Microfinance Focus, Sept. 30, 2009: Rating agency CRISIL has formally announced its entry into independent equity research aimed at covering those companies which are not as big as the top 100 in the country.

Releasing the first set of CRISIL’s Independent Equity Research (IER) reports at a function in Mumbai on Tuesday, SEBI chairman C. B. Bhave said, “Independent equity research will introduce an unbiased analytical perspective on a company, independent of market players who may have an interest in a transaction. It should also help improve the quality of research on Indian companies.”
Explaining the new service, Ms. Roopa Kudva, Managing Director and CEO, CRISIL Ltd, said, “This initiative is part of our constant endeavour to serve the market with innovative offerings. Through CRISIL IER, we aim to deliver high-quality independent equity research, and expand the coverage available for small and mid cap companies.”

CRISIL IER will cover two key parameters in the investment process: fundamentals (Fundamental Grade) and valuation (Valuation Grade) on a five-point scale, with 5 being the highest grade, and 1 the lowest. A detailed equity research report on companies explaining the grades will be made available on CRISIL IER’s website.
Since a survey by CRISIL indicated that only the top 100 of around 3,500 active listed companies receive in-depth equity research coverage. CRISIL IER will focus to help the remainder of the companies to become visible to a wider audience.

CRISIL IER will also provide guidance to investors on company fundamentals, which can be used by them in conjunction with their personal risk appetites, and price and return calculations.

CRISIL Research operates independently and does not have access to information obtained by CRISIL’s Ratings Division, clarified the company.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 29, 2009: International Finance Corporation (IFC), an investment arm of the World Bank, has announced that it will invest in JSC Bank CenterCredit, providing long-term capital that will help promote access to finance for small and medium enterprises in Kazakhstan.

IFC will invest in a 12.5 per cent equity stake alongside local shareholders and the strategic investor Kookmin Bank of South Korea, and provide an $85 million subordinated loan. IFC has previously extended two loans and a trade finance line to BCC, a medium-sized bank that focuses on small and medium enterprises, said a statement.

“This important alliance with IFC and Kookmin Bank will allow BCC to strengthen its positions in the local market,” said Vladislav Lee, Chairman of BCC’s Management Board.

“BCC is a key partner for IFC in addressing the financing needs of small and medium enterprises in Kazakhstan, which are vital for private sector development,” said Shahbaz Mavaddat, IFC Director for Southern Europe and Central Asia. ““IFC is pleased to provide continued support to an existing client under challenging conditions in international financial markets.”

BCC is the fifth largest bank in Kazakhstan in terms of total assets, and provides loans mainly to smaller businesses and micro entrepreneurs, retail services, consumer loans, and mortgage finance.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 29, 2009: Dutch Princess Maxima will address the Microfinance India Summit being organised by ACCESS Development Services from Oct. 26 to 28 in New Delhi.

Princess Maxima is the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance. She was earlier involved in the Advisors Group to the International Year of Microcredit in 2005 and visited Uganda, Kenya, Brazil and Argentina to see microcredit in action and also met with government, business and NGO representatives.

In June 2006, she joined the United Nations Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors, which addresses the issue of wider access to all financial services for small businesses. The Princess has contributed to the Advisors Group by holding dialogue with businesses, donors, legislators, supervisors, microfinance institutions and international organisations on the role they could play in giving moresmall businesses access to the financial sector.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 17, 1971, she graduated in economics from the Universidad Católica Argentina in 1995. Married to the Netherlands heir-apparent Prince of Orange in February 2002, Princess Maxima has three children.

By Naagesh Naaraayana

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 26, 2009: President Bill Clinton, joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, closed the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on Friday. In his remarks, President Clinton announced that by the end of the meeting, which has been underway since Tuesday, CGI members in 2009 have made 284 new commitments valued at more than $9.4 billion. In total, these commitments are projected to improve more than 200 million lives. Since 2005, members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 1,700 commitments valued at $57 billion.

