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Nov 2015
The Road to Financial Inclusion: Solid Progress, Big Challenges
November, 30 2015
Global - The success of the microcredit years showed us that it is not poverty that generates financial exclusion but rather the opposite: financial exclusion generates poverty. ...
T. Wry, Professor, Wharton, Univeristy of Pennsylvania: All Inequality Is Not Created Equal - Microfinance and Gender
November, 30 2015
Global - In the three decades since Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, the world has come to recognize the power of microfinance. Lending small amounts of money to people traditionally viewed as too poor to be good credit risks can have a profound poverty-reducing impact across a society ...
Jamaica: Government Has Increased Loans to Small Businesses
November, 30 2015
Jamaica - In addition to creating an enabling business environment, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says Government is determined to continue increasing access to financing for the micro and small business sector ...
Ghana: Financial Inclusion Critical for Young People
November, 30 2015
Ghana - Financial inclusion is critical for young people in Ghana, Ms Kathleen Beegle, the Programme Leader of the World Bank Country Office in Ghana has said ...
IFC, Netherlands Boost Support to Emerging Market SMEs
November, 26 2015
Global - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and IFC and the Dutchthe Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced an initiative to provide much needed financing and advice to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially to those in difficult to reach segments and in fragile markets, by lending through emerging market banks and other financial intermediaries ...
Financial Inclusion Advancing Across Latam
November, 26 2015
Latin America - The advance of financial inclusion in Latin America during recent years has been encouraging, as all of the countries in the region have seen significant progress, the Latin American Banking Federation (FELABAN) stated in its report on financial inclusion ...
Bangladesh: Call to Allow MFIs to Introduce Micro-insurance
November, 26 2015
Bangladesh - Microfinance institutions should be allowed to provide small insurance services to bring the borrowers under the social security framework, speakers said on Wednesday ...
Mobile Microfinance Users Set to Soar: 283 Million by 2020
November, 26 2015
Global - Microfinance providers, and mobile carriers, are driving a surge in financial inclusion for the unbanked populace in developing nations, through the provision of sophisticated mobile finance services ...
India: Digital Push - SKS Micro, IBM MobileFirst Team Up
November, 25 2015
India - SKS Microfinance has joined hands with IBM MobileFirst to enhance the use of technology in its lending operations and to make processes paperless ...
India: Visa, MasterCard Scramble to Get a Slice of Payments Bank Pie
November, 25 2015
India - Card issuers Visa and MasterCard are squaring off against the homegrown RuPay in the race to partner with payments banks ...
Safaricom Partners MTN to Extend M-Pesa to Rwanda
November, 25 2015
Rwanda - Kenya's leading mobile operator, Safaricom has partnered MTN Rwanda to enable customers to make mobile money transactions between Kenya and Rwanda. This follows Safaricom's earlier partnership with Vodacom Tanzania that was aimed at introducing cross-border transactions between customers on the respective networks ...
Brazil: BB, Bradesco Aim for Low-income Segment With New Bank
November, 25 2015
Brazil - Two of Brazil's largest lenders, Banco do Brasil (BB) and Bradesco, will launch a new bank for the low-income segment, according to local press ...
A. Adepetun, Journalist: ‘Why Mobile Money Customers in West Africa Are Inactive’
November, 24 2015
West Africa - International Finance Corporation, in its latest study, has revealed reasons behind low usage level of digital financial services in West Africa ...
Japan: We Are Getting More Women into the Labour Force
November, 24 2015
Japan - Rizal Zulkapli talked to Japanese Press Secretary and spokesperson of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Yasuhisa Kawamura on Japan’s effort to lure more women into the labour force ...
K. Tsuji, Senior Advisor, JICA: The Five Most Dramatic Changes in 20 Years of Financial Inclusion
November, 24 2015
Global - Faced with challenges toward full financial inclusion for all and with enormous, pressing developmental issues such as climate change, income and gender disparities, and conflicts and humanitarian crises, we have to spur further innovations and behavioral changes of stakeholders in markets so that market systems better work for the poor and vulnerable ...
The Future of Money
November, 22 2015
Kenya - A "mobile money" revolution has swept Kenya, where people can send and receive money on their cell phones. It's improved commerce and brought basic necessities to poorer area ...
India: Microfinance Can Ensure Sustainable Development
November, 21 2015
India - Dr. Stephen, in his inaugural address, emphasised the need for sustainable development through microfinance initiatives and suggested that the ‘wealth of nation’ needs to be complimented by ‘health of nation’ if growth has to sustain in the long run ...
Crédit Rural de Guinée Wins 6th European Microfinance Award, for Innovative Response to Ebola Outbreak
November, 20 2015
Luxembourg - The Award was presented during European Microfinance Week by Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, during a ceremony on 19th November held at the European Investment Bank Headquarters in Luxembourg ...
