by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Minimizing Setbacks for Women, Girls Under COVID-19; Taking Advantage of the Pandemic to Liberalize Regulation, Boost Access to Digital Financial Services

Mary European Microfinance PlatformEllen Iskenderian of the US-based NGO Women’s World Banking (WWB) spoke today, the closing day of European Microfinance Week, about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls. Of the challenges they face, she said “COVID didn’t create these gaps, but it shines a bright light on the fissures, and we don’t want to see these grow larger.” As an example, she cited the strides made in recent years in terms of enrolling girls in primary education. She called this the single most powerful tool for creating development impact. However, one of the first things she has seen families in developing countries doing in response to COVID-19 is taking their daughters out of school.

On the positive side, Ms Iskenderian noted “a silver lining, that

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Resilience Among Microfinance Institutions? “Region of Crisis” Relatively Stable; “Moratorium Veil” Yet to Lift

As European Microfinance Platformpart of the opening day of European Microfinance Week, Mohammed Khaled of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation stated that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the microfinance sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) so far have not been as bad as was feared earlier in 2020. Most of the large microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the region have maintained 30-day portfolio-at-risk (PAR) ratios below 4 percent. Mr Khaled said, “Among leading MFIs, PAR did not rise as high as expected. We thought [it might rise to] 10 percent to 20 percent, but many MFIs have kept things under control.” Part of the reason for this, he believes is that “this is

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP Publishes Taking Shelter: Housing Finance for the World’s Poor

From European Microfinance Platformthe European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): While the 2020 European Microfinance Award spotlights the importance of savings, e-MFP takes the opportunity to look back to the 2017 Award and revisit the importance of housing. Even more than savings, housing is one of those parts of microfinance that has been around for decades, yet which remains relegated to niche status. And yet, like savings, housing finance holds out the promise of real-world improvements for millions of poor households while simultaneously expanding the opportunities for financial service providers (FSPs).

That is why, in partnership with Practical Action Publishing, e-MFP is publishing its

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Action Group Meeting: Investors Not Incentivizing MFIs Sufficiently re Measuring Social Performance

DuringEuropean Microfinance Platform today’s opening sessions of European Microfinance Week, e-MFP’s Investor Action Group met to discuss social performance measurement within microfinance institutions (MFIs). Calum Scott of US-based NGO Opportunity International described his organization’s efforts to work with MFIs to measure client outcomes. He specified that Opportunity generally does not seek to measure client impact, as that has proven too resource-intensive for its purposes. However, he argued that, “The pandemic doesn’t make outcomes data less important. If anything it makes it more important to know if and how your products are helping clients.” Of Opportunity’s partners, 95 percent use

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Launches with Arguments for Client Protection, Community Approaches, Savings vs Credit, Biscuits vs Guns

European European Microfinance PlatformMicrofinance Week 2020 launched today with Action Group meetings; opening remarks from Christophe Schiltz of Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs; and a keynote address by Ela Bhatt, the founder of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association.

Mr Schiltz commented on the need for continued emphasis on client protection as the COVID-19 pandemic stresses both financial services providers (FSPs) and households. He also quoted from the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass that the pandemic has created the opportunity to improve the financial inclusion sector in ways “that the gravitational pull of the status quo would never allow in more normal times.”

Ela Bhatt noted that her organization and others were focused on savings back in the 1970s before microcredit became

by Romil Pandey -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CommBanane from Dimagi, SIDA, UNCDF Facilitates Digital Loans to Cooperatives of Banana Farmers from Baobab Sénégal

Dimagi, a US-based provider of technical assistance to development organizations, recently developed CommBanane, a digital platform providing financial solutions to small-scale banana farmers via cooperatives in Senegal. CommBanane serves as a “data tracking system” for agricultural production and can be accessed by farmers to apply for

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BSP Promoting E-money Usage, Financial Access in the Philippines via “Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023”

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently released its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023, which outlines steps for reaching: (1) half of retail sales volume being paid via digital channels; and

by Kate Finster -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tonga Development Bank Launches ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau Digital Remittance Product via Regional Australia Bank