“I think we can say with some certainty that this model actually does work,” President Clinton said. “People don’t have to have the same politics, the same religion, or speak the same language to work together and to have an impact. We all have things to learn from each other. What we need is a shared mechanism to achieve common goals.”
The impact of 2009 commitments, once fully implemented, is expected to yield the following results:

* 79 million people will generate sustainable income through self-employment or new job opportunities.
* $5.4 billion will be invested in or loaned to small- and medium-sized enterprises
* 25.4 million people will have improved access to capital and financial services.
* 3.5 million small farmers will gain access to inputs, supports, and markets.
* 7 million women and girls will be reached through empowerment initiatives.
* 30 million children will gain access to education.
* 2 million girls will be reached through school enrollment efforts.
* 30 million metric tons of CO(2) emissions will be cut
* 7 million people will be reached with clean energy.
* 1.5 million people will be engaged in efforts to promote climate change solutions.
* 83 million people will have increased access to health services.
* 17 million people will have increased access to maternal-child health and survival programs.
* 4.7 million children will benefit from malnutrition interventions.
* 40 million people will receive treatment for neglected tropical diseases.
* $50 million will be raised to fund research and development of new vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics.
* 18 million people will have increased access to safe drinking water.

While many commitments are made in advance of the Annual Meeting, some are inspired onsite. For example:

* Member Mouhsine Serrrar from Prakti Design Labs came in to the Annual Meeting to find partners for his commitment to

distribute fuel efficient cookstoves in India. This week, he has not only developed a new commitment around developing fuel

efficient cookstoves in Haiti, a country that desperately needs new options for stopping deforestation, but he has also found a

wide range of implementing and funding partners — including E+Co, AIDG, the Sierra Club, among others — to make it possible.
* Another member, inspired by remarks by Dr. Wangari Mathaai, has anonymously committed to help Mathaai’s organization and

to fund cataract surgeries for more than 300 individuals.

While attending the action network on human trafficking and slavery, Jim Greenbaum realized that he could use his contacts and

resources to make a difference. He committed to put the issue of ending child and slave labor on the map of the Young Presidents

Organization, and to work to get all YPO member companies to ensure that they and their supply chains are not utilizing child or

slave labor.

Prior to the closing session, a morning plenary session focused on how financial resources could be deployed for the global

good. The session, “Moving from Crisis to Opportunity — Financing an Equitable Future,” featured Fazle Abed, founder and

chairman of BRAC, Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, James Dimon, chairman and CEO of JP Morgan

Chase & Co., and Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered PLC. It was moderated by CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo. Participants

discussed how to avoid another financial crisis, and how to extend financial products such as microfinance and insurance to the

world’s poor.

During the session, several new commitments announced include:

* Moody’s, in partnership with Kiva, is poised to dramatically increase the number of entrepreneurs benefiting from

microloans. Using Moody’s financial support and expertise in risk analysis, and pro-bono credit ratings of Kiva’s 20 largest

microfinance institution partners, Kiva will build on-the-ground teams to expand its capacity to connect with entrepreneurs,

assess their creditworthiness, and monitor progress toward loan repayment.
* PRODEL commits to develop a savings vehicle targeted at the very poor, which will help raise funds in order to scale up

PRODEL’s microfinance lending, both in Nicaragua and throughout Central America. PRODEL’s model of social and financial

inclusion offers microloans to the poor for the improvement of housing, basic services, and infrastructure.

A complete list of commitments made on Friday include:

Commitments Announced Friday, September 24, 2009:

* The World Food Programme (WFP) commits to bring together key global, regional, and local private sector entities to

undertake a five year project to radically reduce malnutrition in a minimum of two countries in Asia. WFP will undertake an

analysis of the gaps and implement country specific solutions including new product development, increased fortified foods, and

improved processing technology and training.
* The Rockefeller Foundation commits to financially supporting the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). GIIN is a

not-for-profit organization dedicated to building the infrastructure, activities, education, and research that will enable more

effective impact investing around the world.
* The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) will build a community of leading impact investors as the founding membership

of the GIIN Investors’ Council. This commitment aims to build the infrastructure, activities, education, and research that will

enable more effective impact investing around the world, ultimately increasing the volume and effectiveness of capital deployed

to solve previously intractable social and environmental problems.
* The Global Impact Investing Network and its partners will launch the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards, an

initiative to measure and report on the performance of impact investments. This project will bring transparency and credibility

to this industry, encouraging investment in effective solutions to pressing social and environmental challenges.
* The Maternal Health Task Force at EngenderHealth, Ashoka, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commit to support 32

