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South Africa: Budget 2015 - a Glimmer of Hope for SMEs
February, 27 2015
South Africa - This year's budget from Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene showed some support for the country's SMEs by giving further tax relief to the smallest enterprises, yet it could have done more to help local businesses prosper.
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The Blue Oceans of FinTech in Emerging Markets
February, 26 2015
Global - Emerging markets have, to many western minds, been a place where technology trickles down. For technologies that require heavy capital investments, massive distribution costs and networks, this has and will remain to be true. But being unencumbered by existing infrastructure and customer expectations, the emerging markets also reveal a new opportunity
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India: Options in MSME Financing
February, 26 2015
India - Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a major role in economic development, particularly in emerging countries. There is heightened attention by the international community on the MSME sector. This is primarily because of the critical importance of job creation in the recovery cycle following the recent financial crisis, and the MSMEs’ potentials in that respect
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Uganda: Make Mobile Banking Relevant to Poor
February, 26 2015
Uganda - State minister for Microfinance Caroline Amali Okao has challenged digital financial services providers that their target of adding 550,000 active users by the end of this year might not succeed unless they come up with innovations that will benefit the local users.
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Safaricom Will Reduce Investment if Kenya Moves on Dominance
February, 21 2015
Kenya - Safaricom Ltd. will cut its planned $400 million investment in East Africa’s biggest economy this year if Kenyan regulators impose penalties on the wireless carrier to limit its market dominance, its chief executive officer said
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Ethiopia: SMEs Facing Sever Credit Constraints
February, 19 2015
Ethiopia - Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ethiopia have faced severe credit service constraints owing to absence of financial institutions catering them, the World Bank said on Thursday. A study by the bank released on Thursday has revealed that young and smaller firms across the country are much more likely to be rejected from line of credit and discouraged from applying for loans due to high collateral requirements
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Consumer Protection in Microfinance Exceeds 15-Million-Client Mark
February, 19 2015
Global - The Smart Campaign, a global movement to embed a set of client-protection principles into the fabric of the microfinance industry, today announced that the number of certified microfinance institutions (MFIs) is growing rapidly, and that those MFIs certified as meeting the standards for consumer protection now serve more than 15 million clients worldwide, according to MixMarket data.
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India: Will Payment Bank Help Mobile Financial Inclusion?
February, 19 2015
India - Mobile operators have an edge vis-a-vis banks. Banks have limited exposure to individuals in comparison to mobile companies whose exposure is wide spread and are in a better position to provide affordable financial services for millions of unbanked households.
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What Impact Investors Can Learn from Microfinance
February, 18 2015
Global - Estimates vary widely, but 300 million people are estimated to be direct beneficiaries of the microcredit movement, and more than $68 billion may be currently invested in the industry, according to a 2010 estimate from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a unit of the World Bank
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Why Do Female Social Entrepreneurs Pay Themselves Less?
February, 18 2015
Global - Over the last 17 years, women-owned businesses have increased dramatically—a substantial 68% since 1977. In a world where women have long lived and worked in the shadows of men, entrepreneurship seems to be helping women narrow the gender gap in the workplace. Until you take a look at their paychecks
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The Critical Role of Data in Taking Financial Inclusion to the Next Level in the Pacific
February, 18 2015
East Asia & Pacific - Central banks around the Pacific region have been at the forefront of driving financial inclusion related policies and initiatives in their respective jurisdictions. Like any other small open economy, the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) recognize the fact that significant parts of their community are underserved in relation to accessible and affordable financial services and products.
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ILO Study: MFIs Are ‘Pathways to Decent Work’
February, 18 2015
Global - The ILO, which collaborated with 16 microfinance institutions in emerging economies, tested a range of approaches to foster social impact through the delivery of innovative financial and non-financial services.
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Nigeria: FG Relaxes Condition for N220bn MSME Fund
February, 18 2015
Nigeria - The Federal Government has slashed the collateral requirement introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria for banks to access the N220bn intervention fund for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector from 75 per cent to 50 per cent
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Azerbaijan’s Devaluation in Disguise
February, 17 2015
Azerbaijan - On Monday 16 February, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan stated that it had abandoned its currency peg between the Azerbaijan New Manat (AZN) and the US dollar (USD) and replaced it with a dual-currency basket weighted at 70% USD and 30% in Euro.
