This report offers three case studies on how financial services providers (FSPs) may expand and improve their usage of data to devise client-centric services and minimise account dormancy. The first case study is on the
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kinara Capital Raises $50m in Equity from Nuveen, ASN Microkredietfonds to Boost Lending to MSMEs in India
India’s Kinara Capital recently raised INR 3.8 billion (USD 50 million) in equity from the Global Impact Fund of US-based Nuveen, which led the investment round, and ASN Microkredietfonds, which is advised by the Netherlands’ Triple Jump, to boost Kinara’s lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India. According to Kinara Founder and CEO Hardika Shah
SPECIAL REPORT: Unlock New Value from Lending Operations: 6 Reasons Why Digital Loan Origination Holds the Key to Lasting Success
If your organization still relies on paper-driven lending processes, you’re missing out on opportunities to cut costs, boost efficiency and tap into new markets. Read on to discover the top reasons you can’t afford to delay making the move to digital loan origination.
Loan origination has long been a complex, highly manual process. It typically involves piles of paperwork, in-person visits and rigorous checks that cost financial providers serious time, money and effort. But this lending landscape is changing fast: Borrowers increasingly expect
SPECIAL REPORT: How Do We Build the Right Skills for a Sustainable Future?
There is no doubt that sustainability considerations recently have found their way into many areas of our lives. The global Fridays for Future movement is just one of several calls to action to significantly reduce carbon emissions and make the world more climate-resilient and socially equitable – and thus a better place to live. The adoption of the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 
driving demand for low-carbon goods and services around the world. Thus, the sustainability wave has spilled over into the real economy and the financial sector, forcing stakeholders to rethink legacy business models and practices. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, being the main pillars for sustainability, have become key drivers for investment and other business decisions, as sustainability-related risks (e.g. climate change) have started to gain wide recognition.
The COVID-19 pandemic: A (final) push for sustainability?
The fragility of unsustainable business models and lack of practices for a resilient and robust economy – as well as survivability – became
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfund for Women (MFW) Expands Digital Capabilities via MoneyPhone Technology
Microfund for Women (MFW), a nonprofit microfinance institution in Jordan, recently partnered with MoneyPhone, a Netherlands-based financial technology (fintech) company, to enhance its digital offerings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bdour Al-Hyari, the director of strategic planning and business development at MFW, cited the “opportunity for us to introduce new digital services, such as
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Savings and Climate Resilience;” by Elisa Sandri, Leonie Beckmann, James Robinson; Published by Itad
This paper explores how inclusive finance increases the ability of vulnerable populations to “anticipate, cope and adapt to climate shocks and stresses.” Savings groups, for example, can “enhance social capital by building group solidarity and networks,” and they have been successful outside of the financial arena, such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Positive Ventures of Brazil Raises $10m for Impact Fund Supporting Cleantech, Education, Fintech, Health
Positive Ventures, a Brazilian venture capital and private equity firm, recently raised USD 10 million for an impact investment fund from its limited partners, including Cândido Bracher, who previously served as Chairman of Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco; Teresa Bracher; and Luis Stuhlberger, who co-founded Brazil-based Verde Asset Management. Positive Ventures invests in companies seeking to “create an economic, social and
SPECIAL REPORT: Shafiqual Haque Choudhury: A Practical Visionary
Shafiqual 
Haque Choudhury was born into a landowning family in what was then East Pakistan. Just after he graduated as a sociologist from Dhaka University, a brutal civil war in 1971 ended in the emergence of his new country, Bangladesh.
Wanting to do something about the devastating post-war poverty and underdevelopment, Shafiq joined an overseas charity that had come to Dhaka after the war. But the fishing co-operatives that he helped to form were all too often controlled by their wealthier members, and he took the Maoist view that the poor needed to confront these local elites more directly. With funds from sympathetic international donors, he founded the Association for Social Advancement (ASA) in 1978.
ASA formed groups of working men in the villages, trained them in night schools to “recognise the sources of their oppression” and urged them to carry out “social actions” like work and rent strikes as well as withholding repayments due to moneylenders. The plan was to federate the groups at local, then at district and finally at national levels, with the ultimate goal of creating a government that reflected the needs of its poorest citizens.