Young Champions who will be selected based on their novel approaches to reducing maternal death and disability. The Young

Champions will be linked to leading experts on the ground and will acquire experience propelling them to become leaders in their

fields.
* One HEART and its partners commit to launching an innovative program that will provide supplies and skills training for

maternal and neonatal health in remote and resource-poor communities in Nepal and Mexico. This program aims to reduce maternal

and newborn morbidity and mortality in indigenous and underserved populations that experience high rates of home deliveries and

related mortalities.
* The Lwala Community Alliance commits to increase health infrastructure and community maternal health education to save

lives of infants and mothers in the catchment area of Lwala and its surrounding villages in Kenya. This commitment will provide

public health outreach and clinic-based safe motherhood services before, during, and after delivery by women of reproductive

age.
* The Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health commits to launch a program to train 30 nursing and midwifery tutors from

across Pakistan in Karachi who will then return to their provinces, teaching at local nursing midwifery schools. The project’s

goal is to train a workforce of nurses who will tackle the issue of needless maternal deaths in the country.
* Jhpiego commits to introduce breakthrough methods to combat eclampsia, the second leading cause of maternal mortality,

through simple, high-impact, and cost effective strategies and tools. Through a three-tiered approach consisting of prevention,

detection, and treatment, this commitment will prevent the needless death of mothers and its devastating effect on families in

11 Asian and African countries.
* American India Foundation (AIF) commits to improving maternal and newborn survival in Seraikela Kharsawan, one of India’s

poorest districts. AIF support will allow for increased institutional delivery or skilled birth attendance in public and private

health facilities, and improved community-based newborn care. The project will directly benefit 17,500 women and 6,400 children

under the age of two.
* Moody’s in partnership with Kiva is poised to dramatically increase the number of entrepreneurs benefiting from

microloans. Using Moody’s financial support and expertise in risk analysis, and pro-bono credit ratings of Kiva’s 20 largest

microfinance institution partners, Kiva will build on-the-ground teams to expand its capacity to connect with entrepreneurs,

assess their creditworthiness, and monitor progress toward loan repayment.
* Impact Capital Partners commits to catalyze the affordable housing sector in India through investments in construction and

microfinance that will lead to the building of 50,000 affordable, sustainable homes in India at less than $20,000 a home. This

project will create access to finance through micro-mortgages for the working poor of India currently residing in slums.
* UN-HABITAT commits to financially support the Affordable Mortgage and Loan Corporation in its efforts to reduce the

serious housing shortage in the Palestinian Territories. This project will lead to the construction of 30,000 affordable housing

units in the West Bank for low to middle income Palestinians who currently cannot afford housing and have no access to formal

mortgage finance.
* PRODEL commits to develop a savings vehicle targeted at the very poor, which will help raise funds in order to scale up

PRODEL’s microfinance lending, both in Nicaragua and throughout Central America. PRODEL’s model of social and financial

inclusion offers microloans to the poor for the improvement of housing, basic services, and infrastructure.
* Ashoka Arab World, through Housing For All (HFA), commits to revolutionize the Egyptian housing industry and transform the

affordable housing market for families living in unsafe and illegal slum conditions. HFA will leverage the strengths of the

private sector, Citizen Sector Organizations, universities, and low-income populations, using market-based strategies to provide

affordable and environmentally sustainable housing for 18,000 families.
* Mercy Corps and its partners will pilot a permanent, sustainable system that will promote local community stewardship of

natural resources in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through financial incentives, this model will motivate

communities living in threatened habitats to implement environmentally sustainable household activities that include using