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Cambodia: Finance Sector Seeks to Boost Consumer Confidence
February, 17 2015
Cambodia - A number of Cambodian financial institutions, led by Canadia Bank and microfinance institution Sathapana Limited, were on hand to sign up to the voluntary code yesterday, with all firms operating in the industry encouraged to do so in the future
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Zimbabwe Licenses First Microfinance Bank
February, 16 2015
Zimbabwe - The microfinance bank, named African Century Limited, will be a deposit taking microfinance institution and makes history by becoming the first such legal entity operating in the economy
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India: Manappuram Buys Microfinance Company Asirvad
February, 13 2015
India - Kerala-based gold loan company Manappuram Finance Ltd, on Friday, said it has acquired a majority stake in Chennai based micro-finance company Asirvad Micro Finance Pvt Ltd as it seeks to diversify into different financial businesses
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Bangladesh: Turmoil Taking its Toll on Small, Medium Businesses
February, 13 2015
Bangladesh - The ongoing political turmoil continues to take its toll on the small and medium businesses who have borrowed money from micro finance institutions (MFIs) as the big MFIs have tightened their vigilance fearing the future impact on loan recovery
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Heuristics: A Behavioral Approach to Financial Literacy Training
February, 12 2015
Global - By Microfinace Barometer estimates, over half of microfinance institutions around the world offer non-financial services. The most frequently offered service? Financial literacy training. Despite its popularity, there is little evidence whether such trainings improve microentrepreneurs’ decision-making or the actual performance of their businesses
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Another Inconvenient Truth: Vice Pays
February, 12 2015
Global - The politically correct and socially sustainable is, though certainly laudable, not particularly profitable. Investors shunning sin stocks manage portfolios that are, on average, significantly less profitable than those possessed by shareholders without similar scruples
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World Bank Boosts Financial Inclusion in Cameroon
February, 11 2015
Cameroon - The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has recently announced an advisory services agreement with Mircrofinance Institute Advans Cameroun geared at expediting the rate of financial inclusion in Cameroon by expanding the range and reach of services available to underserved urban and rural populations
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IFC, Imon International to Expand MSME Finance in Tajikistan
February, 10 2015
Tajikistan - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has mobilized $16.5 million, including $5 million from its own account, for IMON International, Tajikistan’s leading microfinance institution, to boost lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country’s remote and rural areas
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Cambodia: MFIs Bank Returns on Rates - Report
February, 09 2015
Cambodia - High returns on investment and healthy interest rates are helping Cambodia’s microfinance sector continue its rapid expansion, according to Cambodia-based investment firm Mekong Strategic Partners.
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Zimbabwe: Banks Miss out on Informal Sector
February, 06 2015
Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's informal sector remains largely unbanked with only about 23,8% of players under the economic bracket with bank accounts, a new informal sector research done by the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit says
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Bitcoin’s Big Opportunity in Africa
February, 05 2015
Africa - While global entrepreneurs and investors have been cautiously eying the potential of bitcoin in Africa, a more aggressive homegrown breed of African startups is already experimenting in Kenya, East Africa's powerhouse economy.
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Rebooting India’s Banking Structure
February, 04 2015
India - The flurry of applications received by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for setting up new payments and small banks is a heartening development and must be seen in the context of how the Indian banking structure is changing
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India: Corporate Biggies Join Race for Niche Small Bank Licences
February, 03 2015
India - Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Future Group and Vakrangee Ltd are among those who have applied for Payment Banks on the last date of putting in applications. A few applied to operate Small Finance Banks, including SKS Microfinance, Dewan Housing Finance and UAE Exchange
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Cambodia: MFI Deposits Double in 2014
February, 03 2015
Cambodia - The total amount of savings at Cambodia’s deposit-taking microfinance institutions (MFIs) reached $897 million by the end of 2014, more than doubling from its 2013 base of $445 million, according to figures from the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA)
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New Basel Report Documents Financial Inclusion’s Mainstreaming
February, 02 2015
Global - The report reveals the extent to which supervisory and regulatory practices are evolving in response to the emergence of new institutions, financial products and intermediation channels that service poor and low-income customers in different jurisdictions
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Myanmar: Norway to Take Stake in MFI
February, 02 2015
Myanmar - The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) has acquired the right to take up to a 25 percent stake in local microfinance company Myanmar Finance International
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