Archive for the ‘Aid’ Category

By Nagesh Narayana Microfinance Focus, Jan. 30, 2010: In the past, microfinance services have helped to empower and provide stability for poor Haitians but the need is far greater now with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastating the nation on January 12 and leaving 200,000 dead. Those who survived were left without food and water for days and ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 27, 2009: Village Enterprise Fund(VEF), a micro-enterprise organization, has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Arcus Foundation, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based foundation that is the largest global funder of great apes conservation. The grant will be used to fund an innovative, integrated development/conservation program in the communities surrounding Uganda’s Budongo Forest, a key conservation area in East Africa. The Budongo Forest, part of ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 25, 2009— IFC has extended $30 million to Fundación DUOC, a leading educational institution, for promoting access to affordable professional and technical education for low- and middle-income students in Chile. Through its network of 12 campuses, DUOC provides a range of technical, vocational, and professional education to 50,000 students. With IFC’s support, the university will expand its facilities and programs, reaching more ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 16, 2009: FINCA Canada is to provide microfinance loans to haitian women, said Toronto philanthropist Mike Green, who brought FINCA to Canada with the help of his wife Jacquie Green, and the support of Toronto philanthropist Linda Wolfond. “Having visited FINCA programs in Uganda and Guatemala, I have witnessed firsthand, the power of providing hard-working women with a small loan that can change ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 8, 2009: The Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) has approved a $3.95 million grant for a program to promote innovative technology solutions to boost microfinance institutions increase their reach in Latin America and the Caribbean. The program, with a total cost of $10 million, will consist of a series of individual projects that directly increase access to finance, reduce operational costs, ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 6, 2009: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan will provide $1.5 million to Vietnam to help bring its unregulated microfinance programs into the formal sector, to boost services and provide increased financial support for the poor. The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan and administered by ADB, is extending the $1.5 million grant to help the Government ... Full story

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. Full story

By Naagesh, N. Microfinance Focus, Sept. 17, 2009: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending $150 million in loans to Pakistan's Punjab province, as part of a second phase of support for public policy reforms which are designed to boost inclusive growth and the delivery of services. The funds for subprogram 2 of the Punjab Government Efficiency Improvement Program include $75 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources ... Full story

By Naagesh, N. Microfinance Focus, Sept. 17, 2009: At its board meeting in Rome, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has approved $161.56 million in loans and $56.26 million in grants for projects helping smallholder farmers adapt to a changing climate and contributing to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Full story

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 8, 2009: Japan and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have approved a grant of US$1 million to AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria (ABN) from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA). The technical assistance contribution from FAPA, which makes up 7.7% of the overall TA package, will be used to co-finance the provision of technical assistance to ABN to build the capacity of the institution during its first few years of operation. FAPA funds will pay to bring in long-term management staff as well as short-term experts for the implementation of new IT/MIS systems and staff training. FAPA funds will cover costs related to these experts for a three-year start-up phase, after which trained ABN staff will replace them. Full story

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 1, 2009: The Skoll Foundation has named its first award recipient for its 2010 cohort, Civic Ventures. Founded by Marc Freedman 10 years ago with the goal of finding caring, Civic Ventures committed adults to help young people growing up in poverty -- as mentors, teachers and youth workers. His belief that the vast and growing older population could serve as a critical resource ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 1, 2009: The Skoll Foundation announced on Tuesday second round investments in 15 social entrepreneurs in its portfolio. The foundation has also announced the first Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in its 2010 round, a $765,000 grant to Civic Ventures, plus investments in two key partners who promote social entrepreneurship and social innovation, Ashoka and ShoreCap II. The new grants and investments ... Full story

Microfinance focus, Aug. 21, 2009: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a new Water Finance website at World Water Week, the international annual conference that brings together more than 2,000 experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the globe to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions. USAID's new publicly available resource provides a structured yet flexible approach to help practitioners ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Aug. 14, 2009: The Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) has given a grant of $212,000 to the National Bank of Vanuatu (NBV) to make banking services more accessible the people of rural Vanuatu. Over the next three years, NBV’s aim for rural banking and microfinance is to extend its e-banking network to an additional five provincial branches and enable an additional 13,000 rural producers and micro-entrepreneurs to be banked. The PFIP's aid will be  used mainly to support NBV’s current investment in IT and communications infrastructure for rural banking. Full story