fuel-efficient stoves, planting renewable woodlots, and producing reduced emission briquettes.
* DonorsChoose.org commits to encourage 5,000 citizen philanthropists and institutional stakeholders, through its online

platform, to provide educational resources and supplies to create a more robust academic experience for 150,000 students in

nearly 6,000 classrooms, in underserved, rural schools in the U.S.
* Qifang will launch a scalable model to help young girls from Shaanxi, China attain their college dreams and become

community leaders. Qifang will leverage its social lending and web platform to finance the college education of qualified female

students. Participants will receive life-long mentorship. Those who return to their communities two years after graduation will

also benefit from debt relief.
* The Center for Financial Services Innovation commits to form a for-profit, market-rate venture capital firm, Core

Innovation Capital, which will invest in the most progressive, highly-scalable financial technology companies. This commitment

will create excellent, market-rate financial returns, and create billions of dollars in cost savings and asset building

opportunities for millions of underbanked households in the U.S.
* Naya Jeevan commits to provide access to an affordable, high-quality micro-insurance program for 100,000 low-income

families in Pakistan and India. As part of a comprehensive approach, this also includes providing primary and preventative

healthcare education, as well as workshops on sanitation and relevant skill development training, to low-income families.
* The HealthStore Foundation, with its partners, commits to expanding their Child and Family Wellness Clinics (CFW) funded

by social venture capital equity investments in Kenya and Rwanda, and launching a CFW network in Ghana to provide high-quality

drugs and basic health care to underserved communities.
* Freedom from Hunger will extend its Microfinance and Health Protection Initiative, building a consortium of practitioners,

researchers, donors, and advocates to demonstrate that microfinance service providers can — and will — offer their clients

health protection options. Five hundred or more microfinance service providers will offer health protection options to at least

2.5 million very poor clients in the developing world by 2014.
* Right To Play International, ExxonMobil, and Wasserman Media Group will join the United Against Malaria partnership, using

the World Cup 2010 in South Africa to dramatically accelerate progress against malaria. Through this commitment, high-profile

individuals and organizations will use football, the world’s most popular sport, to raise global awareness and renew worldwide

commitment to prioritize and end malaria.
* PATH and its partners commit to improve the health of more than 800,000 schoolchildren in India by expanding their Ultra

Rice meal fortification program. Increased demand for Ultra Rice and expected economies of scale will make the incremental cost

of rice fortification more affordable to governments, better enabling them to improve the health of millions of malnourished

schoolchildren.
* Growing Power commits to strengthen food security for school children and their care givers in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Growing Power will build a new model of local food systems to ensure adequate nutrition in the short-term and build a long-term

foundation for competitive African human capital in the global market place.
* Mantria Corporation commits to help mitigate global warming through the use of its Carbon Fields site, where Mantria will

perform trials on their product BioChar, a carbon-negative charcoal, to prove how this product can sequester carbon dioxide,

improve soil quality when buried, and reduce emissions in developing countries.
* AgroFrontera and Tres Rios Agricultural Cooperative, with their partners, commit to work with 450 smallholder farmers and

food companies to design and implement innovative food value chains that will improve capacity of smallholder farmer

organizations in the impoverished northwest region of Dominican Republic to supply high quality food products to local,

national, and international markets.
* General Mills, PEPFAR, and USAID’s Partnership for Food Security will link the technical and business expertise of General

Mills experts with up to 200 small and medium-sized mills and food processors in sub-Saharan Africa, with the goal of improving

the overall commercial viability of these enterprises and enhancing food production of nutritious food products for the world’s

most vulnerable populations.
* Pegasus Sustainable Century commits to bring capital, financial, operating, and policy expertise to middle-market growth

businesses in the U.S. Through this commitment, these businesses will have the potential to transform a significant segment of

industry with more efficient, sustainable solutions with sustainability benefits including pollution reduction, improved energy

efficiency, and reduced resource use.
* Green For All and Living Cities commit to form the Urban Opportunity Retrofit Fund, a new social investment fund that

finances innovative efforts to retrofit homes, businesses, and community facilities to achieve greater energy efficiency and

other environmental benefits while creating jobs and cutting costs for low-income communities.
* CMEA Capital commits to investing new capital in clean technology and new energy initiatives in companies whose technology

combines scientific breakthroughs from a variety of disciplines. This commitment extends CMEA’s history of investing in

technology entrepreneurs and innovators, with a particular focus on those opportunities and innovations that translate

environmental challenges into significant global economic value.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), CDC Foundation, Grupo ABC, the Nduna Foundation, UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNFPA,

