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What’s Driving Growth in Impact Investing?
October, 30 2018
Global - With just over $228 billion now invested in impact projects, the growth in impact investing in recent years—along with increased shareholder focus on environment, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues—has reached a new high
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IFC Backs Moroccan Bank to Boost Financial Inclusion
October, 26 2018
West Africa - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed an agreement to support the Atlantic Microfinance For Africa (AMIFA), a subsidiary of the Moroccan Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) Group. The agreement will support in developing new products and services to boost financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Philippines: Building an Inclusive Financial System
October, 24 2018
Philippines - Building an inclusive financial system has become an important policy objective in the country. Latest figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for 2017 showed that 77 percent of adult Filipinos remain unbanked, with 52 percent unable to allocate money for savings
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R. Shakespeare, Squire Patton Boggs: Impact Investing for Family Offices
October, 23 2018
Global - It can prove difficult to track the extent to which proclaimed interest is being converted into executed investments and it is likely that the volume of capital committed remains relatively insignificant. However, the intent and appetite amongst investors, particularly family offices, across the globe, for stakes in impactful businesses looks to be fairly well established and on an upwards trajectory
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Utkarsh Small Finance Bank in India Goes Live with ACI Worldwide Payments Tech
October, 22 2018
India - ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced the successful transition of Utkarsh Small Finance Bank (USFB) to the latest version of its UP Retail Payments solution, completing a rapid technological transformation for one of India’s fastest-growing small finance banks.
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Board Approves €7 Million Investment in Partech Africa Fund
October, 22 2018
Africa - The African Development Bank’s efforts to channel critical investment funding to Africa’s entrepreneurs received a big boost on Thursday in Abidjan, where the Bank’s executive directors approved €7 million equity investment in Partech Africa Fund
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Clean Cooking: How Technology and Advocacy Are Helping Save Lives
October, 19 2018
Global - In all, some three billion people in the world have no access to clean cooking solutions. Some individuals and enterprises are able to see real humans beyond those statistics, and design and successfully implement strategies to meaningfully address those problems
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Zambia: Barclays, MTN and JUMO Partner to Deepen Financial Inclusion
October, 18 2018
Zambia - Barclays Bank Zambia, mobile operator MTN and technology Company JUMO, have announced the launch of a forthcoming new mobile savings product and the expansion of an existing lending facility aimed at growing financial inclusion and bringing banking services to the unbanked
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Cambodia: HKL Confident of Listing Success
October, 18 2018
Cambodia - Huot Ieng Tong, president and CEO of Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) yesterday said backed by a solid financial performance the company has strong confidence its upcoming corporate bond listing on the local stock exchange will be a success
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Green Financing in Asia: False Momentum or Real Impact?
October, 17 2018
Asia - At least US$2.5 trillion annually is needed to achieve the SDGs, but investing in climate and sustainable development projects can be perceived as risky business by traditional investors. Experts at the Responsible Business Forum offer pointers on how to get financiers on board
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Kazakh Government Provides Updates on Five Social Initiatives
October, 17 2018
Kazakhstan - Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev chaired a meeting in the capital Oct. 16 which provided updates on the five social initiatives from President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed earlier this year. The discussion covered housing, reducing the tax burden on low-paid workers, higher education accessibility, expanding microcredits and developing the gas pipeline infrastructure to increase its supply
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Is it Possible to End Poverty?
October, 16 2018
Global - By 2030, we will see a world without poverty – that is the goal of the UN. But what does it take to make that happen? Some say too much, others say it is the wrong goal.
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Peru Tops Latin America in Impact Investments
October, 16 2018
Peru - Move over Mexico, Peru is now the top destination in Latin America for impact investment capital. Impact investors invested a total of $1.4 billion in Latin America in 2016 and 2017. The uptick from the previous two-year period was driven by a doubling (from a small base) of capital from homegrown investors.
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Telcos to Link 90m Nigerians in 30 Months
October, 14 2018
Nigeria - Nigeria’s largest GSM operators, Glo, 9Mobile, Airtel, MTN Nigeria and Ntel, are set to help drive the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) financial inclusion strategy with plans to deepen financial services to 90 million, over the next 30 months
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Africa’s Banks Must Bank on Women
October, 12 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa - Commercial banks in Africa — given their presence in different markets, their adoption of technologies enabling wide distribution and their legacy in providing trusted financial services — should take the lead in serving unbanked women by offering gender-sensitive products
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India: East, North-East Take the Lead in NBFC-MFI Loan Portfolio
October, 12 2018
India - Talk microfinance and it was the southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that featured on top of the list – both in terms of the number of borrowers and gross loan portfolio. But now, east and north-eastern States are clearly taking the lead
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Two India-Focused Impact Funds, of $1 Bn Each, Launched During GSG Summit
October, 10 2018
India - Two wholesale funds -- India Impact Fund of Funds (IIFF) and the India Education Outcomes Fund (IEOF) -- to further the growth of impact capital in India were launched on Wednesday during the fourth annual Impact Summit hosted by the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) in New Delhi
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Africa: Investisseurs & Partenaires Announces 3 New Investments
October, 09 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa - The fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2, launched in December 2017 with a first closing at €50 million, made its first investments. Operating in various sectors of activity, the first companies of IPAE 2 portfolio share a common feature: the choice to develop their activities, from the outset, in several African countries.
