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Ugandan Government to Set up Laws for Regulating its Microfinance Sector

During the 2007 Citigroup Micro-entrepreneurship awards ceremony in Kampala on January 10, 2008, State Minister for Microfinance, Caleb Akandwanaho announced that a new law regulating the activities of microfinance institutions will take effect in June 2008. The law is meant to bring an end to corruption in Uganda’s savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) following dozens of complaints from customers claiming to have been fleeced of their savings, and police investigations in September 2007 of four savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) suspected of fraud, including the suspension of The Support Uganda Savings and Cooperative Society, and arrests of SACCO heads.

Old Mutual and South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Launch $12.9m Microfinance Initiative, Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF)

The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa has teamed with Old Mutual Group’s Masisizane Fund to launch the Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF), financing women-run enterprises in the country. The new fund is the result of a 2006 study conducted by the DTI’s Gender and Women Empowerment Unit, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and FinMark. The study found that although women are more responsible managers of credit than men, they only receive 30 percent of loans, with black women receiving the least funding.

South African Microfinance Institution (MFI) Blue Financial Services and Nigeria’s Intercontinental Bank to Launch $25.9m Microfinance Bank

Blue Financial Services (BFS), a South African microfinance institution (MFI), and Intercontinental Bank Plc, Nigeria’s largest commercial and retail bank by assets, are collaborating to launch a Nigerian microfinance bank capitalized at NGN 3 billion (USD 25.9 million), the largest such institution in the country.

Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria Approves $27.2m Loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for Rural Microfinance

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria, presided over by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, approved a USD 27.2 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as reported by AllAfrica.com. The loan, along with a USD 400,000 grant from IFAD, will constitute the core financing of IFAD’s Rural Finance Institution-Building Programme (RFIBP), a seven-year plan to strengthen rural microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Nigeria as well as establish increased linkages between MFIs and mainstream financial institutions.

KfW Entwicklungsbank, Development Arm of German Bank, Lends $14.7m to Moroccan Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat (FONDEP)

The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reported that KfW Entwicklungsbank, the emerging-economy financing arm of a German banking group, issued a loan of EUR 10 million (USD 14.7 million) to the Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat (FONDEP), a Morocco-based non-governmental organization (NGO). The loan accompanies a convention of partnership signed by both parties that aims to establish a basis for future collaborations. The loan is refundable over eight years with a grace period of two years.

Citi Foundation Creates $11.2m Program with SEEP Network to Strengthen Trade Associations

The Citi Foundation will work with the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network (SEEP) to create the 3-year USD 11.2 million Citi Network Strengthening Program. The program will include 12 major microfinance trade associations and their members. The program’s goal will be to improve the integration of microfinance into the mainstream economies of developing countries. This includes improving participating trade associations’ ability to develop products and services which meet their clients’ needs. In addition, the program seeks to “enhance the industry’s infrastructure, introduce higher standards of management and governance, and promote the vital role of microfinance in providing the poor with access to financial services.”

Black Investors PLC of Britain Lends $13m to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Kagisano of South Africa

Black Investors PLC, a British investment company, has granted a ZAR 100 million (USD 13 million) long-term loan facility to Kagisano Financial Enterprises, a South African mass market credit provider. The loan will be earmarked for Kagisano’s advances book, bringing its value to over ZAR 300 million (USD 39.1 million). It comes during a period of brisk growth for the company, which has been opening about three new outlets a month as it offers new products and its customer base becomes more affluent. According to CEO Eugene van Niekerk, demand for Kagisano’s products has remained strong in spite of a high interest-rate environment. Black Investors PLC does not appear to have an Internet presence, and further information about the firm could not be ascertained.

Globalization of Microfinance Markets: an Overview and Some Conditions for Success by Dr. Jairo Morales-Nieto

Written by Dr. Jairo Morales-Nieto, Executive Director of local economic development consultants InterAfrica Corporate Ltd, this 10-page discussion on the necessary steps to transition from local to global microfinance markets was published in January 2008.

Old Mutual and South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Launch USD 12.9M Microfinance Initiative, Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF)

The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa (previously reported) has teamed with Old Mutual Group’s Masisizane Fund to launch the Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF), financing women-run enterprises in the country.

Nigerian Government Creates $426m Microcredit Development Fund

Nigerian President Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua announced the creation of an N50 billion (the equivalent of over USD 426 million) microcredit development fund to be administered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The new fund will be used to provide existing microfinance institutions (MFIs) with funding for credit creation and operational expenses.

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About the Author: David Satterthwaite

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David brings 10 years of experience in microfinance management, social entrepreneurship, non-profit management/fund-raising and microfinance investment research. David is the Chairman and President of Prisma Microfinance, Inc., a retail “microbank” operating in Central America. He is also Chief Editor of MicroCapital.org, a news and information service for the microfinance community and its investors. Each month, MicroCapital.org publishes the MicroCapital Monitor, the leading industry newspaper. David writes and speaks frequently on microfinance. He has been a quest speaker at many events, including: Microcredit Summit 5+: Panel on Private Investment, Milken Institute Global Conference, United Nations Year of Microcredit Symposium for Wall Street, Chicago Conference on Microfinance, Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, Dartmouth’s Business Sustainability Conference, Wharton’s Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, Stanford’s Social Enterprise Club, Columbia’s Social Enterprise Program and the Net Impact Annual Conference. Through his work with Prisma and MicroCapital, he has been featured or quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, “All Things Considered,” Reuters and SocialFunds.com. David has been recognized with the Compaq Computer Corporation Leadership Award, the City Year Inspiring Leader Award and the National Social Venture Business Plan Competition award for Best Social Impact Analysis. David has supported many non-profit and for-profit social enterprises in different capacities, including Access Technology Learning Center, Agora Partnerships, Bridges to Business, City Year, Fonkoze, Kiva and National Social Venture Competition. David holds a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Haverford College.
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More from David Satterthwaite
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Another Microfinance Institution MFI Closes in Uganda as Chaos Continues in the Sector
The National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania helps Bail out the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Tanesco with a USD 56million Loan
Lonrho to Acquire 51 Stake and Control of Mozambican Microfinance Bank Socremo Banco de Microfinancas
Police in Uganda Investigate Front Page Micro Finance and Three Other Microfinance Firms

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