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Feb 2020
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A. Lazarow, Senior Contributor, Forbes: The Unique Challenges to Scaling Fintechs in Emerging Markets
February, 29 2020
Global - Too often, it is easy to port perspectives and approaches from Silicon Valley to emerging markets. Yet the context could not be more different. ...
Nigeria: IFC, Union Bank to Support SMEs, Women-led Businesses
February, 28 2020
Nigeria - The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, yesterday, announced a $25 million local-currency investment in a risk-sharing facility to expand Union Bank of Nigeria’s lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria ...
Rwanda to Make Bank Loans More Accessible for Individuals
February, 28 2020
Rwanda - Bankers attribute the relatively small number of people who seek loans to the limited number of formally banked population. However, economic analysts say that most major local banks in Rwanda focus more on serving corporations as opposed to individuals ...
I. Dhaliwal, J. Floretta and S. Friedlander, J-PAL: Beyond Randomized Controlled Trials
February, 27 2020
Global - As noted by the Nobel Prize committee, RCTs are a particularly rigorous method of measuring the impact of social programs and determining the causal mechanisms to explain why and how policies do or do not work. But relevant research in the field includes more than just RCTs. ...
Africa: New Microfinance Group Launches
February, 27 2020
Global - The impact investment fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) and ACEP-International have joined forces to create ACEP Group, a new microfinance group with a goal of empowering African entrepreneurs ...
A UN-Backed Boost for Women-Run Businesses in the Developing World
February, 27 2020
Global - By supporting a women-focused bond providing loans to microfinance institutions and impact enterprises, the UN is helping women entrepreneurs facing similar challenges, to succeed in their professional and private lives ...
Millennials Need Better Research on Investments, Study Warns
February, 27 2020
Global - Contrary to the perception that millennials are most likely to be leading the way on ethical investing, research from Michelmores has suggested there is a disconnect between their social values and investment behaviour ...
India: Now, RBI Mandates Linking New Loans to Medium Enterprises to External Benchmark; Check Details
February, 26 2020
India - With an aim to strengthen monetary policy transmission, RBI on Wednesday said that all new floating rate loans to the medium enterprises would be linked to the external benchmarks ...
Asia Can Overtake the West in Sustainable Investing
February, 26 2020
Global - Asia is the dynamo of today’s global economy. But it lags behind the west in one critically-important regard: commitment to environmentally and socially sustainable investment ...
EUR 10m Support for Kafo Jiginew Enable to Expand Financial Services in Mali
February, 25 2020
Mali - The new support is expected to enable around 60,000 microfinance loans to be provided to smallholder farmers and provide financing for more almost 15,000 people ...
Bangladesh: MFIs Can Now Provide up to Tk 4m Collateral-free Loan
February, 25 2020
Bangladesh - The Microcredit Regulatory Authority has formulated draft guidelines in consultation with the sector and opened for public opinion, now that the country's NGOs and MFIs have been providing bigger loans than the size of micro credit ...
Off-Grid Solar Changes Lives – but Could Help Many More of the World’s Energy Poor
February, 24 2020
Global - A study has attempted to provide detailed analysis of the beneficial impact off-grid renewables, led by solar, are having on people in the world’s least developed countries ...
Latham & Watkins: Mexico Issues First License under New FinTech Law
February, 24 2020
Mexico - The landmark authorization signals the Mexican government will likely grant similar licenses to more FinTech companies in the coming months ...
Opinion: Why Blended Finance Hasn't Taken Off
February, 24 2020
Global - Blended finance has been the hot topic in development finance circles for a number of years, but despite the excitement around it, the practice hasn’t taken off ...
Gambia: Financial Inclusion Remains Low despite Mobile Money Initiative
February, 21 2020
Gambia - A research team from the University of The Gambia has conducted a study on the mobile money adoption and use in The Gambia which found that financial inclusion remains low despite the mobile money initiative ...
Bhutan: Tarayana Launches Micro Loans for Rural Development
February, 21 2020
Bhutan - To meet the financial needs of rural communities, the Tarayaya Foundation has launched the Tarayana Micro Finance (TMF) for rural development programme in Thimphu yesterday ...
Expert Eye: A Look at the Prospects for Inclusive Finance in Africa
February, 20 2020
Africa - Over the past decade, regulators in Sub-Saharan Africa have played an important role in transforming the financial services industry ...
IFC Will Finance Rooftop Solar Power Projects in West Bank
February, 20 2020
West Bank - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Massader, a company established by the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), signed a loan agreement to finance the construction of hundreds of rooftop solar power projects across the West Bank ...