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Kenya: SACCOs, MFIs Catch Up With Banks in Share of Personal Loans
October, 09 2018
Kenya - SACCOs and microfinance lenders have caught up with banks and now provide half of the loans issued to private households in Kenya.
This is according to a report by ICEA LION Asset Managers which indicates that Private household and trade segments accounted for over 40 percent of total private sector lending in East Africa in the last two years
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Yoma Bank Makes $4.4m Follow-on Financing in BRAC Myanmar Microfinance
October, 09 2018
Myanmar - Yoma Bank, the financial services arm of First Myanmar Investment Co Ltd, has injected a second tranche of K6.8 billion ($4.4 million) in a follow-on financing round of BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Company Limited to expand its activities in the country, according to an announcement
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Opinion: Social Impact, India’s Next Growth and Employment Engine
October, 08 2018
India - Impact investment AUM soared to $248 billion in 2016, of which $5 billion were in India. The annual impact investments in India, of just over $1 billion, touch 60-80 million people living in poverty, according to McKinsey. The sector can grow at 20-24 percent to attract $6-8 billion in annual investments, the consultancy said
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African Financial Technology Startups Move Beyond Payment Services
October, 05 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa - In “Beyond Payments: The Next Generation of Fintech Startups in Sub-Saharan Africa,” the venture capital firm Village Capital, and their reporting partner, PayPal, tip their hat to M-Pesa and mobile money in Africa, but say that there’s a wave of innovation still to come
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Why Market View Changed for Financials
October, 04 2018
India - Lending and leverage are no strangers to each other. In fact, every economic boom makes them great bedfellows. They come together, combine, grow, expand, balloon and implode in every cycle.
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FINCA Impact Finance, MEF and BlueOrchard Announce USD 20 Million Loan Facility
October, 04 2018
Global - FINCA Impact Finance (FIF), a global provider of financial services, announced today that it has entered into a joint USD 20 million loan facility with the BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund (BOMF) and Microfinance Enhancement Facility S.A., SICAV-SIF (MEF). Blue Orchard Finance, Ltd. a pioneering impact investment manager, arranged the facility on behalf of the lenders.
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IFC, Mastercard Launch Handbook to Advance Financial Inclusion in Africa
October, 04 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, together with the Mastercard Foundation, today launched the Digital Financial Services for Agriculture Handbook to support the expansion of financial inclusion to smallholder farmers and agricultural value chain actors in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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UNDP Launches SDG Impact Platform for Investors and Businesses
October, 04 2018
Global - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) presented the SDG Impact initiative on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly (UNGA). SDG Impact aims to empower investors and businesses to contribute to the SDGs, including by providing country-level data and SDG investment roadmaps
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IDB Invest and OPIC Launch Gender Focused Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean
October, 03 2018
Latin America and the Caribbean - IDB Invest and OPIC partnered to launch Fund Mujer, the first gender-focused fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, to invest in female entrepreneurs, companies with a significant share of women leaders, and firms that generate jobs or consumer products for women. The fund has a US$200m target and is expected to be comprised of 70% equity / 30% debt.
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What Global Megatrends Can Teach Us About Impact Investing
October, 03 2018
Global - Local issues attract some to social impact investing, as the rise of place-based investment models shows. Others, however, take a broader approach, letting global megatrends – such as population shifts and strains on natural resources – guide their socially conscious investment choices
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India: Microfinance Sector Needs Cash
October, 03 2018
India - The country’s microfinance sector, which recorded a robust performance in the first quarter, may need Rs 6,000-9,000 crore over the next three years to meet its growth plans, a report has said
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What Kenya’s Mobile Money Success Could Mean for the Arab World
October, 03 2018
Middle East & North Africa - M-Pesa is a platform that offers retail financial services via mobile phone to Kenyans, especially those in underserved rural areas. It has experienced a huge and rapid success since its inception. This success could inspire countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in their search for a new source of growth and jobs.
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Commercial Banks of Uzbekistan to Be Able to Issue Microloans
October, 02 2018
Uzbekistan - Commercial banks of Uzbekistan received the right to provide microloans along with microcredit organizations, Uzbek media reported. The Senate (upper house) of the Uzbek parliament approved the relevant amendments to the legislation at the 16th plenary meeting on September 27
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R. Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director, Better Than Cash Alliance: Accelerating the SDGs - How Digital Finance Can Ignite Faster Progress Toward the Global Goals
October, 02 2018
Global - Today, two in three adults worldwide, more than ever before, have access to mobile money, formal accounts, electronic payments and fintech apps, making it easier to reach those who had previously been excluded from the formal economy. When deployed responsibly, digital financial services can be an important part of the solution for critical issues, including hunger, health, clean energy and climate change
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Sri Lanka Launches First Social Impact Funds
October, 01 2018
Sri Lanka - Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed today in New York, launching Sri Lanka’s first social impact funds aimed at supporting social entrepreneurs access innovative financing, to help achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
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