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Achieving an Equitable COVID-19 Recovery Through Safe Housing: Why it’s Time for Financial Institutions to Step Up
Over 1.5 billion people around the world live in crowded housing with limited sanitary amenities — and during COVID-19, these households are at a particularly high risk of contracting or spreading the virus. Patrick McAllister explains how private-sector financial institutions can play a critical role in achieving equitable social and economic COVID-19 recovery by supporting home-related financing for low-income essential workers.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Experian and FinScore to Raise Financial Inclusion in the Philippines via Alternative Credit Scoring
Experian, the world leader in information services, has partnered with FinScore, the pioneer in delivering telco data credit scoring to the unbanked and underbanked populations in the Philippines.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Better Loans for Better Homes: A New Assessment Tool Helps Microfinance Institutions Increase Their Housing Impact
Most housing in developing countries is self-built and incremental, and these homeowners frequently turn to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to finance it. But according to Naeem Razwani and Jitendra Balanirom of Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and Olivia Nielsen of Miyamoto International, this type of construction process can lead to severe quality and structural issues – while also increasing the lending risk for MFIs. They discuss how a new assessment tool can help these lenders understand and optimize the impact of their home loans to better meet the needs of this market.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Women and Sustainable Finance: Fuel for the Engine of COVID Recovery
There is broad consensus on the need to intervene as a matter of urgency, in order to provide relief for women and underserved communities. However, governments and businesses have the opportunity to go one step beyond, and build the kind of resilience that will outlast any pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Press Release: DFC Promotes Gender Equity in Financing Across India With $50 Million Investment
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) today announced the second disbursement of a $50 million loan to Northern Arc Capital to expand access to loans in several priority sectors across India.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Cambodia Microfinance Association Members Have Restructured $1.4 Billion in Loans During the Pandemic
Financial institutions that are members of the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) restructured some $1.397 billion in loans for 289,422 borrowers as of February 28 since the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on March 27 issued a circular on loan restructuring during Covid-19, according to CMA.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: Kinara Capital Secures 7 Million From IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs
Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- financial inclusion, MSMEs
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Analysis: Coronavirus Pandemic Spawns Nigeria Banking Agent Boom
When Lagos imposed a lockdown last year, Nigerian civil servant Ruth Oladimeji saw a way to earn extra money. With people unable to visit banks due to the coronavirus pandemic, she became an agent providing local banking services.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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