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India: NCML Launches NCML Finance
March, 29 2016
India - National Collateral Management Services Ltd (NCML) has launched its wholly owned subsidiary, NCML Finance Pvt. Ltd (NFin). NFin is an RBI registered Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) with focus on rural and agri-business finance
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India: Equitas Tweaks IPO Plan, to Open Issue on April 5
March, 28 2016
India - Chennai-based microfinance firm Equitas Holdings Ltd has changed the terms of its initial public offer (IPO) even as it seeks to become the second microlender to go public after SKS Microfinance listed on the bourses in 2010
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Zimbabwe: AfricInvest and MicroCred in MicroKing Buyout
March, 27 2016
Zimbabwe - Private equity investment manager AfricInvest and MicroCred, a microfinance institution, have joined forces to acquire MicroKing Finance, a provider of microfinance products serving the micro, small and medium enterprise market in Zimbabwe.
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India: Micro Finance Companies Get Funds from Banks
March, 25 2016
India - "With Bandhan leaving the MFI space, Rs 10,000 crore worth of priority sector loans was freed up and this amount is now channeled to other MFIs," said Ratna Vishwanathan, chief executive at Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), an industry association for the sector
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China Makes Gains, Faces Hurdles in Extending Financial Services
March, 25 2016
China - Recent changes by China's rural and private financial institutions will help relieve obstacles to inclusive finance, which have held back the nation's anti-poverty efforts, according to experts at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, held in China's island province of Hainan
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Cambodia: National Bank Ups Cash Reserve Requirements
March, 25 2016
Cambodia - The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has doubled the minimum capital requirements for commercial banks and significantly raised the requirements for microfinance institutions in a move experts say will protect and consolidate the country’s banking sector
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Cambodia: Sathapana to Become a Commercial Bank
March, 23 2016
Cambodia - Sathapana Microfinance Plc, one of the largest in Cambodia, will officially transform itself into a commercial bank late next month, a move in line with Japanese-owned Maruhan Bank acquiring a 95.1 percent stake in 2012. It will be the second microfinance institute to become a bank after Acleda in 2009
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The Digital Cloud that Hangs Over Every African Farm
March, 22 2016
Africa - But mobile phones and even mobile money accounts do not amount to digital financial inclusion. Millions still live without access to formal financial services and the potential of digital technologies to equip smallholder farmers with knowledge, data and market opportunities has yet to be realised
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Innovative MSME Finance Shows Promise in Djibouti
March, 22 2016
Djibouti - “The PCG fund is a timely development in Djibouti as it will encourage lenders to provide more financing to MSMEs. We are hopeful that the fund will accelerate the MSME growth and spur job creation in the country,” says Fadwa Bennani, Senior Financial Specialist, the World Bank Group, who led the project
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Cambodia: Amret Moves up the Ratings Ladder
March, 22 2016
Cambodia - Amret Microfinance Institution, one of the largest in Cambodia’s crowded market, yesterday announced it had received an A- rating from independent rating agency Microfinanza, which is based in Italy, for improving its operation and for its strong performance over the past year
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IFC and Others Poised to Boost SME Finance Across Africa
March, 22 2016
Africa - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), parent company of the Ecobank Group and leading pan-African full-service banking group, today signed a landmark risk-sharing agreement that will help fill the gap in financing for small and medium sized enterprises in some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest and most fragile countries
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Slovenia: Microcredit Available for Social Enterprises
March, 22 2016
Slovenia - Slovenia has launched a microcredit scheme for social enterprises in a bid to kick-start the underdeveloped sector. The incentives should "sow the seeds of development", Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Monday
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Fitch: Mexican Credit Unions See Positive Loan Growth
March, 18 2016
Mexico - Although the sector is concentrated in a few credit unions (48% of loans in the Top 5) and growth was underpinned by them, overall growth was overseen at most entities. This signals a good dynamism of lending activities under a challenged economic environment in 2015 with slow growth.
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R. Jacobus, Principal, Street Level Advisors: Who Will Pay for Data?
March, 17 2016
Global - The measurement of social impact has become a widely shared objective within the social sector, and few people in the sector doubt the potential of impact data to transform their work. Yet among nonprofit groups, social enterprises, and other social-purpose organizations, the use of impact data remains surprisingly limited
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Pakistan: Telenor Buys Tameer Bank
March, 17 2016
Pakistan - The Telenor Group has increased its shareholding in Tameer Microfinance Bank to 100%, which makes the country’s first and largest microfinance bank a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Norway-based telecommunications giant
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Indonesia: Trust Issues May Hamper RI Financial Inclusion Campaign
March, 16 2016
Indonesia - The government’s joint effort with banking institutions to promote financial inclusion across the archipelago is facing a major hurdle as most people from low-income households are reluctant to let individual agents take care of their savings under the government-endorsed branchless banking program, a recent study has revealed
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Senegal: Teranga Capital Launches SGB
March, 16 2016
Senegal - Teranga Capital, third African fund sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires, I&P, was officially launched in Dakar, Senegal on March 15
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Cambodia: MFIs Moving Swiftly on Mobile Banking
March, 15 2016
Cambodia - Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been expanding their financial services to include the use of mobile phones, a move aimed at boosting services for people in rural areas who find it difficult or expensive to travel to offices in towns or villages
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T. Triebel, CEO, Spotcap: Why Is Fintech Failing Women Globally?