Ethiopia Set to Launch Weather Index Based Crop Insurance
November, 19 2015
Ethiopia - Using the weather data that will be provided by the National Meteorology Agency, Kifiya, the technology company that has been engaged in micro-finance and tailored rural financial solutions, will be providing the micro-insurance platform ...
MyBucks and Opportunity International Partner to Drive Financial Inclusion for 460 Million Unbanked Citizens of Africa
November, 19 2015
Africa - First-of-its-kind partnership between international NGO and leading fintech company will transform lives and forever change the face of poverty in the developing world ...
Peru Proposes Financial Inclusion Resolution to the UN
November, 19 2015
Peru - Peru has submitted a financial-inclusion resolution proposal towards sustainable development to United Nations (UN). The measure is expected to be approved at the UN General Assembly in December ...
South Africa: The MasterCard Foundation Launches $US9.6 Million Initiative with Finmark Trust and Cenfri to Create Data Facility Benefitting People Living in Poverty
November, 19 2015
South Africa - New facility will provide better aggregated data to help financial service providers respond more appropriately to banking needs of poor clients ...
S. Price, Journalist: Making the World a Better Place by Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
November, 18 2015
Global - Ask Wendy Diamond why the world needs Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and you’ll hear about the powerful ripple effect when women run their own businesses ...
Rwanda: Investments Aren't Gender-neutral When Female Entrepreneurs Face A $320Bn Credit Gap
November, 17 2015
Rwanda - Bertha Nzabanita survived the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but her husband did not. As a single mother, she struggled to make do with the one coffee field and dilapidated house he had left her. Then Nzabanita discovered Musasa, a coffee cooperative that gave her and other widows from the genocide a stable market for their coffee allowing them to increase their income. ...
India: Banks Have a $380 Billion Market Opportunity in Financial Inclusion, Accenture and CARE International UK Study
November, 17 2015
India - Banks can address an additional $380 billion market in annual revenues by targeting micro-enterprises and bringing unbanked and underbanked adults into the formal financial system, according to a report produced jointly by Accenture and CARE International UK, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. ...
A. Miles, Director, The MasterCard Foundation: From Microfinance to Financial Inclusion - Reflections on 20 Years
November, 16 2015
Global - 2015 marks a good year for financial inclusion. At the IMF/World Bank spring meetings, several key actors, including the World Bank itself, committed to universal financial access for one billion people by 2020. Later, 193 member countries at the UN General Assembly endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals, with financial inclusion being incorporated into those goals ...
Nepal: Banks and Financial Institutions Told to Create Contingency Plans
November, 16 2015
Nepal - Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed micro-finance institutions to create a separate Client Protection Fund for the welfare of borrowers ...
Uganda: Ugafode Targets Rural Farmers Through Mobile Banking
November, 16 2015
Uganda - The Uganda Agency for Development Limited (UGAFODE) microfinance has unveiled a mobile banking system that will see its close to 60,000 clientele able to save, deposit and repay loans using their mobile money accounts ...
IFC and ADOPEM Support 140,000 New Loans for Micro-entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic
November, 16 2015
Dominican Republic - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced today a RD$450 million (approximately US$10 million) loan for Banco de Ahorro y Crédito ADOPEM S.A. to boost lending to entrepreneurs. IFC’s support will allow ADOPEM to issue an additional 140,000 microloans over the next seven years, a 70 percent increase from June 2015. ...
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Plans More Investment in Cambodian MFIs
November, 16 2015
Cambodia - A US government finance institution plans to inject more capital into Cambodia's businesses, forecasting rapid growth in small business and microfinance institutions around the country. ...
Bangladesh: Ceiling on Investment in Fixed Assets by MFIs Set
November, 14 2015
Bangladesh - The microcredit regulator has put a ceiling on investment by micro finance institutions (MFIs) in fixed assets at 35 per cent of their cumulative earning surplus ...
India: Grameen Koota Goes Live with Temenos’ T24 Core Banking System, Tech Mahindra Provides Integration Support
November, 13 2015
India - India-based Grameen Koota Financial Services has gone live with Temenos’ T24 core banking system for its microfinance business ...
Cashless Nigeria: Facilitating the Transition to Digital Payments
November, 12 2015
Nigeria - The emergence of Nigeria as a regional economic powerhouse has presented a challenge for Nigerian policymakers: how to convert Nigeria’s growth at the macro level into greater financial inclusion, so that the rising economic tide can benefit more people ...
India: How a Successful Collective of Smallholder Farmers in India is Showing the Way
November, 11 2015
India - With women and men standing proudly alongside their produce, this celebration of seeds and biodiversity is the future of farming: it is abundant, resilient and most importantly, smallholder led. ...