IFC Loan to Help Finance Micro-housing and Small Businesses in Tajikistan
February, 20 2020
Tajikistan - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing a loan of $2 million equivalent in Tajik somoni to microcredit deposit-taking organization Humo to help underserved populations improve housing conditions and for micro and small businesses to access finance ...
Ghana to Spend Additional $937 Million to Refund Deposits Held at Failed Lenders
February, 20 2020
Ghana - Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said the government will spend 5 billion cedis ($937 million) to refund money that was locked up when the country closed down scores of second-tier lenders and micro-credit companies last year ...
China’s Digital Revolution in Bank Lending
February, 20 2020
China - China has long recognized the importance of increasing SMEs’ access to finance. Now, online banks are providing the solution the country needs. This could be a boon not only for economic growth and innovation, but also for broader financial inclusion — in China and beyond ...
The Elusive Quest to Close Myanmar’s Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion
February, 19 2020
Myanmar - Mobile money has been touted as the panacea towards achieving financial inclusion in emerging markets like Myanmar. But is it entrenching a gender gap among those accessing financial services ...
Women Entrepreneurs in India May Help Create up to 170 mn Jobs by 2030
February, 18 2020
India - Women entrepreneurs in India can generate 150-170 million jobs by 2030, which is more than 25% of the new jobs required for the entire working-age population, according to a joint report released on Tuesday by Bain and Co. and Google titled Women Entrepreneurship in India—Powering the economy with her ...
EBRD Finances Hospitals Program in Egypt, Morocco by $125M
February, 18 2020
MENA - EBRD is teaming up with other international financial institutions to deliver funding under an Islamic finance structure known as a “Commodity Murabaha” that the Bank is using for the first time ...
South Korea’s Woori Bank Merges Cambodian Units
February, 17 2020
Cambodia - South Korea’s leading Woori Bank on Sunday announced that it has officially merged its two subsidiaries in Cambodia – WB Finance Co Ltd and Woori Finance (Cambodia) Plc ...
IDB Invest Lends USD 110m for DG Solar Expansion in Brazil
February, 17 2020
Brazil - The extended financing consists of USD 100 million from IDB Invest's own resources and USD 10 million of blended financing from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector of the Americas (C2F) ...
Impact Investing on Rise in Nordics, but Allocation Low
February, 17 2020
Northern Europe - Nearly half of Nordic institutional investors currently invest in impact funds – but on average allocate only a small part of their portfolios to these kinds of strategies, according to a study by NN Investment Partners (NN IP) ...
E. DeGroote, Standard Chartered: Fintech Needs a Robust Regulatory Framework to Thrive
February, 14 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa - Although efforts towards implementing a suitable FinTech framework in some areas of Africa are advancing, frameworks that are currently enacted in the region are not keeping up with the rapid pace of change. ...
ADB, European Union, and ASEAN Countries Partner to Boost Green Infrastructure
February, 13 2020
Southeast Asia - The European Union (EU) announced today it is preparing to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) with €50 million ($54.9 million) to help governments prepare and catalyze public and private financing for climate-friendly infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia ...
Boosting Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion Rate through Insurance Penetration
February, 13 2020
Nigeria - In a recent survey, the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) revealed that only 1.7 per cent of Nigerians have any form of insurance policy ...
India: Agritech Startup Clover Raises $5.5 Mn from Omnivore, Accel
February, 13 2020
India - Greenhouse agritech startup Clover has raised over $5.5 million in a Series A funding round, from venture capital (VC) firm Omnivore and existing investors Accel and Mayfield ...
Peru’s Startup Scene Is Ready for More
February, 12 2020
Peru - With more startups coming out of Latin America's smaller, underserved markets, like Peru, there is an opportunity to deploy capital effectively and bring impactful solutions to millions of people across the region ...
Nigeria: Access Bank to Cross List N15 Billion Green Bond on Luxembourg Bourse
February, 12 2020
Nigeria - At the time of listing on the local bourse, the unsecured green bond was described as the first-ever climate bond standard certified corporate green bond to be issued in Africa ...
Bringing Transparency to Green Bonds in Latin America and the Caribbean
February, 11 2020
Latin America and the Caribbean - The good news for green bonds in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is that issuance volumes are expanding at a much faster rate than in the international market ...
Is Fintech in Kenya Too Successful?
February, 11 2020
Kenya - Kenya’s fintech revolution has helped the country achieve near total financial inclusion, but are consumers really benefiting and are they adequately protected ...
