Financial will take a “substantial minority stake” in Wave Money, which seeks
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Humanitarian Cash Transfers and Financial Inclusion, Lessons from Jordan and Lebanon;” published by CGAP
Since 2014, cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has played an important role in the management of humanitarian crises. Worldwide, CVA has grown to constitute
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Bangladesh Providing Cash Pandemic Assistance to 5m Families, Including $24m via SureCash Mobile Money to Customers of Rupali Bank
Timed to coincide with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, the Bangladeshi government has announced that it will provide cash assistance of BDT 2,500 (USD 29) to each of 5 million Bangladeshi families that have been affected by COVID-19. As part of this program, the government-controlled Rupali Bank is disbursing BDT 2 billion (USD 23.6 million) to 800,000 of its customers. It is doing this via
SPECIAL REPORT: One Size Does Not Fit All – Restructuring for Uncertain Times, from Verdant Capital
This sponsored content was written by Edmund Higenbottam and Patrick Ball, who serve, respectively, as the Managing Director and a Director of Verdant Capital. Verdant Capital is a leading specialist financial advisory firm that operates across Africa.
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combination of factors is challenging the economic sustainability of financial institutions and other businesses large and small across Africa. Globally, the COVID-19 crisis and associated lockdowns have had the effect of “calling the end of a long bull market” that has run since the credit crisis of 2008. In most African markets, however, the bull market had already ended some years before the pandemic. Instead, in Africa, the pandemic has compounded previously existing difficulties, such as weaker commodity prices, sovereign credit challenges, volatile exchange rates and uncertain public policy regimes. Despite some differences, there are many commonalities among the issues facing traditional banks, microfinance institutions and operating companies. From an investment
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “A Market Systems Approach to Savings Groups,” by Joanna Ledgerwood, published by The SEEP Network
In this paper, Ms. Ledgerwood advocates for a “market systems approach” to help savings groups (SGs) – self-managed associations of about 20 individuals who work together to save and borrow – thrive and replicate to satisfy more of the unmet demand for financial services. While SGs have grown exponentially in the past 25 years, Switzerland-based CARE International estimates that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Invests $19m in Microfinance for Women via Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
The Japan-based Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company recently invested JPY 2 billion (USD 18.6 million) in a “Microfinance and Gender Loan” scheme, which was arranged by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB), a member of the France-based Crédit Agricole Group. The funding will allow the Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, “to support microfinance institutions focusing [on]
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MIX Becoming Part of Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)
On June 1, 2020, MIX, the US-based NGO formerly known as the Microfinance Information Exchange, will become a unit of Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) with the mission of performing “data-driven research that supports the decision-making of key stakeholders, including financial service providers [FSPs], investors, donors, regulators and policymakers” in order “to improve the lives of the 3 billion financially underserved people globally.” The transition
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: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Lending $94m to Mitigate Effects of COVID-19 on 29k Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Ecuador
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), whose membership comprises 48 nations, recently loaned USD 93.8 million to Ecuador to on-lend as working capital to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) in the country in an effort to sustain employment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are intended to reach approximately 29,000 MSEs, some via savings and credit cooperatives that will enjoy guarantees from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Garanti BBVA of Turkey Borrows $699m from EBRD, IFC, Commercial Banks with Elements for Renewable Energy, MSMEs, COVID-19 Relief
Garanti BBVA, a Turkish subsidiary of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), recently entered loan agreements with the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and a syndicate of unidentified commercial banks. The sizes of the first two loans
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