NextBillion - A WDI Publication

The Central Bank of Nigeria to Establish MFI Fund

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will establish a microfinance development fund to promote accessibility to financial services for low income earners, just as it is planning a review of the 2005 Microfinance Policy. Kingsley Moghalu, the deputy governor, financial system stability, said this yesterday at the opening of the 5th Annual Microfinance Conference and Entrepreneurship Awards, adding that the policy review would be announced soon. Mr. Moghalu said the policy is c...

Source

Next (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Majority of Microfinance Beneficiaries are Women

AMMAN - Vast majority of loans for micro projects in Jordan were extended to female entrepreneurs over the past few years, a recent study showed Sunday. According to the Arab Microfinance Regional Report, launched yesterday, women borrowers for micro projects represented over 70 per cent of total people who had access to micro credit facilities. Experts from lending institutions expected the trend of funding schemes run mainly by women to continue in the coming years. During...

Source

Zawya (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Infographic: A New Gold Rush in Africa

While Africa’s resource wealth continues to lure the bulk of foreign investment, the rise of a new consumer class is beginning to shift the balance. See country-by-country data on foreign investment, GDP and more. ...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Acumen Fund Co-Invests $2.2 Million in Ugandan Cotton Ginnery

The New York-based Acumen Fund --a non-profit investment firm that seeks social and financial returns while helping reduce global poverty--is now in the East African country of Uganda. The Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC) will receive $2.2 million from a co-investment between Acumen Fund and Root Capital, with the goal of improving the company’s organic cotton output and helping civil war refugees in...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa: Stanford University to Explore Entrepreneurship and Development in Continent

On Saturday, January 29th, Stanford University will host its fifth annual Stanford Africa Forum. This year the conference will explore Entrepreneurship and Development in Africa. The topic of entrepreneurship is particularly relevant to Africa. In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion in the development community that socioeconomic advancement is better achieved through business (entrepreneurship and social enterprise) than through traditional aid. Many iterations...

Source

allAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Half of Tanzania?s Population on Phone

A research team at the University of Dar es Salaam says half the Tanzanian population is currently hooked to mobile phones, and that it takes just a handset to run a business in the country. Led by Prof Ophelia Mascarenhas of the university, there is no need for offices, visiting cards or huge capital investments. He is joined by Dr. Raphael Mmasi and Dr. Hezron Makundi of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) in his findings. The team however re...

Source

AfricaNews.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

East Africa Poised to Tap a Reborn South Sudan

NAIROBI/KAMPALA, (Reuters) - East African nations could reap trade and investment opportunities worth billions of dollars to help develop south Sudan if it splits from the north, but they will have to compete with bigger rivals like China to do so. Southerners are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of separation in a referendum next week, a vote that follows decades of civil war with the north and, the south says, economic and political m...

Source

Stabroek News (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Impact Investing in the Poor, the Next Big Thing

Over the next 10 years, investors across the world will not just be preoccupied with financial returns, but will also pay closer attention to the social, environmental and development impacts of their activities, says a report. This will see impact investment, as this trend is known, rake in up to $667 billion in profits over the period and achieve the billing of the newest emerging asset class of the next decade, according to the report prepared by JP Morgan and Rockefeller Foundation....

Source

The East African (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa