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Babyloan: A New Peer-to-peer Website Dedicated to Microfinance
October, 31 2008
Paris, France - A team of people passionate about microfinance and the internet have launched, in partnership with the NGO ACTED and the two famous French banks la BRED and Crédit Coopératif, www.babyloan.org - the first French online microlending website for microentrepreneurs in developing countries
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Cambodia: Small Loans Fresh Casualty of Credit Crisis
October, 30 2008
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - One of the clearest sectors in Cambodia to be hit by the global credit crunch will be microfinance, limiting loans for small businesses among Cambodia’s poorest at a time when the system is just taking off, financial experts say
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India: MFIs Face Challenge of Global Meltdown
October, 29 2008
Hyderabad, India - Financing for the poor is getting more frugal now with microfinance institutions facing the heat of the global financial meltdown. There has been a virtual halt in fresh disbursements to MFIs by banks and financial institutions coupled with over 200 basis points hike in interest rate. It does not end at credit squeeze alone. Banks are also asking for personal guarantees of directors of MFIs.
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Sri Lanka: Dutch Joint Venture in Microfinance
October, 28 2008
Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka Orix Leasing has linked with Dutch development financier FMO to expand its micro finance with 10 million US dollar loan and equity injection, officials said
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European Microfinance Week 2008,12th - 14th November
October, 27 2008
Luxembourg - European Microfinance Week 2008 will be held in Luxembourg 12th - 14th November. The theme for this year's meeting is 'Frontier Issues in Microfinance - opportunities and challenges for European actors'.
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India: Microfinance Draws Interest
October, 26 2008
New Delhi, India - In a volatile economy, microfinance institutions are offering stable returns over the long term and have begun to draw investor interest
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Responsible Investment Will Be Mainstream by 2015
October, 23 2008
London, United Kindom - Responsible Investing (RI) will become mainstream by 2015, accounting for 15-20pc of total global assets under management, according to a report from asset manager Robeco and management consultancy firm, Booz & Co
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Globally Microfinance Invested $5 bn in Last 5 yrs
October, 23 2008
Agra, India - Over the past five years, microfinance has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy, as an estimated USD 5 billion of cross-border investment has flowed from the developed world into microfinance institutions worldwide
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Equity Bank: Runaway Profits from Banking the Poor
October, 22 2008
London, United Kingdom - Breaking an African habit of restricting banking services to a wealthy elite, Equity has institutionalised microfinance and turned it into the foundation of the fastest-growing bank in Kenya. Its loans can be as small as KSh500 ($6) and it has been known to take marital beds as collateral
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India: Swadhaar raises $3 Million in First Round of Funding
October, 21 2008
Mumbai, India - Alternative finance industry goes through a tough time due to credit crunch crisis while microfinance institutions are still bullish on raising funds. Veena Mankar and Haseena Vahanvaty promoted Swadhaar, a Mumbai based microfinance institution has raised $3 million from Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, ACCION and Unitus Equity Fund.
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Pakistan: DFID Assistance Likely this Month
October, 17 2008
Islamabad, Pakistan - State Bank of Pakistan expects to receive first tranche of the approved assistance of 50 million pounds (USD 87 millions) from UK-based Department for International Development (DFID) in the ongoing month, aimed at expanding the outreach of microfinance to five million borrowers by 2012, The News has learnt
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Mexico: Financiera Independencia Appoints Market Maker
October, 17 2008
Mexico City, Mexico - Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance lender of personal loans to lower income segment individuals, announced today that it has appointed Casa de Bolsa Credit Suisse (Mexico), Grupo Financiero Credit Suisse (Mexico) as market maker for the Company's shares that are listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange.
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Credit Crunch: The Domino Effect
October, 17 2008
Washington, United States - Microfinance is expanding in Latin America. Economies are growing and stabilizing and commodity exports are selling at good prices. International capital markets have opened up, and everything seems possible. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Wall Street, where we have discovered the most ingenious financial instruments engineered by Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Standard & Poor's. Why do we have to worry about the mortgage crisis with our great partner to the North? The honest answer-"CLO.
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European SRI Study 2008
October, 16 2008
Paris, France - The study highlights the scale of European SRI as well as European and National trends across thirteen countries, including for the first time Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
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Mohammed Yunus and Michael Chu Debate Commercialization
October, 14 2008
Washington, United States - During the World Microfinance Forum in Geneva, the debaters argued about whether commercialization (let's define it as the entry of investors whose primary motive is financial rather than social) is good for microfinance.
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First Direct Investment of BlueOrchard Private Equity in India Goes to Asmitha Microfin Limited
October, 13 2008
Hyderabad/Geneva, India/Swizerland - On 30 September 2008, BlueOrchard Private Equity closed its first equity investment in an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), by investing Rs. 25.00 crore (USD 5.3 million) and taking a minority stake in the fourth largest non-banking financial company of India, Asmitha Microfin Limited. BlueOrchard is thus strengthening its position in the Indian microfinance market
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What MFIs Can Teach Wall Street
October, 12 2008
Gurgaon, India - Big financial institutions of all sorts are in dire straits across the globe. But one category remains unaffected - micro-finance. Even as the global financial system freezes and giants like Lehman Brothers collapse, micro-finance institutions (MFIs) are expanding unfazed. Famous financiers face defaults big enough to wipe them out, but MFIs report virtually zero default.
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Advans SA SICAR Launches Advans Ghana Savings and Loan, a New Microfinance Institution in Accra
October, 09 2008
Paris, France - Advans SA, the international venture capital investment company specialised in microfinance, announced the launch of its second microfinance institution: Advans Ghana, which opened in New Town Road, Accra, on 9 October 2008. Over the next three years, Advans SA seeks to develop a strong international network of around ten microfinance institutions in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East.
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China: Regulator Gives Nod to Citigroup
October, 08 2008
Beijing, China - Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, said yesterday that China's banking watchdog has approved its plan to open two microcredit firms in Hubei province, tapping the nation's vast rural market.
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Cambodia: MFIs Fear Cash Drought
October, 08 2008
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Officials say the international financial crisis may be hitting local microfinance institutions, forcing them to re-evaluate program expansion.
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Togo: Emerging Capital Partners Buys Stake in African Commercial Bank
October, 07 2008
Washington, United States - Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), an international private equity firm focused on investing across the African continent, announced today that it has purchased a minority stake in Financial BC SA (FBC), a privately held Lomé, Togo-based regional commercial bank
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Microcredit Lenders Ermerging in China
October, 06 2008
Beijing, China - Microcredit lenders, once the quaint peripheral players in China's mammoth financial system, are emerging from the shadows of the State-owned banks as white knights to thousands of small, cash-strapped manufacturers around the nation
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Microcredit : Altruism or Eploitation?
October, 05 2008
Dhaka, Bangladesh - Microloans were invented to help the poorest of the poor help themselves. Now major banks and pension funds are getting into the business, as they discover that the interest paid by the poor can produce high returns. Is it aid or exploitation
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World Bank Group Publishes First Global Online Remittance Price Database
October, 02 2008
Washington, United States - The World Bank Group has published the first global database of remittance prices that is expected to benefit low-income migrant workers and households in developing countries. The database, which provides information on 120 remittance corridors, will make pricing more transparent and put competitive pressure on providers to improve services and reduce prices
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Micro-Lending Seen Expanding Despite Credit Mess
October, 02 2008
Geneva, Switzerland - The global credit crisis is not making it harder for poor-country entrepreneurs to access the tiny loans they need to start and grow businesses, banking executives said on Thursday
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