Microfinance, Innovations, Sustainable Development - Africa

Wind turbine offers hope to African communities

Gerard — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:57:23 GMT

Wind turbines could also provide drinking water in humid climates following a breakthrough by a French engineering firm.

Eole Water modified your typical electricity-generating turbines to allow them to distill drinking water out of the air in a bid to help developing countries solve their water needs.

A prototype in Abu Dhabi already creates 62 litres of water an hour, and Eole hopes to sell turbines generating a thousand litres a day later this year.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Scientists Say Africa Sits on Huge Reservoir of Water

Gerard — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:48:09 GMT

Scientists say a new study shows that Africa sits on a vast reservoir of groundwater that could provide a reliable source of water for drinking and agriculture.

Scientists say an estimated 300 million people in Africa do not have access to safe drinking water and with climate change making rainfall less predictable, their plight is even more precarious.

So research into a vast reservoir of groundwater beneath the continent is meaningful.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Rwanda: Rwf400 Million Fund to Boost Innovation

Gerard — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:26:40 GMT

Government has set aside a basket fund of about Rwf400 million to cater for scientific innovations, especially in the areas of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Agriculture and Manufacturing. The fund, known as Rwanda Innovation Endowment Fund (RIEF), was initiated by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) sub regional office under the One UN Rwanda. It will support projects that promote innovations in science, technology and research which could transform the social and economic development of the country.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative to microfinance?

Gerard — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:02:36 GMT

Milford Bateman has made a cogent case for community-based financial institutions that prioritise sustainable local solutions. Milford Bateman is perhaps best known for his strident attacks on microfinance as an anti-poverty strategy, including his sometimes acrimonious debates with David Roodman, another microfinance analyst. Bateman claims that, by diverting resources away from more productive investments and indebting poor people with no significant return, the microfinance "fad" has been anti-developmental, benefiting lenders most.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Canada: Engineering students encouraged to think globally

Gerard — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:15:25 GMT

Some 15,400 kilometers away from Vancouver, B.C., farmers in the southern African nation of Zambia have seen their crop yields improve thanks in part to a small group of Canadian engineers. Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Engineering+students+encouraged+think+globally/6232493/story.html#ixzz1oSpxEsW4

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Rural Women Banking By Mobile Phone

Gerard — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:31:19 GMT

Collecting the monthly subscriptions for her co-operative has always been a headache for Thelma Nare, 41. This is because Nare lives in Tshitshi, Plumtree in rural Zimbabwe, about 60 kilometres away from the humdrum of the nearest town centre where banks are located.

"We meet after a long time as here in the rural areas our homesteads can be very far from each other. So members of our club do not meet or contribute regularly," Nare said.

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Two Young University Of Washington Graduates Launch An Innovative New Type Of Microlending Company Called Lumana Helping E

Gerard — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:18:16 GMT

Two young University of Washington graduates launch an innovative new type of micro-lending company called Lumana, helping entrepreneurs in rural Africa to create sustainable businesses.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Should We Be Focused on Rural Areas in the Developing World?

Gerard — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:58:07 GMT

Microfinance has largely become a city-based endeavor, but one example suggests it would be more useful if focused on rural communities. Microfinance -- the practice of personal small loans to spur creativity in developing nations -- has well-known rural roots.

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World Food Day Is Not a Time for Celebration, But a Time For Action

Gerard — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:50:59 GMT

Famine is not simply caused by a lack of food in the global supply. We must -- and can -- do better.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

ONE Launches Effort to End Famine

Gerard — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:43:42 GMT

"ONE is about justice, not charity," he says. "It's about the shared value of every human life. That's why we're here -- to bring this to people's attention and to do something about it. …Your voice together with mine together with millions of others makes a big difference."
Advocacy group ONE is gaining support for its efforts to end the critical famine in Somalia with its new PSA effort, "The F Word: Famine Is the Real Obscenity." The PSAs, which debuted last week online and on TV, have already inspired more than 200,000 people worldwide to sign the organization's petition to end famine.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

UK - Africa: Radio 4 Appeal for Microloan Foundation

Gerard — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:16:07 GMT

Gabby Logan presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the MicroLoan Foundation. The MicroLoan Foundation is a specialist ‘not for profit’ UK microfinance charity that provides microfinance (small loans of on average £70), business education and ongoing mentoring support to impoverished women in sub-Saharan Africa. This provides them with a “hand-up not a hand-out” so they can develop self-sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families, and work their own way out of poverty. 99% of the loans are repaid and then recycled in full to help more women year after year.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

SHE: Scharpf's simple way to empower women

Gerard — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:16:17 GMT

While interning in Africa in 2005, Elizabeth Scharpf was appalled to find that women were missing work and school because they couldn’t afford pads to wear during their periods. “I felt like it was an obstacle for women and girls — to their freedom” and one that shouldn’t exist, she said.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Wangari Maathai

Gerard — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:15:32 GMT

. The first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, environmentalist Wangari Maathai, has died aged-71 in Nairobi after a long battle with cancer. Matthai became a key figure in Kenya after founding her Green Belt Movement in 1997 which campaigned for environmental conservation and good governance. In recent years, Maathai founded green groups and launched several campaigns against climate change and for environmental protection. Her organization planted some 40 million trees across Africa.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Cultivating Knowledge and Crops: Women Are Key to Sustainable Agricultural Development

Gerard — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:42:42 GMT

Women account for 75 percent of the agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa, but the majority of women farmers are living on only $1.25 per day, according to researchers from the Worldwatch Institute. Despite the challenging circumstances that women in developing countries face, important innovations in communications and organizing are helping women play a key role in the fight against hunger and poverty. "Access to credit, which provides women farmers with productive inputs and improved technologies, can be an effective tool in improving livelihoods in Africa and beyond," said Worldwatch Institute's executive director Robert Engelman.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria: Revised Policy Fails to Excite MFBs Operators

Gerard — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:25:10 GMT

Operators of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) appeared unimpressed with the revised supervisory and regulatory framework for micro-finance banks (MFBs) approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

G20 faces obstacles in its efforts to spread good farming practices

Gerard — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:56:49 GMT

A lack of coherence among agricultural research bodies hinders the G20's goal of promoting farming in the developing world. Spreading good ideas and practices in farming sounds like a simple enough goal, but can be immensely complicated not just on a global level but also locally.

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Microfinance: What role in Africa's development?

Gerard — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:43:30 GMT

The honeymoon with microfinance is over. Since the idea of lending or giving very small sums of money to poor people was introduced to the world by the pioneering Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the approach has been taken up by many non-governmental organizations, donor agencies and the United Nations as an essential part of their poverty-reduction efforts. Microfinance has provided countless people with access to financial services.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Cultivating Knowledge and Crops: Women Are Key to Sustainable Agricultural Development

Gerard — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:13:18 GMT

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Competition Spurs Access to Banking And Innovation

Gerard — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:13:14 GMT

Competition among financial institutions is intensifying in Africa as more governments relax barriers to entry and open their countries' banking sectors to new players. The flurry of fresh entrants in some countries is credited with helping to drive down banking charges, improve access to banking services and spark off a wave of new products and services.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

The Sun: Gorillas get iPads

Gerard — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:54:00 GMT

The Sun is reporting that animal behavior experts have kindly handed out iPads to Gorillas. Amazingly not a SINGLE one of the five tablets which download apps has been broken since being given out at Port Lympne wild animal park three weeks ago.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria: MFBs Plan Trust Fund to Sustain Liquidity

Gerard — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:32:29 GMT

Operators of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) in Lagos state have concluded arrangement to establish a trust fund aimed at protecting them from liquidity shocks as well as to also help manage their liquidity position. The Chairman, National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Olufemi Babajide, disclosed this.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Tanzania: UN extends $90 mn loan for access to rural finances

Gerard — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:12:56 GMT

The United Nations recently announced a $90 million loan for strengthening access to rural financial services and markets, and promoting private sector development in Tanzania. More than 500,000 vulnerable rural households, including smallholder farmers, livestock keepers, fishers, small-scale rural entrepreneurs, traders and artisans, grass-roots microfinance institutions, processing and marketing groups, poor rural women and rural youth are expected to get benefit from this programme.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria: Microfinance banks should serve the poor

Gerard — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:59:29 GMT

Joke Orelope-Adefulire, the Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has urged microfinance banks to serve the active poor diligently. Mrs Orelope-Adefulire urged the National Association of Microfinance Banks to come up with programmes that could change the lives of the poor, and advised it to set up a taskforce that would check activities of fraudsters in their midst.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Forecast: Global Mobile Transaction Value Will Near $1 Trillion by 2014

