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Letter from Mindanao, Part 2: Rural banking and the promise of cacao
In part two of his exploration of the effects of ASEAN integration on banking in the Philippines, Bruce MacDonald discusses the value of targeting hard-to-reach rural clients with microfinance, SME and agricultural loans. Of particular importance: loans for cacao production, as the country is ideally placed to help address a global cacao shortage that could reach a million metric tons by 2020.
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- Uncategorized
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FINCA and First Access Announce World’s Largest Microfinance Fintech Collaboration
Today global microfinance leader FINCA and First Access, whose technology predicts the credit risk of borrowers in informal markets, announced a new collaboration that will create the largest and most sophisticated alternative credit-scoring approach by a microfinance institution (MFI) in the world. The partnership will vastly improve FINCA's outreach to excluded populations.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Behind the Most Successful Microfinance IPO in India’s History: What does gender lens investing have to do with it?
The recent domestic IPO for the Indian microfinance firm Ujjivan far exceeded the domestic-only IPO record set by another microfinance firm just days earlier. As a $50 million inclusive finance company focused on women in the lowest economic strata, Ujjivan's success is a powerful statement about the value of serving low-income women with financial services, and the ability of mission-aligned investors to help them achieve impressive returns, both social and financial.
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- Investing
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Amid India’s Drought Crisis, Suicides Increase Among Farmers Deep In Debt
In India, two consecutive years of weak monsoons have left some 330 million people – a quarter of the country – in the grip of drought. Deepening the crisis, farmers are taking their lives.
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Letter from Mindanao, Part 1: The impact of ASEAN integration on banking in the Philippines
On January 1st, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 10 member countries inaugurated the ASEAN Economic Community, a common market whose goal is to forge a prominent regional bloc and bring economic well-being to its 625 million citizens. How will the integration affect banks in the region? In a recent trip to the Philippines, Bruce MacDonald sought the perspectives of government and central bank officials and private bankers.
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- Uncategorized
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Africa Accounts for Only 1.4% of World Insurance Premium
The African Insurance Organisation, AIO, has decried the low level of insurance penetration in Africa, saying that the continent can boast of only about 1.4 per cent of total world premium. President of AIO, Mrs. Lamia Ben Mahmoud who made the assertion at the 43rd Conference and Annual General Assembly of the AIO in Marrakech, Morocco last week noted that there is clear predominance of developed countries on the insurance market.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Serve Rural Areas or Lose License, Central Bank of Nepal Governor Tells Microfinance Institutions
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Chiranjibi Nepal has warned that the central bank may scrap the license of microfinance institutions who fail to reach rural areas of the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Acumen Launches Acumen America to Tackle Poverty in the United States in Partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barclays and The Hitachi Foundation
Acumen, the nonprofit global venture fund, announced today the launch of Acumen America, a portfolio of American social enterprises focused on tackling poverty within the United States. Since its founding in 2001, Acumen has invested $101 million to build nearly 100 innovative enterprises addressing the problems of poverty in Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Now, after 15 years, the organization is bringing its impact investing model to the U.S. to help address the biggest issues facing the nearly 47 million people living in poverty. With the support of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barclays and The Hitachi Foundation, Acumen is building a portfolio of U.S. companies with a focus on health, workforce development and financial inclusion.
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