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Feb 2019
Philippines: Street Vendors’ Self-help Strategies Highlight Cities’ Neglect of How the Other Half Survive
February, 28 2019
Philippines - About 2.5 billion people, or half of the global labour force, work in the informal economy, the International Labour Organisation estimates. In developing Asian countries, more than 50% of the urban labour force is in informal work. Street vending is the most visible form of this. Yet no accurate statistics on street vendors are available ...
India: Fintech Startups that Will Lead the Way to Full Financial Inclusion in 2019
February, 28 2019
India - In the last year, we saw a significant rise in the number of fintech startups coming up that aims at providing instant loans for various needs for their users. But not all startups survive long enough to see the brighter and successful days. Only those startups who have a strong team, robust technology and detailed understanding of the financial landscape survives in the long run ...
Rise in Mobile Money Ensures Greater Financial Inclusion: Report
February, 28 2019
Global - The GSMA unveiled its eighth annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’, offering a current snapshot of the mobile money landscape and highlighting the impact that greater financial inclusion has on lives, economies and innovation, especially in emerging markets ...
India: Mobile Wallet Cos Welcome Extension in KYC Deadline, Say Move Will Help Financial Inclusion Story
February, 28 2019
India - The RBI had said it had received requests from various stakeholders to increase the timeline given the difficulties in undertaking Aadhaar e-KYC and time necessary to put in place alternative systems for completing the KYC process ...
Jamaica: Finance Minister Tables Microcredit Bill
February, 27 2019
Jamaica - The Bill seeks to regulate the persons who provide microcredit services, ensuring that such persons are licensed by the Regulatory Authority ...
Balancing Fintech Risks and Opportunities in the Asia-Pacific
February, 27 2019
Asia Pacific - While developing Asia has grown rapidly, its financial systems are still relatively less inclusive. The rapid spread of fintech offers great opportunity to reduce the cost of financial services and promote access to finance, hence profitably boosting financial inclusion and enabling large productivity gains. ...
Mastercard Signs MoU with Angaza
February, 27 2019
Africa - The two companies partner to rollout an efficient digital payment solution that increases access to affordable necessities, like solar home systems and water pumps, for people and businesses in emerging markets across the globe ...
S. Viviers, S. McCallum, Stellenbosch University: Despite Barriers, South Africa is a Good Place for Impact Investments
February, 26 2019
South Africa - We interviewed 13 experts – among them asset managers, academics and consultants – who confirmed that there is a growing acceptance and awareness of impact investment in the South African market ...
ImpactAssets Releases Eighth Annual IA 50 Impact Investment Fund Manager Showcase
February, 26 2019
Global - ImpactAssets has released its ImpactAssets 50 2019 (IA 50), a publicly available, online database for impact investors, family offices, financial advisors and institutional investors that features a diversified listing of 50 private capital fund managers that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns ...
How Security Token Offerings Promote Financial Inclusion
February, 26 2019
Global - Companies listed on the stock exchange are down 50% from two decades ago because IPOs are now rarely profitable, STOs could just be the answer to financial inclusion and business succes ...
LOLC to Issue Cambodia’s Second Corporate Bond
February, 26 2019
Cambodia - LOLC (Cambodia) Plc., a leading microfinance deposit-taking institution in the Kingdom, plans to raise $20 million by issuing corporate bonds on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) ...
Inclusive Growth in North-East India: The Way Forward Through Alternative Channels of Microfinance
February, 26 2019
India - Prime Minister -Narendra Modi’s effort to make North East India more inclusive is definitely a welcome move. However, North East shouldn’t be weighed with the same parameters, like other parts of India ...
Kenya: Equity Gets Sh10 Billion IFC Loan for Onward Lending
February, 25 2019
Kenya - Equity Bank is set to take a $100 million (Sh10 billion) long-term loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to shore up the capital of its Kenyan banking subsidiary and lend to local small and medium-sized firms ...
Oikocredit Buys $3.3m in Equity in Laudex, Education Lender in Mexico
February, 25 2019
Mexico - The Netherlands’ Oikocredit recently paid USD 3.3 million to purchase an equity stake of unspecified size in Laudex, a lender to low- and moderate-income Mexican students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees around the world. ...