Gerard — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:28:53 GMT

Yankee Group research shows that while mobile transaction usage is growing, consumers show little willingness to pay for these services. The company's forecasts predict unprecedented growth in mobile transactions worldwide, with the total value of global mobile transactions increasing from $162 billion in 2010 to $984 billion in 2014. However, Yankee Group's consumer survey results show that less than 10 percent of respondents would be willing to pay extra for mobile transaction services such as mobile banking, mobile coupons and mobile payments.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

World Future Energy Summit Kicks Off in Abu Dhabi

Gerard — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:54:14 GMT

Abu Dhabi, UAE, may be overflowing with oil, but the Emirate is also brimming with ideas and commitments to a green energy future. Such was the key take-a-way at the star-studded opening session of the World Future Energy Summit 2011 this morning. The summit is taking place not far from the emerging city of Masdar – designed to be a showpiece of cleantech innovation and green urban planning.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria: Relief as NDIC Pays Off Closed MFBs' Customers

Gerard — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:29:13 GMT

With the first official purging of the microfinance sector in 2010, four years after the introduction of the microfinance policy in Nigeria, depositors of the closed banks can now heave sighs of relief as the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has concluded payment of the first batch of depositors.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

CERMI: Centre for European Research in Microfinance

Gerard — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:55:15 GMT

CERMi’s mission is to promote academic research in order to support the key stakeholders in the microfinance industry: NGOs, cooperatives, donors, investment funds and financial institutions, and to develop suitable frameworks to critically examine existing microfinance practices.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

FAO: Record high global food prices triggers fears of unrest

Gerard — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:19:14 GMT

Food prices hit a record high last month, outstripping levels that prompted riots in 2008, and key grains could climb even further as weather patterns give cause for concern, the UN's food agency said on Wednesday. Record high food prices are moving to the top of policymaker agendas, driven by fears it could stoke inflation, protectionism and unrest and dent consumer demand in key emerging economies.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

World Council of Credit Unions

Gerard — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:52:55 GMT

World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the leading international trade association and development agency for credit unions. WOCCU promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. WOCCU advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

World Concern: Reaching 153,000 AIDS orphans

Gerard — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:59:45 GMT

While it's sometimes hard to quantify success, one thing is certain – the ripple effect and long-term effects of good development work impact more people for generations to come than any of us will know.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria's top banker wins international recognition

Gerard — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:21:56 GMT

Nigeria is frequently cited as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, but its central banker has won two international banking awards. Mallam Lamido Aminu Sanusi has been named as the Central Bank Governor of 2010 for both the African continent and the entire world, by the prestigious Banker Magazine.

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Developing Countries Get Grants for Sustainable Development

Gerard — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:31:09 GMT

The Environmental Economics Unit at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg is being granted SEK 73 million from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), to continue to support six environmental economics research centres in Africa, Central America and China for the period 2011-2014.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Nigeria: NDIC to prosecute MDs of failed microfinance banks

Gerard — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:19:48 GMT

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation , NDIC, has commenced the compilation of the list of Managing Directors and top management staff of the failed microfinance banks whose licences were recently withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, with a view to prosecuting them.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Omidyar Network Supports Innovations in Mobile Technology With Grant to Praekelt Foundation in Africa

Gerard — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:49:56 GMT

Omidyar Network announced an $825,000 grant to Praekelt Foundation to support its pioneering use of mobile technology to drive positive social change. Funded through Omidyar Network's Government Transparency investment area, the grant will be used to extend the Foundation's mobile technology platforms across Africa. Built to take advantage of rapidly growing mobile penetration throughout the continent, these mobile platforms will provide the technological foundation and infrastructure for a variety of initiatives focusing on healthcare, education, human rights and government transparency initiatives.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Zambia: Gender and Rural Finance workshop at Lusaka

Gerard — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 21:57:14 GMT

The grant funded a one day workshop in Lusaka to look at gender issues in rural microfinance programmes. 43 people participated in the workshop, including managers and gender specialists from government ministries, financial institutions, community based organizations and NGOs, donors and colleges. There was also participation from IFAD and FAO.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

WAM: Women Advancing Microfinance International

Gerard — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:21:32 GMT

WAM began in 2003 after women professionals in the microfinance industry, most of them based in Washington, DC, began meeting, at first informally in each others' homes. This growing group of WAM Founders came together to discuss areas of common concern, to decide if a more formal organization made sense, to explore what such an organization might do to support women who work in the microfinance industry and, ultimately, to support the development of the industry itself. After several months of planning and program design, WAM was formally launched in October 2003. Membership has grown steadily since.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

For the unbanked, is mobile money cheap enough?

