M-Kopa, a Kenya-based company serving 3 million customers in four African countries, recently announced that it has raised approximately USD 250 million in fresh funds to expand its facilitation of financial and digital inclusion. In particular, the firm finances devices that it sells, such as
Tag: Financial Inclusion
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp West Africa Summit; June 12-13, 2023; Accra, Ghana
This event will focus on mechanisms through which entrepreneurial partnerships in regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa, can solve global issues. The organizers expect approximately 80 speakers and 300 delegates discussing topics such as: (1) Agriculture; (2) Climate Change and Clean Energy;
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Assessing the State of Youth Financial Inclusion in Developing Contexts,” by Niclas Benni, Published by FAO
Youth in low- and middle-income countries often face significant challenges in accessing the financial services they need. Meanwhile, the lack of public data on youth financial inclusion makes it difficult for practitioners to assess and address the situation in a given context. Among the factors to consider when formulating a plan to increase youth financial inclusion are the
SPECIAL REPORT: Saluting MFI Staff, Promoting Flexible Products, “Keeping the Client at the Heart” as European Microfinance Week Closes
A panel of microfinance luminaries shared their moments of pride and disappointment at the closing plenary of this year’s European Microfinance Week. Yannick Milev of the Cambodian microfinance institution Chamroeun expressed his admiration for the staff members of Chamroeun, who continued to work through the COVID-19 pandemic at significant risk to their and their families’ health because “stopping operations completely would have had a terrible effect on us and on our clients.” Mr Milev added that Chamroeun issued many loans during the early days of the pandemic to help clients diversify in response to the economic effects of COVID-19.
Marc Labie of Belgium’s University of Mons described the pandemic as “a chance for the industry to
SPECIAL REPORT: Financial Inclusion for Women Requires Engaging All Levels of the Microfinance Institution
During a plenary session on financial inclusion for women at European Microfinance Week 2022, the presenters highlighted the need to collect and use good data. Not only must financial services providers (FSPs) disaggregate data by gender, but they must segment it further, as not all women have the same needs. Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking cited the example of regulators in Chile realizing their data pointed to a need for housing loans, which the entity then successfully encouraged FSPs to develop.
Carine Roenen of Fonkoze Foundation spoke to the importance of rich data – not just numbers but qualitative data as well. Fonkoze has had success encouraging line staff to report important client experiences to supervisors. For example, when thieves started targeting clients
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Banking in Layers: Five Cases to Illustrate How the Market Structure for Financial Services is Evolving;” by Aiaze Mitha, Faith Biegon, Peter Zetterli; Published by CGAP
This paper cites several financial service providers (FSPs) in emerging markets in exploring how recent advancements in digital technology have enabled new business models, transforming the market for financial services. The authors argue that these FSPs have deconstructed the financial services market into separate modules, allowing these modules to be reassembled in innovative ways. These modules include:
SPECIAL REPORT: Bancamía of Colombia, Banco FIE of Bolivia, Kashf Foundation of Pakistan Shortlisted for $100k European Microfinance Award on Financial Inclusion for Women
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 21st and 22nd September 2022, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2022 (EMA 2022) on “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” chose the three finalists that will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 100,000) prize: Bancamía from Colombia; Banco FIE from Bolivia; and Kashf Foundation from Pakistan.
For decades, financial inclusion has ostensibly been about women’s empowerment and autonomy. But too often the sector has paid only lip-service to what this means, focusing merely on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech, Gojo Partner to Provide Digital Finance to Youth-led Enterprises in Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka
The Qatar-based social enterprise Silatech recently launched a three-year partnership with the Japanese microfinance investor Gojo & Company with the aim of supporting 90,000 youth in Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka with digital financial services to facilitate the founding and expansion of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Among the strategies of the partnership is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana, Emtech Solutions Launch Regulatory Sandbox to Encourage Innovation in Finance, Financial Inclusion
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), the country’s central bank, recently launched a regulatory sandbox – a mechanism for testing business models not covered by existing regulations, in partnership with the US-based financial technology (fintech) firm Emtech Solutions. Following a successful pilot phase, BoG adopted Emtech’s digital regulatory review and reporting platform, through which financial service providers can
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT) Accepting Applications from Fintechs for “Catapult: Inclusion Africa” Through September 15
The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology Foundation (LHoFT), a public-private partnership, is hosting the fifth iteration of its Catapult: Inclusion Africa event. The aim is to support financial inclusion in Africa through financial technology (fintech) by connecting 10 winning companies to “microfinance institutions, investors and industry experts….” To be eligible,
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Leveraging Digital ID and e-KYC for the Financial Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced Persons: Risks and Opportunities;” Published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion
The authors of this paper discuss the use of electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) procedures and digital forms of identification (ID) to support financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) in Eswatini, Mauritania and Rwanda.
In Eswatini, refugees and asylum-seekers may apply for refugee ID cards and non-Swazi ID cards, respectively. After acquiring IDs, individuals may access
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Global Findex Database: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19;” by Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar
This report presents findings from a World Bank survey of approximately 125,000 adults in 123 emerging markets regarding financial inclusion. The survey was conducted during 2021 and follows analogous surveys performed in 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Account ownership among respondents in all regions has been growing rapidly, from 51 percent in 2011 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel Africa Establishes Smartcash Payment Service Bank to Offer Payments, Remittances, Deposit to Individuals, Enterprises in Nigeria
Airtel Africa, a UK-based mobile money company active in Africa, recently launched Smartcash Payment Service Bank (PSB), to expand the range of financial services it offers in Nigeria. The move follows Airtel Africa having received a “super-agent” licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, enabling the company to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion, BAC Credomatic, Genesis, Mastercard Move to Expand Digital Financial Inclusion as Part of Call to Action for Northern Central America
US-based payment technology firm Mastercard recently announced plans to further financial inclusion in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras through the development of digital financial services that bring “5 million people in northern Central America into the financial system and digitalize 1 million micro- and small businesses,” with a focus on woman-owned businesses. The financial services include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Invests $6m in Peer-to-peer Lender Amartha from Inclusive Finance Fund, Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Increase Group Lending to Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Indonesia
Amartha, a firm offering peer-to-peer lending and other services in Indonesia, recently gained access to USD 6 million in debt financing from the Belgian impact investing firm Incofin Investment Management in an attempt to boost access to financial services for women entrepreneurs in rural Indonesia. Two thirds of the total invested comes from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), and the remainder is sourced from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CreditAccess Grameen Seeking $50m in Debt from IFC for Financial Inclusion of Women in India
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently moved to lend as much as USD 50 million in the form of a three-year senior loan to CreditAccess Grameen, a unit of CreditAccess India. The objective of the loan is to boost enterprise lending to women who live in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Lends $15m to KMF to Boost Financial Inclusion for MSMEs, Post-Covid Growth in Kazakhstan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microlender in Kazakhstan. The loan is intended to boost its services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially in rural areas – to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Loans $9m to Acleda Bank via IFC Syndication to Support SMEs in Cambodia, with Focus on Women Entrepreneurs
US-based asset manager MicroVest is lending USD 9 million for five years to Acleda Bank, a publicly traded firm that operates in three countries, to support Acleda’s provision of financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia, particularly those owned by women. The investment is part of a syndication for Acleda by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) that is to include up to USD 100 million each from IFC and