Cooperative Insurance Company of Kenya Limited (CIC), an insurance company in Kenya, has announced the launch of M-Bima, a mobile-to-mobile premium payment program. CIC has partnered with telecommunications company Safaricom and its M-Pesa program, a mobile-to-mobile money management service, and reportedly plans to partner with other money transfer platforms such as u-Cash, and Airtel’s Zap/Airtel Money.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Investment Company responsAbility Releases “Microfinance Market Outlook 2011”
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company in Switzerland, recently released “Microfinance Market Outlook 2011,” a report based on surveys of representatives of microfinance institutions (MFIs), investors, rating agencies and consultancies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Publishes “Doing Business 2011: Making A Difference for Entrepreneurs,” Analysis of Business Regulation Worldwide
The International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group member created to support private sector development, recently released the annual report “Doing Business 2011: Making A Difference for Entrepreneurs,” which examines the impact of regulations that affect business activity.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pakistan, Cambodia and Philippines Top Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Ranking of Microfinance Regulatory Frameworks
A study conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business information arm of The Economist Group, the producer of The Economist weekly magazine, has ranked Pakistan, Cambodia and the Philippines first in the world in terms of regulatory framework. The study was based on data from 54 countries, measuring their regulatory frameworks, investment climate and institutional development.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: YouthSave Project Launches New Website Targeting Young People With Microfinance
YouthSave Project, a consortium of youth- and microfinance-focused NGOs, has launched a website that will feature the research of the YouthSave Project, as well as broader information on youth savings accounts around the globe.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International and Caterpillar Foundation Launch $1m Corporate Challenge to Alleviate Global Poverty Through Savings-Based Microfinance Programs
Opportunity International, a US-based microfinance organization, and the Caterpillar Foundation, the charitable arm of heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., have launched a USD 1 million challenge grant that will match donations from corporations and small businesses to Opportunity International.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Russian Microfinance Center (RMC) and Citi Foundation Open Nominations for Sixth Annual Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards
The Russian Microfinance Center (RMC), a trade association that advocates on behalf of the Russian microfinance community, and Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of global financial services provider Citi, have announced the opening of nominations for the sixth annual Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citibank Launches Website for Practitioners and Researchers in the Field of Financial Capability
Citibank has launched a website built for practitioners and researchers working in the field of “financial capability”, which encompasses financial literacy, economic behavior change, financial inclusion and asset building and preservation.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Online Platform Wokai Reports $364k Raised for Microfinance in China
Wokai, a nonprofit organization in the US that allows donors to support microfinance institutions (MFIs) in China through its online portal, reports that since its website launch in November 2007, it has gathered USD 374,000 from 6,700 contributors for onlending to 491 borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re) Partners with Vietnam Agribank Insurance Joint Stock Company (ABIC) To Launch Insurance Product Aimed at Protecting Microfinance Loans
Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re), a global reinsurer based in Zurich, recently announced the launch of an index-based insurance program in partnership Vietnam Agribank Insurance Joint Stock Company (ABIC), the insurance arm of Vietnamese agricultural bank Agribank. The program will insure microloans to rice farmers in 10 provinces in Vietnam.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dr Muhammed Yunus, Winner of Nobel Prize for Work in Microfinance, Accused of Improperly Transferring $100m from Grameen Bank to Insurer Grameen Kalyan
Bdnews24.com, a web-based Bangladeshi newspaper, reports that Muhammed Yunus, the founder of microfinance institution (MFI) Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and a 2006 Nobel Prize winner for championing microcredit, has been accused of secretly transferring approximately USD 100 million in 1996 to Grameen Kalyan, a sister company of Grameen Bank that offers affordable health insurance to Grameen members and their families but does not engage in microlending.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Savings Groups: What Are They? By Hugh Allen and David Panetta, Published by The SEEP Network
By Hugh Allen and David Panetta, Published by The SEEP Network, June 2010, 64 pages, available at: http://seepnetwork.org/PDFfiles/Savings_FINAL_web.pdf
Even as microlenders become a popular channel through which to reach the poor, many of those in rural areas and urban slums remain without access to formal financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Increases Minimum Capital Requirement for Microfinance Banks
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the minimum capital requirements for microfinance banks in Pakistan in an effort to ensure that microfinance banks have adequate financial resources to remain sound over the long term.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India’s West Bengal Face Cash Shortage as Pain Spreads Outside Andhra Pradesh
Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in the Indian state of West Bengal are facing a shortage of lendable funds, as the banks from which they borrow reduce their exposure to the microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Africa Information and Communications Technology Exhibition & Conference (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Nairobi, Kenya, March 2-3, 2011
Event Name: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money COMESA, 2011
Event Date: March 2 – March 3, 2011
Event Location: Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Confederación de Cámaras Industriales de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (CONCAMIN) and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Partner To Launch Web-Based Toolkit for Mexico
The International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Confederación de Cámaras Industriales de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (CONCAMIN), a group of organizations designed to promote the development of Mexico’s manufacturers and entrepreneurs; and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, a technological university in Monterrey, Mexico, have partnered to launch the SME Toolkit Integrapyme in Mexico, a web-based toolkit that has been used since 2006 in other countries to assist managers of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Assesses Potential Impact of Recent Microfinance Regulation in India’s Andhra Pradesh State
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit that seeks to offer objective data and analysis on microfinance players, recently examined historical data from 2003 to the present from 100 MFIs in India to assess the hypothetical impact of capping interest rates at 24 percent and return on assets (ROA) at 3 percent, two limits effectively imposed by the state government on MFIs amidst the ongoing crisis in the microfinance industry in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania Arranges, USAID Guarantees Local-Currency Bond for Tanzanian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Promotion for Rural Initiatives and Enterprise Limited (PRIDE Tanzania)
Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania, a division of the London-based international bank Standard Chartered PLC, recently arranged a bond issue for Tanzanian microfinance institution (MFI) Promotion for Rural Initiatives and Enterprise Limited (PRIDE Tanzania), which is reportedly the first MFI bond ever issued on the Tanzania Stock Exchange.