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Jul 2011
Yemen: Microfinance Sector in Trouble
July, 27 2011
Sana'a, Yemen - In 2010, microfinance was one of the strongest business sectors in Yemen, and Yemen ranked first in the microfinance industry among the Arab countries. But the recent uprising has negatively affected this vital sector that serves tens of thousands of poor Yemenis ...
IFC, FMO Provide $30 Million to Support Housing Finance and Enterprises in Costa Rica
July, 27 2011
San Jose/Washington, D.C. - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide $30 million to Costa Rica’s National Cooperative of Educators, R.L. (Coopenae) to expand access to finance for housing and small and medium enterprises, which provide 38 percent of formal employment in the country. This is IFC’s first investment in a cooperative in Costa Rica ...
India’s Oldest Microfinance Firm on the Verge of Closure
July, 27 2011
Mumbai, India - The controversial Andhra Pradesh microfinance law is set to claim its first victim. Vijay Mahajan-promoted Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd (BSFL), India’s oldest microfinance institution (MFI), is collapsing under the burden of bad loans. With borrowers in Andhra Pradesh refusing to repay, bad loans are growing and threatening to wipe out its entire net worth and reserves ...
India: Microfinance Bill Answers Most Questions
July, 24 2011
Washington DC - The Government of India promised a new draft microfinance legislation, and it has delivered. The consultative process adopted, the work done by the Malegam Committee, and the regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the participation of the lenders, practitioners and others have made the draft comprehensive and well-rounded. ...
Five Lessons for the Microfinance Industry
July, 24 2011
New York, USA - Microfinance is going through a crisis. The industry that gives small uncollateralized loans, often to women for entrepreneurial activities in developing countries, is booming but has been damaged by a slew of negative events ...
Africa’s First Microfinance Fund For Sustainable Farmers Launched
July, 21 2011
Africa - Africa’s first specialist rural microfinance fund supporting fair trade and organic small business, FEFISOL, the European Solidarity Financing Fund for Africa, was launched earlier today by the European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement and a broad grouping of development bodies, social investors and microfinance service providers ...
The Smart Campaign Adds Seventh Client Protection Principle
July, 20 2011
Washington, DC - The microfinance industry’s Client Protection Principles (CPPs) are now seven. They have been expanded to address multiple financial products and the concept of “non-discrimination. ...
AfDB Launches Microfinance Capacity Building Fund
July, 20 2011
Tunis-Belvedère, Tunisia - The African Development Bank Group (AfDB), in partnership with the Government of Spain, yesterday launched the Microfinance Capacity Building Fund for Africa. Its purpose is to help strengthen capacity building efforts in the financial sector that benefit poor and low-income populations in the continent, particularly women and those living in rural areas ...
Microfinance in Kolar, Karnataka, Revisited: New Client Survey Data
July, 19 2011
Washington DC. - Events of 2009 in the Kolar district in Karnataka, a state in southern India, offer a valuable case study for the microfinance sector because they show the complex intersection between cultural and social factors and household financial decisions. Kolar, famous for its silk industry, is a small town which witnessed mass defaults after a local organization banned MFIs from operating in the area ...
Muhammad Yunus Banks on Beating the Enemies of Microfinance
July, 18 2011
London, United Kingdom - The Nobel peace prize winner discusses recent attacks on his schemes to relieve poverty, from within Bangladesh and abroad ...
Is the Mexican Microfinance Sector Approaching Crisis Point?
July, 17 2011
Mexico city, Mexico - In an exclusive interview with Microfinance Focus, Alex Silva, Founding Partner of Omtrix, President, and Executive Director of Calmeadow reflected upon the causes of the microfinance failures in the Latin American region and the path forward ...
India: SKS Microfinance Stock Zooms 10%
July, 15 2011
Mumbai, India - Continuing its volatile journey this week, micro-finance leader SKS Microfinance stock today jumped by 10 per cent on bourses and hit the upper circuit limit. Interestingly, it had nosedived 10 per cent and hit its lowest trading limit yesterday. ...
Microfinance Lenders Seek Ways to Hedge Forex Risks
July, 13 2011
New York, USA - Global banks have figured out how to hedge against unexpected exchange-rate movements in the euro, yen and Swiss franc. But what happens when they try dealing with the Mongolian togrog? The problem is, the countries that are poor enough to need microfinance lending usually have extremely illiquid currencies, which make them all but impossible to hedge against. ...
CFI Unveils Key Survey Findings in ‘Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion’ Report
July, 11 2011
Washington DC - Microfinance professionals are questioning their prior assumptions about the laser focus on growth and credit that has dominated the industry, says a report released today by the Center for Financial inclusion (CFI) at ACCION International ...
EBRD Signs First Loan Under Local Currency Lending Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic
July, 08 2011
Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic - The EBRD is boosting its support to the financial sector in the Kyrgyz Republic with a 270 million Kyrgyz som loan (US$ 6 million equivalent) to Bai Tushum and Partners, one of the country’s leading non-bank microfinance institutions, to provide more affordable som loans to small businesses ...
Can Microcredit Fuel Jobs in Crisis-Hit Europe?
July, 08 2011
London, United Kingdom - Say "microcredit" and many people think of small loans to the rural poor in developing countries -- basket weavers in Bangladesh, or dairy farmers in India. ...
Philippines: Loan Portfolio of Microfinanciers Reaches P7 billion
July, 07 2011
Manila, Philippines - More borrowers are tapping collateral-free micro loans as the money set aside by microfinance-oriented banks has grown by six percent in two years to P7 billion (163 USD million), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Wednesday ...
MICROFIS: Listing Sponsor on Alternext
July, 07 2011
Paris, France - MICROFIS, the Responsible Finance market services platform, is pleased to announce its accreditation by NYSE ALTERNEXT as Listing Sponsor, as of July 5th, 2011 ...
India: Industry Welcomes Draft Bill on Microfinance
July, 06 2011
New Delhi, India - The Bill says MFIs registered with the apex bank won’t be treated as moneylenders, thereby keeping them out of the purview of the Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act, 2010 ...
China: Fostering Financial Inclusion
July, 06 2011
Beijing, China - Inclusive growth, or shared growth, is supposed to allow people to equitably share the benefits of economic development, making poverty reduction efforts more effective by creating productive economic opportunities for the poor and vulnerable sectors of society. This refers not only to people's material well-being, but also to human rights and democracy. ...
Peru: With New Loan, IIC Renews its Commitment to Mibanco
July, 05 2011
Washington, D.C. - On July 1, 2011, the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) approved a loan of up to US$15 million to Peru’s Mibanco, Banco de la Microempresa S.A. (Mibanco). ...
MICROFIS to use MicroRate’s Reports and Services in Investment Process
July, 05 2011
Paris, France - MICROFIS, the dedicated French market platform specialized in Responsible Finance, is pleased to announce the signature of an agreement with MicroRate, the premier microfinance-rating agency ...
Microfinance - A New Business in Ghana
July, 04 2011
Accra, Ghana - The microfinance fever is catching on very fast in Ghana. There are Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on major streets in Accra. It is now common to see offices that have inscriptions which presuppose that these enterprises are into the provision of microfinance services. These firms mainly provide loans or and mobile banking which is commonly know as susu ...
India: Microfinance Sector Turns Robust Again
July, 01 2011
New Delhi, India - The microfinance industry may finally be seeing the beginning of good times, with both equity and debt funding making a comeback into the sector. Owing to relative stability in the industry and increasing clarity in regulations following the Malegam Committee report, the last two months have seen better-than-expected activity on the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) fronts, with more expected in the next couple of months. ...
OPIC Board Approves $45 Million to Support Housing Microfinance Lending by Habitat for Humanity
July, 01 2011
Washington, D.C. - The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved $45 million to enable Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) to expand its housing microfinance lending (HMF) – a growing impact investment sector that will help thousands of low-income families around the world build, improve, and maintain decent homes ...

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