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; the Tonga Development Bank (TDB), which is subsidized by the government of New Zealand; and the member-owned Regional Australia Bank recently released ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau, a product allowing Tongans residing in Australia to send remittances to individuals in their home country using their mobile phones. Recipients may direct their funds to a TDB bank account

by Kate Finster -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Ukraine Developing National Financial Inclusion Strategy to Expand Financial Access, Digital Services, Employment, Economic Growth

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to work with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the country’s central bank, to develop a financial inclusion strategy for improving digital financial services, expanding access to underserved populations and protecting consumer rights in the country. NBU Chairman Kyrylo Shevchenko said,

by Kate Finster -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Charm Impact Raises $360k in Equity to Expand Lending for Solar Energy in West Africa, India

Charm Impact, a UK-based lender to renewable-energy firms in developing countries, recently raised GBP 274,000 (USD 360,000) in equity financing through the UK-based crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Charm plans to use the funds to scale up its operations

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cameroon to Encourage Islamic Financial Services, Microfinance Institutions to Transform into Banks as Part of 10-year National Development Strategy

The government of Cameroon recently released its 2020-2030 National Development Strategy, which includes plans to expand banking, microfinance and Islamic financial services. To boost the number of banks in the country from 16 to as many as 30, the government will engage

by Romil Pandey -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Paraguay Borrows $15m from IDB, Seeking to Boost Productivity Among 8,500 MSMEs

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), whose membership comprises 48 nations, recently issued a 24-year loan of USD 15 million to the government of Paraguay with the goal of increasing the productivity of 8,500 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Paraguay plans to use the funds for technology innovation and a national network of “productivity centers” providing

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Stanbic IBTC of Nigeria to Borrow $75m from CDC Group for On-lending in Sectors with Significant SME Supply Chains

The CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development, recently agreed to lend

by Romil Pandey -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana’s Ministry of Finance to Launch Development Bank of Ghana with $250m from World Bank’s IDA to Promote MSME Lending, Including to 2k Enterprises Led by Women

The International Development Association (IDA), a unit of the World Bank, recently agreed to provide USD 250 million for Ghana’s Ministry of Finance to create the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG). DBG is slated to provide “long-term wholesale financing, credit guarantees, and other services” benefitting 10,000 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – including 2,000 that are led by women – that are active in agribusiness, manufacturing and unspecified “high-value services.” DBG also is to create

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Raises $140m for “COVID-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund” from Schroders, Japan, UK, US

BlueOrchard Impact Investment Managers, a member of the UK-based Schroders Group, recently partnered with Schroders and three development finance institutions to launch an initiative to fund lenders serving micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries that have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group of investors, which has committed a total of

by Kate Finster -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Consumer Protection and COVID-19: Borrower Risks as Economies Reopen,” by Elisabeth Rhyne, Published by CGAP

Dr Rhyne has analyzed data collected by CGAP, microfinance investors and financial service providers (FSPs) to consider how FSPs can collect outstanding microloans – including after repayment moratoria – and issue

by Romil Pandey -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Private Asset Impact Fund Report 2020;” by Basile Quartier, Brendan Mackinnon, Ramkumar Narayanan; Published by Symbiotics

This survey reports on private asset impact funds (PAIFs), which are defined as those that have most “of their non-cash asset [base] allocated both to private debt and/or private equity instruments and to emerging and frontier markets, with a development impact bias.” When referring to impact, Symbiotics focuses on the

by Romil Pandey -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco W Issuing $40m “Social Bond,” Funded by IDB Invest to Promote Gender Equity in Colombia via Microfinance

IDB Invest, a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently subscribed to a four-year bond of COP 150 billion (USD 39.6 million) to be issued by Banco W, a Colombian credit institution. The funds are slated to reach 25,000 female-led microenterprises and support the “development of the capital markets and thematic bonds in Colombia.” The bond is registered with the Colombian Stock Exchange, and IDB Invest describes it as