Sri Lanka: HNB Finance Approved as First IPO since Jan. 2018
February, 11 2020
Sri Lanka - HNB Finance Limited, a licensed finance company, has obtained approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange to list its voting and non-voting ordinary shares, the company said in a statement yesterday. ...
What It May Take to Engage Pension Funds to Finance the SDGs
February, 10 2020
Global - With the push to mobilize more capital to address the Sustainable Development Goals, the development community has increasingly discussed the need to engage pension funds, and while it is already experimenting with how to do that, there’s still a long way to go ...
SunFunder Makes First Investment in Nigeria
February, 10 2020
Nigeria - Solar finance company SunFunder has announced its first disbursement in Nigeria, part of a facility of up to $4 million with commercial and industrial (C&I) solar developer, Daystar Power ...
Cambodia: NBC Approves KB’s Investment in Prasac
February, 10 2020
Cambodia - The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) approved KB Kookmin Bank’s investment in Prasac Microfinance Institution, according to senior official of the Prasac Microfinance Institution ...
Philippines: Pawnshops Evolve with the Times, Serves as Key Players in Financial Inclusion Initiatives
February, 08 2020
Philippines - Contrary to the misconception, local pawnshops are actually highly professional organizations that follow one of the strictest code of operations, based on BSP guidelines, and likewise comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s requirements on corporate governance ...
Bangladesh: The 9 per Cent Cap Will Hurt the Financial Inclusion Agenda
February, 07 2020
Bangladesh - The 9 per cent interest rate cap will not cover the costs and risks, thus resulting in the sector’s Cottage, Micro and Small Enterprises (CMSE) portfolio becoming commercially unviable overnight ...
Thailand’s Constant Energy Raises $15m as Loan from GCPF
February, 06 2020
Thailand - Thailand’s independent power producer (IPP) Constant Energy has raised $15 million as a long-term senior secured loan from Switzerland-based investment firm Global Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF), according to a statement ...
Ujjivan Is a Rare Bright Spot in Indian Finance
February, 06 2020
India - Ujivan's growth, and the extension of the ideas underpinning microfinance to loans for small rather than tiny businesses, reflect how the approach is maturing. ...
E. Hernandez, CGAP: Financial Inclusion for What?
February, 05 2020
Global - Within the financial inclusion community, there are growing efforts to review our understanding of what makes financial services valuable for poor people and the longer-term outcomes that the use of financial services can help them achieve ...
‘Sustainable’ Emerging Market Stocks Outstrip Indices
February, 05 2020
Emerging Markets - The shares of more “sustainable” emerging market companies have sharply outperformed less sustainable ones over the past six years, according to data from JPMorgan Asset Management ...
East Africa: IFC Leads Buyout of AAR Healthcare
February, 05 2020
East Africa - A consortium led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is set to acquire a 54.23 percent stake in AAR Healthcare Holdings, the operator of hospitals and clinics in Kenya and other East Africa countries ...
GAIN and Incofin Investment Management in New Project to Improve Diets and Nutrition in Africa
February, 05 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa - The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) have announced a new collaboration to take forward and manage the newly established Nutritious Food Financing Facility (N3F) ...
Cambodia: MFI Players to Boost Financial Inclusion in Kingdom
February, 05 2020
Cambodia - Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) announced the launch of a financial project with the goal of helping Cambodian people to access formal financial services through education, providing the microfinance sector with sustainable growth ...
Myanmar’s Get Acquires Local Fintech Startup Daung Capital
February, 03 2020
Myanmar - Myanmar-based digital commerce platform Get has acquired local lending institution Daung Capital to offer a unified solution to micro-entrepreneurs in the country ...
ADB Unveils Venture Platform to Invest in Impact Technology Startups
February, 03 2020
Asia - ADB Ventures Investment Fund 1, the facility’s anchor trust fund, has a target size of US$50 million and will focus on companies with solutions dealing with climate change and women ...
India: Morgan Stanley Managed Fund to Invest Rs 190 Crore in Centrum Housing
February, 03 2020
India - Currently, Centrum's loan book is a little over Rs 2,000 crore (about USD 280 million), of which over Rs 1,000 crore is the SME (small and medium enterprises)book, Rs 600 crore is home finance and the rest is microfinance ...
Sustainable Bond Issuance to Reach New Highs This Year: Moody’s
February, 03 2020
Global - Thanks to fast-growing demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, global sustainable bond issuance is expected to hit record highs in 2020, says Moody’s Investors Service ...

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