UNIFEM, and the World Health Organization will develop a global initiative to address the human injustices of sexual violence

against girls. Through surveillance methodology, policy and social interventions, and a media campaign, the commitment aims to

achieve sustained positive change in the treatment of girls.

Clinton Global Initiative

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) brings together a community of global leaders

to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The CGI members have made more

than 1,400 commitments valued at $46 billion, which have improved the lives of more than 200 million people in more than 170

countries, said a release.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 25, 2009: Access Development Services is inviting applications for Institution of the Year Award and Contribution to the Sector Award. The awards are sponsored by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
The awards will be presented on the inaugural day of the Microfinance India Summit – October 26, 2009.

The Microfinance India Awards are to recognize the contribution of notable thought leaders, policy makers, promoters and institutions which help translate the vision of reaching the poorest in a sustainable manner into reality. The last date for the submission of the completed nominations forms is Sept. 30, 2009.

Institution of the Year 2009 Award seeks to recognise pioneering initiatives or best practices of an institution. Representative parameters for growth achieved, potential to upscale operations and process/product/ technological innovation towards achieving financial inclusion will be some of the important considerations. Institutions are required to self-nominate.

Contribution to the Sector 2009  is a long-term achievement award tohonour significant contribution of an individual to issues in the microfinance sector. This Award will recognise the dedication of the professional to the sector over and above the immediate sphere of his / her organisation through active involvement in influencing policy interventions and sector building efforts.We welcome the microfinance community to nominate individuals who have made long term contribution to the sector. Peer nominations are invited. The winners will be awarded with a cash value of Rs. 100,000 each, a silver plaque and a citation.
The distinguished jury panel will be chaired by Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, HSBC India and Mr. Malcolm Harper, Professor Emeritus, Cranfield University. The eminent members of the panel consist of Mr. Brij Mohan, Chairman, ACCESS Development Services, Ms. Vijayalakshmi Das, Friends of Women’s World Banking and Mr. Swaminathan A. Aiyer, Consulting Editor, Economic Times.

The nomination forms and complete information is available on the Microfinance India Summit. The deadline for receiving completed nomination forms is September 30, 2009. In case of queries, mail at: faq@accessdev.org or visit the website: www.microfinanceindia.org/microfinance-india-awards.php

Microfinance Focus, Sept, 25, 2009: Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has provided $8.1 million loan and $8.1 million grant to Burkina Faso for the Rural Business Development Services Programme to develop the local private sector and non-farm businesses.

The loan and grant agreement for the programme was signed on Tuesday in Rome by Sophie Sow, Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Italy and Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to IFAD, and Kanayo Nwanze, President of IFAD, said a statement.

The IFAD programme will scale up and consolidate the successful elements of the recently-closed Rural Microenterprise Support Project, adding a strong focus on knowledge management and on the enabling environment needed for sustainable pro-poor microenterprise development.

A total of 60 rural enterprise resource centres will be set up across Burkina Faso to act as the main contact point for budding rural entrepreneurs and to facilitate their access to resources.

The target group consists of 12,000 rural microenterprises with particular attention to women and young people. The aim is to increase the access of target groups to business development services, vocational training and technology and enhance the environment for the development of the local rural private sector. So far, IFAD has funded 12 projects in Burkina Faso for a total investment of about $158.6 million.

The mission of Grameen Carso, with $45 million, is to serve more than 100,000 borrowers in the next five years.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 25, 2009: Grameen Trust, in association of Fundacion Carlos Slim A.C., the family charitable foundation of Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helu, have officially launched the Grameen Carso in Mexico on Thursday, close on the heels of similar initiative in China.