March, 15 2016
Global - The industry can help promote financial inclusion, particularly for women. But challenges remain on both the industry and client sides. Here are the most significant ways fintech can enable women, and the most pressing challenges it will reveal
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Cambodia: Microfinance Sector Praised, But Some Lenders Called Out
March, 15 2016
Cambodia - Speaking at the “National Summit on the Development of Microfinance Sector in Cambodia” yesterday, the prime minister acknowledged the sector’s contribution to providing capital for farmers and small firms, but said some institutions were still taking advantage of consumers’ low financial education
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Zimbabwe: RBZ Seeks to Broaden Financial Inclusion
March, 14 2016
Zimbabwe - The strategy seeks to ensure the existence of an inclusive financial sector that broadens access to and use of financial services by all with the view of endangering social and economic development. To help attain the goals, the RBZ, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development will set up a $10 million SME fund by March 31
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Myanmar: Banking on Better Times
March, 14 2016
Myanmar - The passing of a new financial institutions law in January has raised hopes of a brighter future for the nation’s banks but there are challenging times ahead
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IFC, Fidelity Bank to Expand Digital Financial Services in Ghana
March, 14 2016
Ghana - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed an advisory agreement with Fidelity Bank Ghana to expand agent and mobile banking in Ghana. It aims to make financial services more easily available to low-income customers, small-scale entrepreneurs and rural communities
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Malaysia: Bank Expands SME Financing Regionally
March, 12 2016
East Asia - Maybank is aiming to grow its SME loan portfolio by 27% across the Asean region, including Malaysia, to RM28bil by the end of this year from RM22.1bil as at end-2015 on the back of strong regional outlook for small businesses
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Tanzania: Yetu Microfinance Formally Goes Public
March, 11 2016
Tanzania - Yetu Microfinance completed official listing process on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), the first microfinance in the country and East Africa to join the family of other 22 firms quoted on the bourse
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Impact Investing's New Theme: Themes
March, 08 2016
Global - Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and J.P. Morgan have launched platforms aimed at making the impact investment process simpler and more efficient for investors and their advisors, and themed investment is a big part of the strategy
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The Impact of Shutting Down Mobile Money in Uganda
March, 07 2016
Uganda - On February 18, 2016 the people of Uganda went to the polls to vote in the Presidential and Primary elections. Citing a threat to "national security," the Uganda Communications Commission ordered mobile network operators to shut down key social media sites (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter) and disable mobile money platforms
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Cambodia: MFI Growth Still Healthy after 10 Years
March, 06 2016
Cambodia - According to a report by the CMA, about 2 million Cambodians used the financial services of an MFI last year, almost double compared to 2010 when MFIs had about 1 million clients. The CMA said the sector’s growth rate was about 16 percent annually.
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Pakistan: Microfinance Sector - Gross Loan Portfolio Increases 39.3%
March, 03 2016
Pakistan - The gross loan portfolio of the microfinance sector increased 39.3% year on year (YoY) to reach Rs93 billion at the end of 2015. According to the latest microfinance statistics, released by the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), the value of savings posted an annual growth of 48.7% in 2015. The number of active savers grew 63.8% over the same period
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India Post to Set Up 10,000 ATMs, 20,000 Micro-ATMs by Year-end
March, 03 2016
India - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his Budget speech for 2016-17 that to provide better access to financial services, especially in rural areas, the government will undertake a massive nationwide roll-out of ATMs and micro ATMs in post offices over the next three years
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Coffee Connections: Improving Smallholder Inclusion through Value Chain Finance
March, 03 2016
Global - From coffee to cocoa to other crops, there are roughly 500 million smallholder farmers around the world. As lessons learned in supply chain sophistication and agriculture financing amass in the growing artisanal produce and mass market grocery industries alike, the prospects for entrepreneurial smallholders may significantly brighten
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Proven Impact VC Seeks to Mentor Fund Managers in Developing World
March, 02 2016
Global - By some measures, the world is awash in cash, much of it available to be invested in emerging markets with a social purpose. For instance, the world’s largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has assets of $3.3 trillion. The constraint on impact investing may be expertise rather than capital
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Why “Inefficiency” is Needed in Energy Financing for Africa
March, 01 2016
Africa - One of the most important findings noted at the Africa launch of the World Bank's Progress Toward Sustainable Energy: Global Tracking Framework 2015 (GTF) report for the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, is that despite recent trends to increase investment in the energy sector, we still need to double the number of new connections to modern energy services per year to reach universal access to energy by 2030
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Indonesia: BNI, Rural Banks Team up for Microloans
March, 01 2016
Indonesia - State-owned Lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) signed an agreement on Monday with the Association of Rural Banks (Perbarindo) on credit linkage to support the government-backed microloan program
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