Nurturing Korea’s Embryonic Socially Responsible Investing Market
February, 25 2019
South Korea - KHFC aspires to issue social mortgage-backed securities in Korea, and the provision of affordable loans to less affluent sections of society is a key part of sustainable finance ...
SDGs Blurring the Boundary Between Philanthropy and Impact Investing
February, 25 2019
Global - The distinction between philanthropy and impact investing is slowly becoming less defined, and the pursuits will need to draw even closer to meet burgeoning demand ...
LOLC Joins the Trillion Club
February, 25 2019
Asia - The LOLC Group has crossed the Rs. 1 trillion mark with total assets reaching Rs 1.008 trillion as at December 2018, the company announced on Monday. ...
J. Pryce, President & CEO, Calvert Impact Capital: The Fintech Revolution Is Here. Can It Help Build A Better Economy?
February, 22 2019
Global - We need to shape the Fintech market opportunity with the intention not only to reach under-served populations, but to ensure we are providing value to them ...
How Good Financial Data Drives Gender-Inclusive Growth
February, 22 2019
Global - A joint report released in 2015 by Data2X, the Global Banking Alliance for Women and IADB noted a lack of reliable and comparable datasets that could help policymakers address gender gaps. This lack of gender data is most evident on the supply side ...
The Truth About India’s Financial Inclusion
February, 22 2019
India - Financial inclusion will remain meaningful so long as it does not end with just opening accounts ...
Could Taxation of Mobile Banking in Africa Stall Financial Inclusion?
February, 21 2019
Africa - The need to raise additional tax revenues to finance economic development has motivated governments to begin taxing mobile transactions. As mobile banking now takes hold in Africa, the consequences of this policy are concerning ...
India Water Tool 3.0 Launched
February, 21 2019
India - The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and its partners on Wednesday launched the third version of India Water Tool (IWT), a water-related data compiled from information provided by the government and other organisations ...
'One-of-a-Kind' Microfinancing Project Transforms the Fortunes and Futures of Women in Nepal
February, 20 2019
Nepal - Today, hundreds of women in the villages dotting the steep slopes of Kavre have been drawn into a life-changing sexual and reproductive healthcare system through a unique microfinancing scheme that also helps to fund their vegetable growing and animal rearing businesses ...
Disparities in the Cost of Microcredit in Latin America
February, 20 2019
Latin America - Textbook economics predicts that greater competition among banks in wealthier countries would drive down the price of borrowing, and setting price ceilings on lending would lead to a shortage of loans. However, both predictions are refuted in a comparison of Bolivia and Mexico, the Latin American states with the highest and lowest interest rates for microcredit ...
Nigeria: How MSMEs Can Benefit from DBN Loans
February, 20 2019
Nigeria - As a wholesale bank, DBN will lend wholesale to Microfinance Banks and deposit money banks which will on-lend medium to long-term loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) ...
India: World Bank, Sidbi Launch Rs 300 Crore Social Impact Bond
February, 20 2019
India - A large section of the country's vast hinterland, which makes up for almost 70% of India's population, still lack access to credit. On Tuesday, the World Bank, UN Women, and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) came together to launch the Rs 300-crore social impact bond – Women's Livelihood Bonds – to help the rural women to set up or scale up their own businesses ...
Experian Expands Innovation Lab to Tackle Financial Inclusion
February, 20 2019
Asia - Experian, a consumer financial data service provider is currently expanding its Experian X Labs, an innovation lab looking into becoming an Asia Pacific incubator and collaboration center. The goal is partly to address the gaps in financial inclusion well-known amongst Asia Pacific nations ...
Impact Investing Isn't About Cash. It's About Ecosystems
February, 20 2019
Global - Impact investors, while seeking good returns, also celebrate the relationships and support they can bring to bear. That said, the nomenclature around impact investing is inadequate because it’s not just about making connections when something is looking to grow; it’s about creating a robust ecosystem for those things to take root, grow and propagate ...
50 Deals that Signal a Growing Impact Investing Market in Latin America
February, 20 2019
Latin America - An increasing number of proof points are beginning to add up to a viable impact investing marketplace in Latin America ...
