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Mar 2014
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Archives:
Romania: M-Pesa Comes to Europe
March, 31 2014
Romania - Vodafone M-Pesa - the mobile money transfer and payment service that has transformed the lives of millions of people in emerging markets - has come to Europe for the first time. ...
India: Leapfrog Invests $29 Million in IFMR Capital Finance
March, 31 2014
India - US-based Leapfrog Investment has bought a minority stake in financial services provider IFMR Capital Finance for $29 million (Rs 174 crore) ...
Blurred Lines in Banking - The Changing Definition of “Bank” at the BoP
March, 29 2014
Global - Regulators in a number of African countries, concerned with widespread financial exclusion, have allowed mobile network operators and banks to enter into similar partnerships, and both sides seem have an increasing awareness of the value in doing so. ...
Nine Ways to Make Sure You Make a Difference with Impact Investing
March, 28 2014
Global - Impact investors want more than a financial return, they want their money to do something good in the world at the same time. This means balancing financial risks and rewards with the complex measures of social and environmental impact ...
Global MFI Investors Shift Focus from Asia to Africa
March, 26 2014
South Asia & Sub-Saharan Africa - With the MFIs realigning their fund allocations, South Asia, the traditional microfinance hub, is facing challenge from Africa for the first time ...
India: Bandhan Financial Services Raises Rs 100 Crore
March, 25 2014
India - Microfinance company Bandhan Financial Services has raised Rs 100 crore from a Geneva-based investor to improve its capital position before the fiscal draws to a close ...
Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunity International and the MasterCard Foundation Plan to Help 7M Out of Poverty with $22.7M Partnership
March, 25 2014
Sub Saharan Africa - “We chose to expand this partnership with Opportunity International because they have proven themselves to be a strong partner and a leading microfinance institution,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO, The MasterCard Foundation ...
Thomson Reuters Release Islamic Social Finance Report
March, 25 2014
South and Southeast Asia - The report is the first of its kind study covering Islamic social finance across countries in South and Southeast Asia with sizeable Muslim populations including Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam ...
Microfinance 2.0: Different Methodology Could Reshape Industry
March, 25 2014
Global - A recent paper published by Harvard Business School and EY advocates for taking a more scientific approach to evaluating the impacts of microfinance programs. ...
Mobile Money Boosted in Sri Lanka With Pioneer Partnership
March, 25 2014
Sri Lanka - Gerald Rasagu, a specialist on mobile money from GSM Association, a body representing over 800 operators said it was the first time two operators had tied up to use a common branded mobile payment platform. ...
OPIC Board of Directors Approves Risk-Sharing Frameworks with Citi
March, 24 2014
USA - In a quarterly meeting March 20, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's (OPIC) Board of Directors approved two framework agreements that will align OPIC with Citi, the leading global bank, in sharing credit risk for development financing in overseas projects. The global risk-sharing frameworks cover both commercial lending and a new inclusive finance facility. ...
Aavishkar Eyes to Close $75-mn Frontier Fund by Q3 of 2014
March, 22 2014
India - Aavishkar, a micro-finance fund, expects to raise $75 million for its Frontier Fund by the third quarter of 2014. The fund, to deployed south and south-east Asia, will be among a few India-focussed private equity funds going global. ...
Philippines: IFC Investing P650 M in PR Savings Bank
March, 21 2014
Manila, Phillippines - The International Finance Corp., the private-sector funding arm of the World Bank, is investing P650 million to recapitalize Philippine Resources Savings Banking Corp. (PR Savings Bank), the country’s fifth-largest independent thrift bank ...
Brazil: Understanding Risk, Then Adapting - How to Overcome the Fear of Working with the Base of the Pyramid?
March, 20 2014
Brazil - Like Tenda, there are many companies that have managed to serve the BoP facing the risk in a creative and strategic manner. By seizing opportunities, and recognizing how to manage risk, they have achieved commercial viability and positively impacted the lives of those in the BoP. ...
IFC and Center-Invest Bank Expand Access to Finance for Small Businesses in Southern Russia
March, 19 2014
Russia - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a loan of 600 million Russian rubles ($16.5 million) to Center-Invest Bank to help it expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises in the agribusiness sector in southern Russia. ...
Kenya: KWFT Gets Capital Boost for Expansion
March, 19 2014
Kenya - Kenya Womens Finance Trust has received a Sh1.37 billion capital injection from three new shareholders to boost planned market expansion ...
Douglas Randall, Research Analyst, World Bank: Financial Inclusion Up Close in Rwanda
March, 19 2014
Rwanda - You don’t have to spend very long in Rwanda before you start to be impressed by the financial inclusion landscape in this country – not only by the progress made over the past several years, but by the scale of ambition for the rest of this decade and beyond ...
India: Banks Develop a Liking for Microlending
March, 18 2014
India - India’s microlending industry, dominated by traditional microfinance institutions (MFIs), is witnessing a re-emergence of interest from commercial banks, which are targeting low-income borrowers. ...
India: RBI Norms on Loans Not to Hit MFIs Profitability - Icra
March, 18 2014
India - "With most NBFCs-MFIs lending at an interest spread of 10 per cent or lower, the proposed reduction in interest spread is unlikely to have a significant impact on their profitability, ...
Cambodia: Saving for Change - How Small Sums Drive Big Advances
March, 18 2014
Cambodia - Traditional village-level savings groups per se are nothing new; what is different here – and in hundreds of villages across Cambodia and tens of thousands of villages around the world – is the model: known as Saving for Change (SfC) ...
Sasha Dichter, Acumen: Give Impact Investing Time and Space to Develop
March, 17 2014
Global - As this sector moves from the margins to the mainstream, it’s important to consider: What will it take for impact investing to reach its full potential? ...
Western Union Expands Mobile Money Service in Nigeria
March, 17 2014
Nigeria - The Western Union Company (WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced the launch of a new mobile money transfer service to Nigeria, which increases the reach of Western Union payout options in the country ...
Impact Investing Meets Financial and Philanthropic Expectations
March, 15 2014
Global - Impact investing has its skeptics, to be sure. But the growing list of successful investments and initiatives on this front suggests such critiques may be shortsighted ...
Latin America and the Caribbean: Who Are the Regions High-growth Women Entrepreneurs and What Motivates Them
March, 14 2014
Latin America and the Caribbean - The study commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) analyzes the profiles, challenges and needs of high-growth women entrepreneurs in nine countries in the region ...
India Has Millions of Female Entrepreneurs and They Need Easier Access to Money
March, 13 2014
India - While there may not be many women occupying the executive offices of India, the country is home to literally millions of female entrepreneurs, in charge of their own tiny businesses, according to estimates by the International Finance Corp ...
e-MFP: Microfinance and Savings Outreach - What Are We Measuring?
March, 12 2014
Global - For years, credit was the driving force behind microfinance. But times have changed. Instead of credit, we now speak of financial inclusion and expanding access to savings stands as one of the topmost objectives for the sector ...
First Access and Vodacom Tanzania Ink Financial Inclusion Deal
March, 12 2014
Tanzania - Vodacom Tanzania has placed itself at the forefront of financial inclusion innovators by signing a groundbreaking commercial partnership with First Access, a for-profit social business headquartered in New York City with an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ...
Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director, CFI: The Microfinance Industry Needs an Infrastructure Fix
March, 11 2014
Global - Nearly every industry requires infrastructure to thrive, and this goes for the microfinance industry too. But the infrastructure that the global microfinance industry has constructed over the past two decades is looking a bit shaky today. ...
Tanzania: ‘Regulate microfinance subsector’
March, 11 2014
Tanzania - Stakeholders are calling for the establishment of a new law to govern the rapidly growing microfinance subsector in the country which in principle is the main provider of financial services to rural areas and even some parts of various urban centers and therefore, a proper regulatory regime is necessary ...
Jamaica: The Changing Face of Micro Business
March, 09 2014
Jamaica - The micro-enterprise sector has been receiving considerable attention as the Government recognises that it can be a key contributor to economic growth through increased employment and the development of export products and services ...
Mobiles Aid Africa’s Women Farmers
March, 07 2014
Africa - “Mobile phones have been invaluable to women as communication and transaction devices, but their unsung glory is that they offer a traceable record of those activities.” ...
India: MFIs Entering New Phase of Stability and Higher Profits - Care
March, 07 2014
India - Care Ratings today said micro finance sector is entering a phase of stable regulatory environment, higher availability of credit and increased profitability. ...
Impact Investing Gains Traction With Big Institutions
March, 06 2014
Global - Long regarded as putting social good before profit, impact investment funds are drawing capital as they target emerging-market consumers ...
$600 Million Credit Program Aims to Encourage Female Entrepreneurs
March, 05 2014
Global - The IFC hopes to fuel a transition to economic equality by offering credit lines to banks in emerging markets exclusively for lending to women who want to start or expand their own companies ...
Tilman Ehrbeck, CGAP: When Given the Opportunity, Extreme Poor Take Destiny Into Their Own Hands
March, 04 2014
Global - Participants in the graduation program increased their income by nearly 40 percent over the control group. This increase was largely due to more hours worked and less to an improvement in productivity. ...
Nigeria: CBN Harp on Implementation of Sustainable Banking Principles
March, 04 2014
Nigeria - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has advised banks and other financial institutions under its supervision to work towards implementing the sustainable banking principles ...
India: Bengal and Tamil Nadu Usurp AP as MFI New Hubs
March, 04 2014
India - For the first time,West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, have individually, surpassed Andhra Pradesh as the largest markets for microfinance loans ...
Charting Times of Change: Money Practice and Behavior in Myanmar
March, 03 2014
Myanmar - Money and practices around money are never easy to research, and Myanmar presents particular challenges. ...
Nonprofits Should Lead the Sharing Economy
March, 03 2014
Global - The sharing economy is creating new business models, forcing traditional for-profit businesses to adapt or fall behind. The same will hold true for the social sector ...
South African Fund Calls for Ecobank Chief to Resign
March, 02 2014
South Africa - The biggest shareholder in Ecobank Transnational, the pan-African lender embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, has accused its chief executive of using the bank for “personal gain” and demanded his immediate resignation. ...

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