by Jacqueline Foelster -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: “Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry” to be Held in London, United Kingdom, May 24-25, 2011

Event Name: Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry

Event Date: May 24 – May 25, 2011

Event Location: London, United Kingdom

by Witt Gatchell -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the American Pakistan Foundation (APF) Partner to Provide Relief for Flood Victims in Pakistan

BRAC (formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), a microfinance institution based in Bangladesh, and the American Pakistan Foundation (APF), a US-based nonprofit, are partnering to help rebuild areas of Pakistan affected by the July 2010 floods through the use of the microlender’s infrastructure and personnel.

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson of Microfinance Institution BRAC to be Knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In recognition of his many years of work to assist poor people, Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder and Chairperson of international microfinance institution BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), is to be knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on an undisclosed date.

by Sally Levy -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: BRAC, Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Omidyar Network and Humanity United Form $15m Microfinance Partnership in Sierra Leone and Liberia

For discussion of this topic click here:  http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/forum/topics/deals-in-microfinance-the

The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an international non-government organization (NGO), will lead a partnership worth USD 15 million in Sierra Leone and Liberia to provide microfinance, healthcare and agricultural support [1, 2]. The Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Omidyar Network and Humanity United are funding this project through a combination of grants and equity [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]. BRAC has opened 20 new microfinance branches since March 2009 in Sierra Leone and Liberia, with the first loan being issued in June, and aims to open 20 more by the end of the year [1]. During the two year pilot program it aims to provide loans to tens of thousands of women in these two West Africa countries [1]. Furthermore the project will provide agricultural supplies, training to farmers and 400 community based health volunteers [1].  

by Ryan Hogarth -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: BRAC provides Micro Health Insurance in Bangladesh. Lessons in Financial Viability. (Part II of IV)

This article on the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee’s (BRAC) Micro Health Insurance for Poor Rural Women in Bangladesh (MHIB) is the second in a series of MicroCapital case studies on Health Microinsurance (HMI) schemes in Bangladesh.  Please also refer to Part I on Grameen Kalyan; Part III on the Society for Social Services (SSS); and Part IV, a wrap-up of the CGAP research paper “Health Microinsurance: A Comparative Study of Three Examples in Bangladesh”.  The Grameen Kalyan article explained that public health services in Bangladesh are urban-based, elite-biased, and curative-oriented (p.vi), and that the World Health Organization (WHO) identified inadequate healthcare financing mechanisms to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving health outcomes of the poor.

by Ryan Hogarth -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Book Release: “Freedom From Want” by Ian Smillie Pays Homage to the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)

“Unlike the Grameen Bank, BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) is not well known outside Bangladesh, but that will change, because BRAC is undoubtedly the largest and most variegated social experiment in the developing world,” writes Ian Smillie (p1), the author of recently published “Freedom From Want” (Kumarian Press, 2009). The 283-page book is a tribute to the gigantic Bangladeshi nongovernmental microfinance and development organization, which today operates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, the Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Upon a backdrop of the history of Bangladesh, “Freedom From Want” traces the growth of BRAC from its origins in 1972 as a small social relief project for victims of the 1970 cyclone and 1972 Liberation War. It provides a biography of BRAC Founder and Chairperson, Fazle Hasan Abed. And, it documents the launch of BRAC’s various development initiatives and its expansion into Asia and Africa as it grew to become the multinational, multifaceted development institution that it is today.

by Bharathi Ram -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC (the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee)

Fazle Hasan Abed is the founder and chairperson of BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), the Bangladesh based development organization dedicated to poverty alleviation and rural empowerment. BRAC was founded in February 1972 an almost entirely donor-funded, small-scale relief and rehabilitation project to aid post-Liberation War Bangladesh and has now expanded into a private development organization dedicated to poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor, serving an estimated 100 million Bangladeshis with presence in all 64 districts of Bangladesh.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: BRAC of Bangladesh Launches $62m East Africa Microfinance Fund

