by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Myanmar Lowers Microloan Interest Rate Cap from 30% to 28%, Compulsory Savings Minimum from 15% to 14%

The Ministry of Planning and Finance of Myanmar reportedly decreed recently that microfinance institutions (MFIs) must start charging less for loans immediately. Daw Phyu Yamin Myat, the general secretary of the 107-member Myanmar Microfinance Association, reportedly stated that a minimum of

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin CVSO Loans $3m to Rent2Own, Motorbike Seller in Myanmar

Rent2Own, a company that rents and sells motorbikes in Myanmar, recently borrowed USD 3 million from Incofin CVSO, a cooperative fund managed by Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management. In return for a downpayment as small as 10 percent, a driver may rent a motorbike while she pays to buy it over time. Each contract includes asset and life insurance, and the rider may

by Tiannah Steele -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Subsidizes Singtel to Enable Mobile Remittances from Singapore to Myanmar

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a US-based agency of the UN that focuses on financial inclusion and other forms of sustainable development, recently launched a three-year collaboration with Singapore-based Singtel to extend the company’s remittance services to Myanmar. Singtel, which provides

by Michelle Fleming -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, agRIF, Daiwa Enter $9m Equity Agreement to Support Rent2Own, a Transportation Company in Myanmar

Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a subsidiary of German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW); agRIF, a fund of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management; and Japan-based asset manager Daiwa Partners recently signed an agreement to make an equity investment totaling USD 9 million

by Anuhya Tadepalli -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Proximity Finance Myanmar Borrows $1.5m in Local Currency from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Rural Microfinance Lending

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has lent local currency approximately equivalent to USD 1.5 million in favor of Proximity Finance Myanmar for on-lending in rural areas. Proximity Finance is a unit of Proximity Designs, which is a US-registered NGO exclusively serving Myanmar. Proximity Designs offers technical assistance and research services as well as – through Proximity Finance – loans for farming, raising livestock, relocation and

by Nicholas Galimberti -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $7.1m to Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK); Advans Group to Refinance in DRC, Myanmar

The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing loans to: (1) Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK) in the amount of EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million),

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Guarantee $20m in Local-currency Lending by Malaysia’s Maybank to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar

The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently agreed to guarantee USD 20 million in local-currency lending by Maybank, a Malaysia-based bank, to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar. The deal is part of ADB’s Microfinance Risk Participation and Guarantee Program, which has supported local-currency loans valued at a total of USD 670

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Graduation Programming in Uganda, Financial Lives of Farmers in DRC, Funding Local-currency Microlending in Myanmar

“The Impact of Variations of Ultra-Poor Graduation Programming in Uganda;” by Richard Sedlmayr, Munshi Sulaiman and Anuj Shah; published by Innovations for Poverty Action; February 2018; 4 pages; available at https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/VE%20Results%20Brief.pdf

Village Enterprise is a US-based NGO that offers microenterprise services in Africa such as cash transfers, mentorship, financial education and business education with the goal of helping participants achieve financial stability and increased income. This study includes a sample of approximately 6,000 Ugandan households in 138 villages that accessed Village Enterprise programs. The researchers studied a control group and groups engaged in four sets of interventions: (1) unconditional cash transfers equivalent to USD 300; (2) cash transfers coupled with training on how to manage the money; (3) cash transfers with training plus mentoring; and (4) all three of these services plus participation in business savings groups.

The fourth intervention – the full graduation program – had the largest

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MetLife Foundation Donates $5.4m to Accion to Boost Microfinance Customer Capabilities in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Myanmar

MetLife Foundation, the philanthropic unit of US-based insurer MetLife, recently agreed to donate USD 5.4 million to US-based microfinance NGO Accion for an effort called Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations. The project includes: (1) partnering with the Microfinance Centre, a Poland-based nonprofit network, to create and share tools for financial service providers to use in identifying and addressing client barriers to “financial well-being;” (2) identifying and partnering with six financial institutions in

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Myanmar, LIFT Partner on Microfinance Loans of $370 to Garment Factory Workers from Rural Areas

The UN-managed Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) recently funded the Myanma unit of UK-based VisionFund International to offer a microloan product designed for people who have moved within Myanmar from rural areas to work in urban garment factories. Upon the product launch, 160 workers at the ZES factory borrowed up to MMK 500,000 (USD 370) for purposes such as

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gret Spins Off Microfinance Activities in Myanmar, Creating Thitsar Ooyin

French NGO Gret recently consolidated its two microfinance institutions in Myanmar under a single entity called Thitsar Ooyin, which can be translated as “garden of loyalty.” Gret Microfinance Programme Manager Guillaume Lepoutre said, “The creation of a dedicated entity…provides access to new financial…resources.”

Thitsar Ooyin offers group and individual loans from eight branches in Chin State and the Dry Zone. It has 80 employees and primarily finances

by Aleksandr Marceau -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Raises $5m in Equity from BOPA, IFU, Insitor, Asia Impact Investment Fund

The Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar, a Mandalay-based microfinance institution, recently received equity investments totaling USD 5 million from

by Ryan Gauthier -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Myanmar Clears the Air by Issuing Mobile Financial Services License for OK Dollar

Myanmar’s Internet Wallet Limited reportedly has received a mobile financial services license from the Central Bank of Myanmar to cover the operations of its subsidiary, OK Dollar,

by Matthew ONeill -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mondato Summit Asia; November 28-29, 2017; Yangon, Myanmar

Event Name: Mondato Summit Asia 2017 – Of Titans & Trailblazers: Emerging Asia’s Digital Finance & Commerce Moment

Event Date: November 28 – November 29, 2017

Event Location: Yangon, Myanmar

Cost: Entry passes cost USD 1,500 until August 31 and USD 1,750 thereafter.

Summary of Event: Attendees will consider ways “incumbents and innovators alike can navigate the highly complex digital finance and commerce (DFC) ecosystem” in South and Southeast Asia. The proceedings will include case studies, debates, demonstrations and roundtable discussions.