The official documents have been signed and the operation is off to a strong start, first in Oaxaca and then throughout Mexico. As of September 19, 2009, Grameen Carso has 265 members of which 195 have received their first loan. The project has disbursed a total of US$49,620.00 and the average loan size is $267.00. Grameen Carso has been able to maintain a 100% recovery rate, working 100% with women borrowers.

Foundation Carlos Slim will initially deploy $5 million in grant funding and guarantee $40 million for microcredit loans. Grameen Carso will focus on Mexico’s poorest residents in an effort to create income generating opportunities and help lift them to a higher standard of living. Furthermore, Grameen Carso intends to issue microcredit loans at interest rates lower than those currently offered by other microcredit providers in Mexico. This will be a social business — all profits of the joint venture will be recycled back to expand operations.

Grameen Trust is managing the operations of Grameen Carso through a team of four microcredit experts from the Grameen Trust who arrived in Mexico during June of this year. Grameen Carso will initially focus its operations in the southern state of Oaxaca. Within three months of operating in Mexico and through the tenacious efforts of the newly trained and hired local Mexican staff, Grameen Carso has established the project office in Oaxaca and three separate branches in Miahuatlan, Huajuapan, and Oaxaca. The first micro-credit loan was disbursed on July 3, 2009.

Fundacion Carlos Slim was organized and founded in 1986 by Carlos Slim Helu to alleviate and reduce poverty through the application and performance of high impact programs focused on specific areas such as nutrition, health, education and the creation of more and better labor opportunities within the Mexican society.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 24, 2009: Global online e-commerce solutions provider Alibaba Group has donated $5 million tp Bangaldesh-based Grameen Trust as initial funding for the creation of Grameen China, to provide microfinance loans to the poor in China.
In addition, Alibaba Group will advise in areas like technology-based support to help potential recipients access the program and Grameen China’s initial focus will be in Sichuan, which is still recovering from a devastating earthquake in May 2008 and Inner Mongolia, with plans to grow to other provinces with the help of additional partners.
In support of this effort, Grameen China will be built and managed by Grameen Trust using the microfinance model pioneered by Grameen Bank and employing Chinese staffers from each region. As Grameen’s lead partner in this effort, Alibaba Group will also help Grameen Trust attract potential supporting partners and other donors to the effort. Grameen China expects to begin making micro-credit loans available as soon as it receives regulatory approval from the authorities.
“We are pleased to join hands with Alibaba Group to create Grameen China and to spread the Grameen Bank Approach to help the poorest people by giving them microcredit to alleviate their poverty through the creation of small businesses,” said Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and Executive Trustee of Grameen Trust. “Using information technology to help Grameen China grow will help our borrowers establish businesses to support themselves, and perhaps eventually even sell their products internationally which will literally change their lives. If we can make micro-credit available to potential entrepreneurs in China then that will make a big impact for the whole world.”
“We are at the beginning of an Internet-driven revolution where small businesses around the world will be able to compete with larger companies for customers like never before,” said Jack Ma, founder, chairman and chief executive of Alibaba Group. “Micro-credit is the oxygen to make entrepreneurial dreams come alive. We are very pleased to join with Grameen Trust in this effort to create employment opportunities in these areas by helping tens of millions more small entrepreneurs create their businesses. We also welcome contribution from others and hope to build more partnerships in China.”
Although Grameen Trust has been active in China since 1995 supporting many Grameen Bank Replication microcredit programs, this will be the first time that Grameen Trust will directly implement microcredit program in China. Grameen China will be a social business. Initially, it will establish two Grameen Microcredit Companies in Sichuan and Inner Mongolia provinces with multiple branches in each area. The branches will be staffed by local employees recruited, trained and supervised by Grameen microfinance experts.
At the initial level of funding, Grameen expects to be able to make loans to more than 8,000 people in Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, with the average loan starting at US$400 per person, and growing to US$4,000 within the first five years of operation. With additional funding partners, the number of loans made will be more than double. In Sichuan specifically, Grameen’s microcredit company will support economic rehabilitation of the victims of the devastating May 2008 major earthquake.
Grameen plans that initially the microcredit company ‘s four branches will serve more than 8,000 Sichuan borrowers within three years, impacting the lives of more than 24,000 people in the province alone.
Alibaba.com Limited is a global group in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, founded in 1999, It has more than 42 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions. Founded in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 40 cities across Greater China as well as in Europe and the United States.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 24, 2009: The US state-run Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will provide $250 million to expand a joint microfinance lending program with Citi Group that is aimed to help 480,000 borrowers especially in the emerging markets worldwide.
OPIC will participate in Citi-originated and funded local currency loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs), which in turn make small loans to micro-borrowers in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The project represents the expansion of a $100 million OPIC-Citi microfinancing funding facility launched in December 2006. Under this program, Citi and OPIC are providing financing to 23 MFIs in 13 countries.

