INDUSTRY NEWS

MICROFINANCE IN AFRICA: DOES IT NEED NATIONAL POLICIES? AND WHAT SHOULD A NATIONAL POLICY INCLUDE?
Fri Feb 26 2010

Where: Sandton Convention Centre - Johannesburg

When: 9 10 March 2010

Subject: The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regard microfinance as one of the more important answers to global poverty. It is also one of the serious ways of promoting financial inclusiveness – of bringing the unbanked into modern financial institutions and commerce. Something that is important to every business - including yours. Key-noted by Dr Rob Davies, Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, whose portfolio includes microfinance, the importance of the event and its theme are highlighted by the powerful line-up of committed presenters. This is a “must attend” event for forward-looking business people.

For more, please visit www.omegainvest.co,za

ADDRESS TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL MONETARY POLICY AND TRADE BY WAGANE DIOUF, MANAGING PARTNER MECENE INVESTMENT
Fri Jan 29 2010

US Congress Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade

The State of Global Microfinance: How Public and Private Funds Can Effectively Promote Financial Inclusion for All

Prepared Testimony by Wagane Diouf, Managing Partner Mecene Investment

Date: January 27, 2010

Place: US Congress, 2128 Rayburn House Office Building

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL MONETARY POLICY AND TRADE - THE STATE OF GLOBAL MICROFINANCE: HOW PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNDS CAN EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR ALL Fri Jan 29 2010	Read more
Date: January 27 2010 Where: US Congress, Washington DC - 2128 Rayburn House Office Building Prepared Testimony by : Wagane Diouf, Managing Partner at Mecene Investment Concept paper: "Supporting Growth and Stability of the Nicrofinance Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, a shifting role for Development Agencies" by Wagane Diouf - Managing Director Mecene Investment

MECENE MONTHLY MONITOR, OCTOBER 2009 Wed Nov 11 2009	Read more
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MONTHLY MECENE MONITOR - SEPTEMBER 2009 Fri Oct 02 2009	Read more
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CRISTINA SAPSEZIAN-FLETT, APPOINTED AS MANAGER OF THE FINTECH AFRICA FACILITY Tue Sep 08 2009	Read more
Fintech Announcement Dear All: It gives me great pleasure to announce that Cristina Sapsezian-Flett has been appointed to manage the Fintech Africa Facility, effective September 1st 2009.

PRESS RELEASE: MECENE INVESTMENT SHORTLISTED FOR “BEST AFRICA FUND MANAGER”
Thu Aug 27 2009

Johannesburg, South Africa – 27 August 2009 – Mecene Investment, the exclusive advisor to the AfriCap Microfinance Fund proudly announced today that it has been nominated for the “Best Africa Fund Manager” category of the Africa investor Index Series Award 2009. The other nominees for this category include Investment Asset Management - South Africa, EFG Hermes – Egypt, Insparo Asset Management – London, Cadiz Pan African – South Africa, Silk Invest – London and Coronation Fund Managers – South Africa.

BEFORE THE CRISIS: A LOOK AT MFI TRENDS IN 2005-2007 BY BLAINE STEPHENS
Mon Aug 03 2009

By Blaine Stephens, COO and Director of Analysis, MIX, published by the MixMarket Microbanking Bulletin, Issue 18, Spring 2009, pages 20-26, available at:

http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/MBB%2018%20Spring%202009.pdf

HOW DO YOU LINK MICROFINANCE WITH MOBILE BANKING? Wed Jul 29 2009	Read more
Recently we caught up with Cameron Goldie-Scot, who is a mobile banking consultant with Triple Jump Advisory Services - East Africa Mobile Banking Team. Triple Jump delivers practical technical assistance to high potential microfinance institutions (MFIs). The team in East Africa, partnered with Mobile Microfinance Ltd, acts as a bridge between existing MFIs and mobile operators.

MIX REPORT SHOWS DECLINING PROFITS OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS
Thu Jul 23 2009

MF Focus, July 16, 2009: After showing growth early this decade, profit margins of microfinance institutions have flattened relative to their asset bases, finds analysis of data between 2005 and 2007 by the Microfinance Information Exchange, Inc. (MIX). MIX announced the findings on Wednesday in its latest issue of MicroBanking Bulletin, covering benchmark trend lines of 487 MFIs in 78 countries.
The report finds that efficiency gains have become slimmer as institutions matured. Yet borrower outreach grew at a persistent rate across all regions, with loan portfolios growing even faster — 47% in US dollar terms in 2007, due in part to a depreciating currency.
“This data set represents MFI operational and financial performance trends in the three years prior to the economic crisis, providing a baseline against which to assess MFIs performance during the global economic downturn. As we move through the crisis, collecting and analyzing performance data at various intervals, we

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: GRAMEEN FOUNDATION CEO ALEX COUNTS DISCUSSES THE ISSUE OF MULTIPLE BORROWING IN THE MICROFINANCE SECTOR AND SUGGESTS WAYS TO MINIMIZE BORROWER OVER-INDEBTEDNESS
Thu Jul 23 2009

In a recent report on the Microfinance Focus news portal [1], the CEO of Grameen Foundation [2], Mr Alex Counts commented that a flexible approach in microfinance will help the sector tide over many new challenges. He added that the related issues of multiple borrowing and borrower over-indebtedness are becoming increasingly common in the microfinance industry. One way to address the problem of multiple borrowing is by ensuring that loan officers are dissuaded from underestimating risks in order to meet required targets

MIV MANAGER SURVEY RESULTS 2009 BY UNITUS CAPITAL AND HOWARD J. FINKELSTEIN, ESQ. LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD J. FINKELSTEIN
Wed Jun 10 2009

MIVs are rapidly growing in number and AUM. There were 96 MIVs at FYE 2007; half had been created in 3 years (2005 -2007). MIV AUM increased from $637mn at the end of 2004 to $3.7bn at the end of 2007 & $5.4bn in October 2008. As these vehicles proliferate, there is a need to study and share best practices and lessons learned. These best practices and lessons learned could be most helpful to MIV managers and investors who are new to the space (read more)

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