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Rapid growth of MFIs’ gross loan portfolio sets alarm bells ringing in India
Microfinance companies extended heavier loans to their customers in the last financial year, data showed, raising concerns the sector that emerged from a crisis not far ago may be growing too fast yet again for its own good.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Microfinance borrowers reach all-time high in Pakistan
he first quarter of 2016 has recorded an upward trend in microcredit outreach with active borrowers reaching an all-time high of 4 million while the gross loan portfolio of the sector crossed Rs100 billion, said the Pakistan Microfinance Network quarterly report.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- microfinance
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Infoteria and Tech Bureau complete microfinance sector’s first blockchain experiment
According to the press release, this attempt marks the first blockchain experiment in the micro-finance sector. Both companies successfully transferred loan and deposit account data from BC Finance, Myanmar's largest microfinance institution, to the Mijin private blockchain. The blockchain was hosted on Microsoft Azure for this test.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- blockchain, microfinance
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Weekly Roundup: How Brexit Could Impact Emerging Markets + Other Non-Brexit News
We could not call this a Weekly Roundup without addressing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (spoiler alert: like most economists, we're struggling to see any upside.) But for those readers who've had their fill of Brexit news, we have plenty more developments to share, including Capria Accelerator's new $100 million fund, Waste Ventures' tie up with Coke, and the dark side to alternative credit scoring.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Opportunity International and MyBucks: ‘A Powerful Partnership to Improve More Lives’
Opportunity International's sale of six microfinance banks to the fintech company MyBucks has sparked extensive analysis in recent days - along with some serious concerns. In this article, Opportunity CEO Vicki Escarra responds to the criticisms of the partnership leveled by former MFTransparency CEO Chuck Waterfield in his recent NextBillion post.
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- Uncategorized
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Landscape of Microinsurance Africa study released
The study provides an in depth analysis of the evolution of microinsurance in the African region in terms of products, delivery channels, regulations and profitability indicators to the industry.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Opportunity International and MyBucks: The Future of Digital Microfinance?
Back in November 2015, to little fanfare, microfinance pioneer Opportunity International agreed to sell six banks serving sub-Saharan Africa to the MyBucks Group, a Luxembourg-based fintech company. By all accounts, this should have been bigger news, as it touches upon many of the topics and trends that are reshaping the microfinance sector, from the role of fintech to the question of responsible exits. Daniel Rozas and Gabriela Erice García explore the very real opportunities and challenges generated by this deal.
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- Uncategorized
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Study: MFI loans do little to lift the incomes of poor Cambodian families
The study, released last month by the international research consortium Partnership for Economic Policy, surveyed families in 11 villages and found little difference between the incomes of people who had taken out MFI loans and those who had not.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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