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Microfinance to Reach Rural Poor with ADB Loan to Partner Banks
March, 29 2012
China - ADB will help entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprise owners and poor households access financial services in the central and western regions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with a CNY130 million loan facility to partner banks to help them build their wholesale lending capacity to microcredit companies (MCCs)
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ILO: 500m People Access Micro-insurance Covers
March, 28 2012
Geneva, Switzerland - The International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Micro-insurance Innovation Facility has put the number of low income earners covered by various forms of micro-insurance products at 500 million. It made this confirmation in its 2011 annual report that was released to the public recently
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Microfinance: Why Care About Institution Building?
March, 27 2012
Global - David Roodman's book, Due Diligence, shapes today's public conversation about microfinance. Time magazine, The Washington Post and others, have picked up on the book and its message. With, as his subtitle says, an impertinent but serious, approach, Roodman's book attempts to answer a basic question: Does microfinance work?
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What Are The Realities Of Microfinance?
March, 27 2012
Maharashtra, India - New research is debunking myths about microfinance and showing how organizations can effectively address problems associated with poverty. Yale faculty Dean Karlan, Tony Sheldon, and Rodrigo Canales discuss the problems and the promise in the field of microfinance and the lessons for other kinds of social enterprise
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Private Equity: Funding Opportunity for SMEs
March, 23 2012
Global - Private equity (PE) funding has been one of the most significant issues for several entrepreneurs, especially those aiming to start or operating a small and medium enterprise (SME).
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India: At 9.3 mn, a Third of MFI Borrowers are Defaulters
March, 22 2012
Mumbia, India - Almost one in every three borrowers did not repay loans to microfinance companies since the industry plunged into a crisis in October 2010. In absolute terms, close to 9.2 million customers (almost equal to Mumbai’s suburban population) have defaulted on loan repayment. Microfinance institutions currently have around 32 million clients in the country
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Economists Demonstrate One Size Does Not Fit All for Microfinance Programs
March, 21 2012
Chicago, United States - Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study from the Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty suggests that they can have varying results for participants and may be the most cost-effective use of funds only in limited situations.
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Microangels and Microequity: The Missing Ingredients of Microfinance
March, 19 2012
Dijon, France - Microfinance, associated for over 35 years with Mohammad Yunus, the Grameen Bank, Opportunity International, Finca, Accion and many others, has brought to the poor and unbanked, the availability of micro loans and micro-insurance in exchange for micro-savings. If its results as a tool to fight against poverty are sometimes controversial, it probably still lacks an absolutely necessary ingredient to successful entrepreneurship: "micro-equity"
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Kenya: SME Lending Attracts More Financiers, Including Banks
March, 16 2012
Kenya - It has been repeated over and over that the biggest hindrance to growth of indigenous businesses is lack of access to financing.The survival rate of up to two to three years presumed for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been threatened because despite having very innovative ideas, funds to fully commercialise have not been readily available, especially with little to show as security
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International Impact Investing: Findings from the 2011 Virtual Volunteer Project
March, 14 2012
Switzerland - Why are investors in some countries so much more involved in “impact investing” – including microfinance – than their counterparts in other countries? Investing in microfinance in developing and emerging markets has gained more traction in certain continental European countries, for example, than it has in the United States and United Kingdom
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China: Can Microcredit Lenders Fill the Gap?
March, 13 2012
China - The Chinese press is full of stories documenting the difficulties small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have obtaining financing. Contrary to popular belief, the problem is not that SMEs are being crowded out by large enterprises. The SME share of total business loans has been relatively stable in the past several years. Moreover, the pace of loan growth to small enterprises has been faster than that for medium or large enterprises
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India: Financial Inclusion Is Still a Long Way Off, Census
March, 13 2012
India - The first phase of the 2011 Census has thrown the gaps in financial inclusion into stark relief.
While urban India has been getting access to, and avails itself of banking services at a rising rate, large areas of rural India are still severely under banked.
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East Africa: Development Funds put $40m into Private Equity for Microfinance
March, 08 2012
Nairobi, Kenya - East Africa has just gained its 30th home-based private equity fund. Progression Capital Africa’s first fund, which was launched in Nairobi on Thursday, will put $40m to work in microfinance across the region. Investing funds from three European state-backed development institutions, it’s ready to accept gains of only 10 per cent to 15 per cent – far less than the 30 per cent sought by private sector investors – as long as the projects generate decent social benefits
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Using Microfinance to Bring Clean Water to India's Poor
March, 08 2012
Mumbai, India - A unique public-private partnership involving private sector giants like Unilever and Heinz is improving the health of Indian children. Two hours outside India's tech hub Bangalore is Krishnagiri the Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) is using interest-free microfinance loans to increase access to products people could not afford on their own. "I care about the safe health and education of children. If I do business with people and don't care, it is not development. This is not development," explained Kulandei Francis, founder of IVDP.
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Removing Road Blocks to Housing Finance: New Findings from Latin America
March, 06 2012
Washington DC, USA - Can we possibly address financial inclusion without discussing housing microfinance? Financing for housing is in great demand, frequently cited as clients’ top choice after a business loan, and is the most commonly identified utilization of business financing outside of financing businesses
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Electronic Network Cash Tellers, Inc. has Raised USD 2.56mn Equity Capital from Funds Managed by Incofin Investment Management and responsAbility
March, 06 2012
Manila, Philippines - Electronic Network Cash Tellers, Inc. (“ENCASH”), the first independent ATM distributor in the Philippines, headquartered in Manila, is pleased to announce that they have raised USD 2.56 million from Rural Impulse Fund II S.A., SICAV-SIF, a fund managed by Incofin Investment Management and from responsAbility Ventures I limited partnership for collective investments schemes, a fund managed by responsAbility Social Investments AG
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India: Banks Agree to Recast Rs. 400 cr Basix Loans
March, 04 2012
Mumbai, India - Banks have agreed to recast the Rs. 400 crore (80 million USD) loan of Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd (Basix), India’s oldest microfinance institution (MFI). Basix will be the sixth major microlender to resort to corporate debt restructuring (CDR) after a crisis hit the sector in the aftermath of a controversial state law in Andhra Pradesh
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CGAP, Grameen Foundation, and MTN to Invest in Mobile Money Products for the Unbanked
March, 01 2012
Barcelona, Spain - Access to financial services can help the poor smooth their income and invest in productive assets, education and health services. However, 2.7 billion people – most of whom live in developing countries – still do not have a bank account. This gap is due to two major challenges: Many low-income communities are underserved by financial institutions, and the products offered by these institutions are more suitable for higher-income clientele.
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Microcredit Was Misused to Make Money From the Poor: Grameen Bank's Yunus
March, 01 2012
United States - Bangladesh's Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered the concept of providing small, unsecured loans to the poor is "frustrated" by the controversies surrounding microcredit. The Nobel Peace Prize winner tells CNBC's Christine Tan that microfinance still works
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