by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week 2023 Opens With Action Group Meetings, Including Investors Sharing Strategies for Measuring Social Performance #EMW2023

e-MFP logoThe first day of European Microfinance Week 2023 began this morning with meetings of several of the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Action Groups. At the Investors Action Group session, Cécile Lapenu of CERISE discussed the recent increase in demand for accountability regarding claims of positive client impact. What really makes an investor an impact investor? How can we measure impact in a way that is convincing and also efficient?

The recently published 60 Decibels Microfinance Index 2023 addresses some of these questions. The study, which is based on a survey of 32,000 microfinance clients in 32 countries, indicates that access to financial and non-financial services other than credit leads to deeper impact. Regarding credit services, group lending is associated with

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Agents for Impact – We Make Positive Impact Investable!

Founded in 2018, Agents for Impact (AFI) celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. This represents five years of continuous commitment to our mission, which is to build bridges between impact investors and fi­nancial services providers in developing markets across the world. Sustainability is central to our vision. We aim to create more investment opportunities by mea­suring risks (Risk), rendering impact measurable and comparable (Rating), and making sustainability and financial inclusion understandable for investors (Research).

To acknowledge our jubilee, we kick off 2023 by looking back at our achievements and bringing some of our milestones to your attention. Since its inception, AFI has provided investment advice and recommendations on around USD 285 million in impact in­vesting transactions. So far, we have done business in 16 coun­tries across the globe, facilitating debt financing to 32 financial institutions (including one more since the December 2022 figures shown in the graph below!) – each of which was ana­lyzed and selec­ted according to strict standards of sustainability, alignment with a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and