New Impact Fund Launched to Scale Agribusiness in Africa
February, 19 2019
Sub-Saharan Africa - The International Fund for Agricultural Development has launched a €200m impact fund to scale agribusiness in developing countries. First commitments of €50m to the ABC Fund came from the European Union, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the Luxembourg Government and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa ...
Africa: Discovering a More Inclusive Private Sector Development Where Least Expected
February, 19 2019
Africa - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have the lowest rates of business survival worldwide, and it is generally difficult to grow employment in SMEs. Africa is no different. Viable businesses struggle with typical growth challenges around lack of access to capital and markets and the skills gap. ...
RPT-Mexico Pushes Mobile Payments to Help Unbanked Consumers Ditch Cash
February, 19 2019
Mexico - The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently announced measures aimed at making financial services more affordable in a nation where more than half the population is unbanked ...
World Bank Loans Morocco 700 mln USD to Promote Financial Inclusion, Digital Economy
February, 19 2019
Morocco - The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved a 700-million-U.S. dollar loan to promote financial inclusion and transformation to a digital economy in Morocco, local media reported Wednesday ...
Second Wave – and Second Funds – for Latin America Impact Fund Managers
February, 19 2019
Latin America - The experiences of a handful of pioneering managers of early impact investing funds in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia offer a glimpse of the future for “second wave” impact funds that are emerging in many of Latin America’s smaller countries, including Guatemala, Ecuador and Bolivia ...
China: Sustainable Finance Is Growing in the World's Worst-Polluting Country
February, 19 2019
China - Being an impact investor in China isn’t as lonely as it used to be, says Zhang, whose firm has made or facilitated more than $200 million in China-focused environmental and social investments over the past decade. They include projects to develop clean refrigeration technology and to convert agricultural waste into cooking charcoal ...
Sri Lanka: Government Writes Off Loans of 45,000 Women Borrowers in Drought-affected Districts
February, 16 2019
Sri Lanka - The Government has written off nearly Rs. 1.4 billion in capital and interest of loans of 45,000 women borrowers in drought-affected districts whose capital cost is less than Rs. 100,000 ...
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries
February, 15 2019
Global - Current women’s economic empowerment interventions are not enough to overcome all obstacles facing female entrepreneurs ...
Nigeria: Liquidation of Fortis Microfinance Bank
February, 15 2019
Nigeria - The attention of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has been drawn to a report in the Daily Trust Newspaper of Friday, 8th February, 2019 which alleged a hasty liquidation of Fortis Micro-Finance Bank (MFB) ...
Uganda: Behind Micro-credit Loans
February, 14 2019
Uganda - The Daily Monitor newspaper of February 02, 2019 led with a sad story of Gubindi – a resident of Jinja town in eastern Uganda who, after failure to re-pay a micro-loan of 300,000 ($81) that he obtained from Pride Microfinance Limited, took his own life in a police cell ...
South Africa: Alternative Investment Universe Expands with Two New Funds
February, 14 2019
South Africa - The alternative investment industry has been boosted with the launch of two new funds offering local as well as global investment opportunities. A joint venture between LionPride Investment Holdings and Newtown Partners has resulted in the launch of the LionPride Agility VCC (venture capital company) Fund – a single technology fund with a choice of two share classes that is open to retail investors ...
United States: PG&E’s Bankruptcy Shows Blindspots in Green Investing
February, 14 2019
United States - The California utility’s troubles expose weakness in a popular way that investors use to gauge companies’ commitment to environmental and social issue ...
Markets as Mirrors: Millennials and the Growth of Sustainable Investing
February, 13 2019
Global - Millennials'generation, about to hit their prime spending years, is also acutely aware of the escalating risks that climate change and unsustainable business practises pose to the planet they are inheriting and their spending reflects this ...
HelloGold Enters Africa with Baobab Group
February, 12 2019
Africa - Using its digital financial service infrastructure and experience, HelloGold will support Baobab in expanding its financial inclusion services through an integrated savings platform in 2019 ...
IDB Invest and Blue Like an Orange Sustainable Capital Announce $70 Million in Financing for Cabify to Boost Safe Urban Mobility and Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
February, 12 2019
Latin America - The financing will allow Cabify to reinforce its 'smart cities agenda', reducing mobility costs and improving the lives of citizens ...