European Investment Bank (EIB) Confirms Commitment for Crucial Climate, Communication, Energy and Microfinance Investment Across the Caribbean
November, 11 2015
The Caribbean - New and past engagement by the EIB to improve lives and strengthen economic opportunities in the Caribbean was welcomed by two Prime Ministers and a President during an official visit to three counties in the region by Vice President van Ballekom ...
India: Demand for Global Rupee Bond - IFC Floats Rs 170-crore Masala Issue
November, 10 2015
India - International Finance Corporation, the private finance arm of the World Bank, has launched a Rs 170-crore ($25-million) masala bond issue, betting on the growing interest in India among international investors, and will help Indian companies issue rupee bonds abroad ...
Germans Fund Training for 250 Ghanaian Youth
November, 10 2015
Ghana - The German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development is to provide funding for the training of 250 young Ghanaians in various trades and vocations over a three-year period -Sinapi Aba Trust, a financial institution, and Opportunity International Deutschland, a German non-profit foundation supporting micro-finance projects ...
Asian Development Bank to Allocate Over $30 Mln for Development of Technical and Vocational Education in Tajikistan
November, 10 2015
Tajikistan - The Asian Development Bank has approved a $32 million project to promote a demand-driven, quality-assured, and flexible technical and vocational education and training (TVET) delivery system in Tajikistan, reports the press release of the Bank ...
Small Business Finance and Financial Inclusion in Latin America
November, 09 2015
Latina America - Limited acceptance of digital payments and high fees associated with using such services are two obstacles to greater financial inclusion in Latin American countries. Can these issues be solved at the retailer level, rather than the individual level ...
Africa: New Case Study Outlines Ways to Drive Financial Inclusion through Mobile Technology
November, 09 2015
Africa - FINCA today released a case study to guide microfinance institutions wishing to implement mobile technology to increase financial inclusion. Since introducing mobile banking to clients in Tanzania over a year ago, with support from The MasterCard Foundation, nearly one-third of FINCA Tanzania’s clients are now using the service for savings deposits and other transactions ...
Philippines: Only Accredited NGOs Can Now Engage in Microfinance
November, 08 2015
Philippines - Only qualified non-government organizations can now engage in microfinance operations for the availment of government incentives. Last November 3, President Aquino signed the measure regulating NGOs engaging in microfinance operations into law, the Republic Act No. 10693 or “Microfinance NGOs Act” ...
Financial Inclusion of Women and Girls is the Right Thing to Do – and it’s Good Business
November, 05 2015
Global - At a Guardian-hosted United Nations roundtable, world experts weighed in on the challenges of including women in the global economy – and how best to tackle the issue ...
Mastercard Helps Kenyan Farmers Access Capital
November, 05 2015
Kenya - Having launched MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion — an initiative that MasterCard stated was designed to impact the lives of more than 100 million people around the world “by developing practical and cost-effective financial tools that expand access and help build stable futures over the long term”. ...
India: FIS Launches Banking on Demand for Financial Inclusion
November, 05 2015
India - In a bid to improve access and time to market for small competitors in India’s banking industry, FIS has launched ‘Banking on Demand’, a tool designed to allow particularly the small players – such as small banks, payment banks and microfinance institutions – to offer hosted banking services without needing to invest in an expensive back-end infrastructure ...
Micro-credit for Palestinians Begins, with Italian Help
November, 04 2015
Palestine - Over 20 million euros have been made available by the Italian foreign ministry and international cooperation for a three-year micro-credit program in the West Bank, an inauguration ceremony for which was held on Wednesday. ...
Bangladesh: Financial Inclusion Essential to Speed Up Rural Economy
November, 03 2015
Bangladesh - Administrative officials in a view-sharing meeting with community people here Monday said that financial inclusion is very important for accelerating rural economy besides eradicating poverty ...
M. Mossman, Ghana: Moving Beyond Microcredit
November, 02 2015
Ghana - I’d come to the market to talk with merchants about how they fund their operations. Financing is perhaps the biggest problem faced by small businesses in the developing world. Local banks aren’t typically an option, because the fees are too high, and in some cases because people lack the necessary documentation and literacy required to get accounts ...
E. Mwine, Uganda: Giving Micro-loans to the Poor Doesn't Even Up Society or End Unemployment
November, 02 2015
Uganda - We need to set up the right systems for small businesses to succeed, such as strong subsidies, state assistance, and welfare support to prop up entrepreneurs when they fail ...
South Asia: Why Women Self-Help Group Members Make for Good Bank Agents
November, 02 2015
South Asia - Recent pilot projects conducted by the Rural Financial Institutions Programme (the RFIP, a cooperation program between GIZ India and NABARD) demonstrated that engaging female community members in village financial services can be more effective than using typical customer service representatives as banking agents ...

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