“The global economic crisis has significantly curtailed microfinance lending, raising the cost of lending and causing liquidity problems for many MFIs,” said OPIC Acting President Dr. Lawrence Spinelli. “MFIs need access to markets and funding to continue their work. By expanding an existing – and successful – microfinancing facility with Citi, OPIC is working proactively to help address this shortfall.”

Dr. Spinelli noted that OPIC and Citi’s Export and Agency Financing group have partnered in providing financing to emerging-market borrowers for more than a decade, through a series of risk-sharing arrangements set forth in framework guaranty facility agreements: as of June 30, OPIC had 18 such framework agreements with Citi. To date, there have been no payment defaults on any of the guaranteed loans.

Citi works globally with over 100 microfinance institutions, networks and investors in more than 40 countries, as clients and partners, with the objective of expanding access to financial services, including savings, financing, remittances, and insurance, on a scalable and sustainable basis.

“Citi has long been committed to globally expanding access to financial services to microentrepreneurs. Leveraging Citi’s emerging markets presence, this new Citi/OPIC $250 million Global Program will provide incremental funding to achieve our shared objectives of supporting microentrepreneurship and stimulating economic growth,” said Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of Citi.

OPIC uses the framework agreements to mobilize private capital in host countries, extend the term of available financing in support of local development, and increase host country liquidity. The agreements enable OPIC to efficiently channel private capital to support host-country developmental needs by leveraging in-country bank skills and assets.

Citi Microfinance serves more than 100 microfinance institutions (MFIs), networks and investors as clients and partners in over 40 countries.

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971 to fund overseas investments in new and emerging markets, to complement the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and to support U.S. foreign policy. OPIC charges market-based fees for its products and operates on a self-sustaining basis.

Over its 38-year history, OPIC has supported $188 billion worth of investments in developing countries to generate over 830,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have generated $72 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 273,000 American jobs.

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 23, 2009: India’s mobile solutions provider ‘mChek’ has been awarded the TiE-Lumis entrepreneurial excellence award. The award is to encourage startups which have made a mark in the industry.
It has also developed mobile banking and payments technology for microfinance applications and conducted a pilot project with Grameen Koota, an MFI in Bangalore.
mCheck had earlier bagged the Global Red Herring 100 Award in 2008 and Voice and Data Technovator of the year award in 2009. In addition, the mChek on Airtel service was awarded the best solution in customer care and billing at the GSM Association’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 2008.
Sanjay Swamy, CEO of mChek, said, “Mobile payments are still at an early stage – however, we have received tremendous support from industry leaders, notably Airtel, Visa and ICICI Bank, that has helped us accomplish some key early milestones in India. The award is significant as it recognizes the effort put in by the mChek team and our partners in building a mobile payments product which competes with the best on a global stage.”
Bangalore-based mChek provides patent-pending, mobile-based, security and payment services enabling users to transact through their mobiles for wide-ranging day-to-day requirements including payment of utility bills, insurance policies, movie and travel ticketing, prepaid recharge and post-paid bill payment.