Nigeria: CBN Predicts Boost in Credit with Moveable Collateral
February, 12 2019
Nigeria - The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, yesterday stated that given that the inherent risks in granting loans to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by banks is now reduced tremendously through the introduction of the National Collateral Registry (NCR), small businesses will now be able not only to access credit but also access such at reasonable rates ...
S. Zadek, Principal of Project Catalyst at UNDP: Financing Sustainable Development - Is Fintech the Solution, Problem, or Irrelevant?
February, 11 2019
Global - Digitalization is transforming financial and capital markets, of that there is no doubt. Less clear is how we can best harness this disruption to ensure financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change ...
India: KKR Turns to Impact Fund Co-Investing With $510 Million Deal
February, 11 2019
India - KKR & Co. is bringing its impact fund into a deal for an Indian waste-collection company, seeking to boost sustainability and profitability through a new co-investing strategy ...
South East Asia: AC Energy Secures Climate Bond Offering
February, 11 2019
South East Asia - Offerings were backed up by sizeable investments by the IFC and ADB, and bond proceeds will promote clean energy projects across the region to support a low carbon economy ...
Ukraine: Agroprosperis Bank Supported by EFSE with a EUR 5 Mln Loan
February, 11 2019
Ukraine - The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), an impact investment fund advised by Finance in Motion, has provided a local currency loan equivalent to EUR 5 million to Agroprosperis Bank (AP Bank) to support local farmers and agricultural producers ...
IMF Urges Better Access to Finance for Arab SMEs
February, 10 2019
Middle East and North Africa - Improving access to finance for Arab small and medium-sized businesses could boost regional economic growth by up to 1 per cent per year and generate 15 million new jobs by 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde ...
IFC and Garanti Bank Romania: New Report Shows Impact of Boosting Finance for Women Entrepreneurs
February, 10 2019
Romania - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Garanti Bank Romania launched a joint report at the end of last week, highlighting the importance and impact of increasing access to finance for the country’s women entrepreneurs ...
Jordan: The Microfinance Paradox - ‘Lax’ Regulations Boost Sector Growth but Predatory Practices Go Unchecked
February, 10 2019
Jordan - Stakeholders call for stricter measures to choke unregulated MFIs as donors commend regulatory leeway for industry expansion ...
Zimbabwean Business Mogul Launches $100 million Loan Fund for Rural Entrepreneurs
February, 08 2019
Zimbabwe - The Masiyiwa Rural Challenge Fund will originate loans of $1,000 to $10,000 to businesses based in or serving rural areas in Zimbabwe. Fifty percent of the fund will be earmarked for women borrowers. Interest rates on loans will not surpass 5% and repayments will be used to issue new loans. ...
Emerging Market Currencies Now Far Less Risky
February, 08 2019
Global - Analysis of a database of 121 emerging and frontier currencies maintained by TCX, a Dutch currency fund, shows a clear pattern of structural improvement ...
Nigeria: Ecobank Deepens Financial Inclusion, EcobankPay Zone
February, 08 2019
Nigeria - The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, has launched EcobankPay zone at Alaba International Market, Lagos, and expressed the bank’s commitment to continue innovating more payment and financial solutions to best serve traders across the country ...
Philippines: Cantilan Bank Drives Financial Inclusion with Oradian Cloud Infrastructure
February, 08 2019
Philippines - BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said: “The pioneering introduction of cloud banking in the Philippines is a key moment in solving the challenges of financial inclusion. Cloud technology that meets the requirements of the BSP’s Circular 808 is enhancing the competitiveness of rural banks and enabling them to provide affordable, high quality financial services. ...
Bangladesh: Speakers at CDF Conference: Local Governments, MFIs Major Players in Achieving SDGs
February, 07 2019
Bangladesh - Economists and microfinance experts yesterday said that local government and microfinance institutions (MFIs) are major players capable in significantly contributing to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) ...
T. Raval, CEO of IDMERIT: Financial Inclusion Through Mobile Money Services
February, 07 2019
Global - Financial inclusion is described as a phenomenon where people or businesses have access to useful and affordable financial services or products. These services or products must meet customer needs and provide them with value. Financial inclusion states that individuals or businesses cannot be discriminated against based on their net worth or size ...