It didn’t work. Social actions were few and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Business Correspondent Sub-K Impact Launching Digital Platform for Insurance, Investing, Microfinance Referrals with Support from Accion, Mastercard
Sub-K Impact Solutions, a subsidiary of India-based BASIX Social Enterprise Group, is releasing a digital platform called SARTHI (Seamless Advanced Resourceful Tech-driven Hybrid Interface) to facilitate access to insurance, microloans and investment services. SARTHI will place users in contact with financial services providers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sudan Establishing Digital Transformation Agency to Promote E-payments, Financial Inclusion; Joins UNCDF’s Better Than Cash Alliance
The Republic of Sudan recently joined the Better Than Cash Alliance, an initiative of the UN Capital Development Fund, as part of its effort to expedite the country’s transition to the use of digital payments. This effort is a major element of Sudan’s economic reform
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SafeBoda Uganda, UNCDF Launch E-commerce Platform for Market Vendors Looking to Maintain Operations During Pandemic
SafeBoda, a Uganda-based owner of an app for hailing motorcycle rides in three countries, and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a UN agency that supports small businesses in developing countries, recently partnered to launch an e-commerce platform. This is a response to the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CDC Group of UK Investing $2.6b in Africa Over 2 Years; $387m Announced for MSMEs, Mid-caps, Renewable Energy, Technology
The CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development, has committed to investing GBP 2 billion (USD 2.6 billion) in African businesses over the next two years. This follows its recent announcement
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018,” published by Microinsurance Network
By Alice Merry, published by the Microinsurance Network, November 2019, 27 pages, available at https://microinsurancenetwork.org/sites/default/files/Landscape%20of%20Microinsurance%20in%20Africa%202018_LR.pdf
This iteration of the Landscape series provides insights into the microinsurance industry based on data from 2017 supplied by 100 insurers in 16 countries in Africa, focusing on changes since a similar study published in 2015. Overall, as of December 2017,
SPECIAL REPORT: SheInvest to Deliver $1.1b to Women in Africa, Access Bank’s “Beta Friends” Bringing Digital Savings to Market Sellers, Women Move Slowly to Mobile Money: All at European Microfinance Week
At
Friday’s session on gender and financial inclusion during European Microfinance Week, Enrico Pini of the European Investment Bank (EIB) argued that, “It’s smart business,” to boost opportunities for women. Such is the motivation for EIB’s SheInvest program, which is scheduled to mobilize EUR 1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) to invest in entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, digital inclusion and climate-resilience efforts for African women.
Njideka Nwabueze of Nigeria’s Access Bank described her company’s product, “Beta,” which translates as “Good” in the local language. She said that many poor women use informal savings schemes because they do not believe that banks offer products that meet their needs. One of these women’s priorities is easy access to funds. Women who sell products in a market, for example, risk losing a good selling spot if they leave during the day to visit a bank. Also, bank lines can be very long.
This is why, six years ago, Access launched Beta, an interest-bearing savings account that leverages mobile money but is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sahmati Account Aggregator Platform to Allow Borrowers to Share Credit Histories Digitally with Microfinance Lenders in India
Four financial regulators in India recently began work on Sahmati, a digital account aggregator (AA) platform that is to allow loan applicants to encrypt their financial data and transmit it to lenders. Sahmati users will be able to
SPECIAL REPORT: Despite a “Solid” Willingness to Invest in Microinsurance, a “Terrifying” Lack of Coverage
On 
the last day of European Microfinance Week, Katharine Pulvermacher of the Luxembourg-based Microinsurance Network led a discussion on insuring people with daily incomes of USD 2 to USD 20. Those with lower incomes, she argued, will have to be covered by government safety nets.
Anup Singh of India-based consultancy MicroSave described the path to success in microinsurance as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Syngenta PartnerGrow Academy Trains Retailers to Train Farmers in Indonesia
The local unit of Switzerland-based agriculture firm Syngenta International and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently announced they will scale up a pilot project through which they train sellers of agricultural inputs in Indonesia to give technical assistance to farmers. The program, known as the Syngenta PartnerGrow Academy, trains agricultural retailers on financial management, sales, customer service, and problem solving as well skills for advising their customers. Ernest E. Bethe III, Principal Operations Officer of IFC, described a key component as helping retailers dispense “advice by using a consultative selling
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Platform for Economic Inclusion (PEI) to Carry on CGAP’s Work on Graduation Programs
CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a nonprofit research center seeking to expand financial services in poor regions, recently announced the establishment of the Platform for Economic Inclusion (PEI) to “accelerate innovation and scaling of graduation-style programming.” Initiated by Bangladeshi NGO BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee) in 2011, the graduation approach involves: targeting only