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an International Development Organization founded in Bangladesh announced the launch of the BRAC Africa Loan Fund to provide microfinance loans to poor borrowers in Tanzania, Uganda and Southern Sudan. In a press release found on PRNewswire, BRAC announced that it has raised USD 62.6 million of capital towards the loan fund. The release stated that the Africa Loan Fund would provide long-term, local currency funding that would enable BRAC to scale up its microfinance operations to reach over 700,000 borrowers through over 200 branches across the three East African countries.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and MasterCard Foundation Establish $19.6m Microfinance Program in Uganda

On November 18, the MasterCard Foundation, a private foundation in Toronto, Canada, and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a Bangladeshi microfinance institution (MFI), targeted two million Ugandans with a USD 19.6 microfinance program.  The need for deeper, more mature microfinance markets in Uganda is strong, implies a recent Business Wire story.  The government made expanding financial services for the rural poor a “top priority” in a country where more than 37 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day and 62 percent do not have access to financial services.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Citibank Grants US$ 23.8 Thousand to Brac Tanzania

Citibank issued a 30 million/- (USD 23.8 thousand) grant to BRAC Tanzania in support of microfinance activities in the Vingunguti area of Tanzania, according to a report in Tanzania’s Daily News Online. This will be the second time in two years that Citibank has provided funds to BRAC Tanzania, the first time was in 2007 and the amount was 24 million/- (USD 19 thousand). The article reported that the CEO for Citibank Africa, Zdenek Turec and CEO of Citibank East Africa, Ade Ayeyemi presented the grant to BRAC Tanzania after visiting the Vingunuti area. The article in the Daily News did not provide further details, and there were no reports from either BRAC or Citibank on the grant.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: BRAC Receives US$ 1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize

The world’s largest humanitarian prize, the USD 1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, was awarded to BRAC, for helping more than 110 million people through microcredit and basic services programs. The prize was awarded on October 20th, the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, in Geneva, Switzerland. CEO of the Hilton Foundation Steven M. Hilton spoke of BRAC’s achievements, saying, “BRAC’s approach to creating self-sufficient and sustainable programmes on a massive scale has blazed a trail for development organizations around the world”.

by Stephen Son -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to Lend $3.4m to Microfinance Institution (MFI) BRAC Pakistan

The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a public-private partnership that promotes economic development, has signed an agreement with microfinance institution (MFI) BRAC Pakistan to provide it a loan facility of PKR 220 million (USD 3.4 million) for micro-lending activities.

by Jennifer Lee -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: ING Review of Citigroup’s Microfinance Activities and Its Syndicated Loan Securitizations for Compartamos, SKS Microfinance, and BRAC

The Dutch Bank ING published its updated 2008 study on commercial bank microfinance activity, called “A Billion to Gain? The Next Phase”. A MicroCapital summary of the paper can be read here. MicroCapital is reviewing the microfinance activities of several of large international banks covered in the study, such as Citigroup (Citi).

by Stephen Son -

PAPER WRAP-UP: BRAC Micro-Credit Securitization Series I: Lessons from the World’s First Micro-Credit Backed Security (MCBS), by Ray Rahman & Saif Shah Mohammed

Written by Ray Rahman and Saif Shah Mohammed of MF Analytics Ltd., a US financial services house focused on microfinance and small-and-medium enterprise (SME) that participated in the world’s first microfinance securitization, released March 2007 by MF Analytics, 22 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.com/redirect.php?mode=link&id=45785

Background & Risks

In August 2006, the world’s first securitization of micro-credit receivables, known as BRAC Micro Credit Securitization Series I, was secured. It signaled the birth of the Micro-Credit Backed Security (MCBS), a new instrument seen as a source of funding for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and designed to be relatively safe for investors. The project partnered MF Analytics with BRAC (Building Resources Across Communities), Bangladesh’s largest non-governmental organization (NGO), which operates an MFI and programs for healthcare, education, and social advocacy.