BICE to Issue the First Sustainable Bond in Argentina
February, 06 2019
Argentina - It will be the first bond qualified as sustainable in Argentina, as well as being the bond issuance that contributes to the largest number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean ...
Albania: Japan Supports Farmers Have Easier Access to Credit
February, 06 2019
Albania - Japan is supporting Albanian farmers to have easier accesses to microcredit in order to get self-employed in the key agriculture sector and even start businesses ...
Agent Networks in the DRC Will Provide Financial, Economic, and Social Inclusion
February, 06 2019
DRC - The level of financial inclusion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC) stands at 26%. This presents a great opportunity for agent networks for digital financial services in the country to accelerate the access of low and middle-income populations to quality financial services ...
TriLinc Global Launches New Fund
February, 06 2019
Global - TriLinc Global, LLC announced today its Regulation D offering of the TriLinc Global Impact Fund II, LLC. ...
Revealed: UBS Report Shines Light on Most Pressing ESG Challenge
February, 05 2019
Global - The over-riding picture is one of uncertainty for investors when it comes to climate change, as they will be faced with a complex web of legislation and idiosyncratic challenges ...
Keith Lim, CEO of Hearti: Microinsurance Is Key to Southeast Asian Financial Inclusion
February, 04 2019
Global - While it is a relatively young sector, micro-insurance has experienced exponential growth due to the proliferation of technologies and an equally young customer base that makes this possible ...
Myanmar: DAWN Microfinance Gears up for Higher Borrower Demand
February, 04 2019
Myanmar - Early Dawn Microfinance Company Ltd (DAWN) is expecting lending in Myanmar to pick up on the back of the launch of a credit bureau in the country later this year, and as the banking sector opens up ...
Bangladesh: ADB to Sign $50m Loan Deal with PKSF on Wednesday
February, 04 2019
Bangladesh - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $50 million loan to promote microenterprise development in Bangladesh through a credit line to Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and its partner microfinance institutions ...
Kenya to Issue Green Bond by End of 2019
February, 04 2019
Kenya - Kenya is on course to issue a green bond by end of 2019, a bankers' lobby said on Monday ...
Nigeria: NIRSAL MFB to Commence Operations in February
February, 04 2019
Nigeria - A new microfinance institution, NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank (NMFB) will commence operations this month ...
India: Asian Development Bank Invests in PE-Backed Annapurna Finance
February, 04 2019
India - Rural-focused microfinance institution Annapurna Finance Pvt. Ltd said on Monday that it has raised Rs 137 crore ($19.1 million at current exchange rates) in equity funding from multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) to grow its loan book ...
Egypt: When Will Agricultural Sector Receive Appropriate Share of Funds from Banks?
February, 04 2019
Egypt - Despite the importance of the agricultural sector to the state, it comes at the bottom of the concerns of the banks operating in the Egyptian market in terms of financing, compared to what the banks provide in huge funds to the government, and to a number of other economic sectors, such as industry, trade, services, as well as the provision of retail loans, with the exception being the Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE), originally specialised in agricultural development ...
Inside Fight between Kenya, IMF over Financial Inclusion
February, 02 2019
Kenya - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) insists it will still prescribe painful financial regulations as long as Kenya’s banking system continues to face vulnerabilities ...
Philippines: BSP - More Improvements in Financial Inclusion
February, 01 2019
Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is optimistic that significant improvements in financial inclusion will be achieved, in light of recent regulations that are expected to boost account ownership and acceptance of digital payments ...
Nonprofits Are Carving their Own Impact Investing Niche
February, 01 2019
Global - The average number of employees working full-time on impact investing for international NGOs has nearly doubled since 2016, according to a new report that polled 45 charities. The change is reflective of a growing impact investing sector — one attracting more dollars and more INGO attention than ever before ...
Colombia: Banco Mundo Mujer’s $20 Million Loan
February, 01 2019
Colombia - IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, has provided a loan in Colombian pesos for $20 million to Banco Mundo Mujer, the leading private microfinance bank in Colombia. ...

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