This 
paper offers an analysis of data collected from alumni of the Women’s World Banking Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program (LDIP), which engages “senior executives and high-potential women leaders to enable them to successfully serve low-income women” customers of financial service providers (FSPs). The authors focus on “the strategic business initiatives of LDIP participants” and
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “COVID-19: Accelerating the Use of Digital Agriculture;” by Leslie Arathoon, Rishi Raithatha, Daniele Tricarico; Published by GSMA
This report offers a review of prior findings on trends and best practices in “digital agriculture” services provided by mobile network operators (MNOs) and dedicated agricultural technology (agritech) companies. Digital agriculture can include a range of online tools for facilitating the usage of various types of information at any point along
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Judge in Nigeria Sentences Former Director of Workman Microfinance Bank to 5 Years in Prison
Sarita Aliyu Bello, the former Managing Director of Nigeria’s Workman Microfinance Bank, recently was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa SACCOs Week; April 25-27, 2022; Nairobi, Kenya
Africa SACCOs Week focuses on the development of Savings and Credit Co-Ooperatives (SACCOs) in Africa. A SACCO is a “member-based financial institution which operates on cooperative values, identity and principles, which include social responsibility, openness, honesty and caring for each other.” The theme of this year’s conference is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cenfri, Cornerstone, GLEIF, London Stock Exchange Collaborate on Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) to Boost Financial Inclusion of SMEs in Africa
Four organizations recently launched an effort to equip small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa with Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs), which are 20-digit codes linked to “business card and ownership structure information about a legal entity which can be verified quickly and efficiently by anyone, anywhere, enabling organizations to know precisely with whom they are doing business.” The participating entities are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Let’s Eat Bai (LEB), RAFI Micro-finance Boost Access for Food Retailers to Online Sales, Deliveries to Aid in COVID-19 Adjustment
A unit of Philippines-based Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated (RAFI), RAFI Micro-finance Incorporated (RMF), recently began a partnership with Let’s Eat Bai (LEB), an online delivery and advertising service in the Philippine city of Cebu. RMF has linked the Facebook group it has developed for its clients, Tindahan Ni Nanay (TNN), with LEB to provide
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citi, DFC Announce $15m Local-currency Loan to CAME of Mexico to Boost Financial Inclusion of 40,000 SMEs
Consejo de Asistencia al Microemprendedor (CAME), a Mexican microfinance institution, recently agreed to borrow MXN 300 million (USD 15 million) through a partnership between US-based bank Citi and the government-backed US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The proceeds of the term loan are to be
SPECIAL REPORT: Non-performing Loan Management and Investment – a New Executive Education Offering from Frankfurt School
This year, Europe is emerging from the deepest recession in a generation. But this has not been a normal recession. The number of insolvencies has come down over the last year, and non-performing loans (NPLs) are close to a historic low. Numerous government support measures, such as tax rebates, furlough schemes, moratoria and the suspension of insolvency proceedings were highly effective in temporarily bridging enterprises’ liquidity shortfalls.
However, most of these support measures have come to an end, and many firms’ liquidity buffers are depleted. Meanwhile, a range of sectors will need to confront
a fundamental reshaping of their business models. The European Systemic Risk Board, tasked with the big financial stability issues in Europe, speaks of a coming tsunami of insolvencies.
In developing countries, the COVID-19 crisis will be more protracted, and a full recovery is less certain. Many mid-sized companies entered the crisis with significant leverage levels, and the more numerous microenterprises are poorly
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, FMO Loaning $50m to I&M Bank to Support SMEs in Kenya
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, along with Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership, recently announced a loan package of USD 50 million for I&M Bank Limited, which is owned by the Kenya-based I&M Group. The funds are intended to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Invest Lends $15m in Local Currency to CAME of Mexico to Promote Financial Inclusion of SMEs, Companies led by Women
Consejo de Asistencia al Microemprendedor (CAME), a Mexican microfinance institution, recently secured a four-year loan of MXN 300 million (USD 15 million) from IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. CAME’s services include deposits, loans, payments and insurance for microentrepreneurs as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its loan products include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Kicks Off $15m Program to Promote MSMEs in Belize with Eye to Climate, COVID-19 and Women
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral institution, recently loaned USD 15 million to Belize to provide “production-oriented capital” to 200 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The funding is intended to assist MSMEs, particularly those led by women, in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Raises $4.6m via Green Bond for Samunnati Financial for Sustainable Agriculture in India
India’s Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services, whose customers are farmer-producer organizations and other members of agricultural value chains, recently raised the rupee-equivalent of USD 4.6 million in a bond issue handled by Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based impact investing platform. The bond transaction is the first by Symbiotics that specifically promotes
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Remittance-scapes: The Contested Geographies of Remittance Management,” by Vincent Guermond
This paper introduces the concept of “remittance-scapes” as a new way of analyzing, understanding and regulating remittances. Dr Guermond defines remittance-scapes as “the socio-economic and financial institutions, physical structures and cultural practices through which
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Commercial Bank of Ceylon (ComBank) Secures $50m Loan from CDC Group to Promote SME Lending, Climate Projects in Sri Lanka
The CDC Group, a UK-backed development finance institution formerly known as the Colonial Development Corporation, recently agreed to lend USD 50 million to the Commercial Bank of Ceylon (ComBank) to fund loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as climate projects that “support Sri Lanka’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.” Sri Lanka’s goals related to climate change include
SPECIAL REPORT: “Financial Inclusion Compass 2021” Reveals a Sector Grappling with the Consequences of COVID-19 – and Trying to Look Beyond It
In
2018, e-MFP launched the first Financial Inclusion Compass, a new annual publication series to collate sector opinions on emerging short-, medium- and long-term trends in the financial inclusion sector. e-MFP is delighted to now publish the English language version of the Financial Inclusion Compass 2021 – the fourth in the series.
The survey on which this paper is based was open in May 2021, with financial services providers (FSPs), investors, donors, researchers and support services providers evaluating and describing the importance of various current Trends, rating future New Areas of Focus, and providing open-comment qualitative input on the expected (and hoped-for) direction of financial inclusion progress.
The survey had two main sections: in Section 1, respondents rated from 1-10 the current importance of a list of 20 Trends and evaluated a list of 16 future New Areas of Focus to rank their highest five in terms of future significance. Optional comments on each were possible. Section 2 had three optional and open-ended questions, with a focus on the impact of the pandemic.
The Compass received 125 responses from 39 countries. A plurality of respondents were FSPs, followed by consultants/support services providers, infrastructure organisations, funders and researchers. On the main geographic focus of respondents’ work, a plurality selected Global, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Trends
Two new trends, introduced in response to the uniquely challenging context of the pandemic, took the top two spots
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves (KRK) Borrows $2.3m from EBRD for Green Housing Loans
Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves (KRK), a microfinance firm in Kosovo, recently accepted an unsecured loan of up to EUR 2 million (USD 2.3 million) from the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD’s) Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility II (WB GEFF II). KRK plans to on-lend the funds for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in Cambodia Restructured $1.7b in Loans During Early 2021, Requests for Restructuring Peaked in 2nd Quarter
Kaing Tongngy, the director of communications for the 114-member Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), reportedly has stated that CMA members restructured approximately USD 1.7 billion in loans during the first six months of 2021. At the beginning of 2021, around
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CDC Group, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Agree to $50m Risk-sharing Facility to Boost Trade, Supply Chains in South Asia, Africa
CDC Group, a development finance institution backed by the UK government, recently announced a risk-sharing facility valued at USD 50 million in partnership with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) UK, a subsidiary of Pakistan-based HBL. The facility aims to boost HBL UK’s ability to