Gerard — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 08:53:33 GMT

Claudia McKay and Mark Pickens from CGAP have pulled together a comprehensive global pricing study on banking services targeting poor, unbanked and underbanked people in Africa, Asia and Brazil. The study examines pricing for services targeting unbanked and underbanked poor people in 10 countries. The conclusion: mobile banking and other forms of branchless banking are cheaper than traditional banking, but the gap between the two may not be as wide as some may think.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Big concerns over small loans

Gerard — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:03:50 GMT

The recent controversy surrounding the microfinance sector has entirely eclipsed the fact that it is the first effort in India to have delivered financial services to remote corners of the country in a self-sustaining manner. The stakes are high for India’s poor, and we have to pave the way for orderly growth in the sector. Here is our view on some key issues that have featured in the current debate.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Rise of the social entrepreneur

Gerard — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:58:50 GMT

rise of entrepreneurial innovations that use mainstream financial instruments to facilitate social development. Corporate social investment (CSI) experts predict that a growing merger between social entrepreneurship and CSI will be one of the world's top trends in the future.

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Probanx - Core Banking Software - Microfinance Software

Gerard — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:56:44 GMT

Probanx Information Systems specializes in development of software for the financial institutions, offering multi-currency and multi-lingual banking systems with a large variety of modules, based on the latest technologies. We install and support turn-key international Banking Software and Microfinance Software solutions for retail banks, commercial banks, Internet banks and microfinance banks.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Middle East And North Africa "Social Entrepreneurs Of The Year"

Gerard — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:38:14 GMT

Two Social Entrepreneurs one from Morocco and one from Tunisia - were recognized as leading social innovators during a plenary session at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, Marrakech, Morocco on 26 October. The awards were conferred by Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Can microfinance programs heal rape victims in Congo?

Gerard — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:30:12 GMT

Microfinance programs geared toward African women can actually help heal victims of rape the same way that psychological counseling does – by restoring self-respect.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Innovating solutions to extreme poverty

Gerard — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:02:02 GMT

US$2.3 trillion has been spent by the global North on international aid in the last five decades. Nevertheless, close to half of the world's population still lives in poverty. One in five live in extreme poverty. Aid is not working as well as it should. Unless we can inject the spirit of innovation into this provision, the extreme poor we try to help in places like Bangladesh will continue to remain poor.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Branchless Banking 2010: Is the hype justified?

Gerard — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:23:23 GMT

After several years of very high profile attention on mobile money and other branchless banking schemes, we think it’s time to test the hype. Or more accurately, we’ve wanted to for awhile. But acquiring good data is really, really hard. We’ve been unable to say in anything but a fragmented, mostly anecdotal way whether the unbanked really use branchless banking, what they use it for, if it saves them any money, and what more they might want (but aren’t getting yet). Just because we are excited about branchless banking doesn’t mean it is living up to the promises we make on its behalf.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

CGAP: Mobile Banking is Reaching Millions of Economically Excluded in Poor Countries

Gerard — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:17:10 GMT

A significant number of people using new technologies such as mobile phones to access financial services in developing countries are completely new clients for the financial services industry, according to new research by CGAP. The growing interest of so-called branchless banking in recent years has, until now, largely lacked data showing whether it delivers on potential to bring the poor into the formal economy.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

USA: 'Capital Plus' Company Announces Small Business Banking Network for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe

Gerard — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:55:41 GMT

A new initiative to expand these programs to the broader market called the Small Business Banking Network (SBBN) will launch in November. The SBBN is designed to bolster the capacity and effectiveness of financial institutions to profitably serve small businesses in developing countries, helping to close the gap between microfinance and commercial banking.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) Invests $4.5m in Kenya Women Finance Trust – Deposit Taking Microfinance (KWFT-DTM) and Uganda Finance Trust (UFT)

Gerard — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:41:19 GMT

The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that provides assistance for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries, recently loaned KES 325 million (approximately USD 4.03 million) to Kenya Women Finance Trust – Deposit Taking Microfinance (KWFT- DTM), a microfinance institution based in Nairobi, Kenya, and UGX 1.25 billion (approximately USD 548,000) to the Uganda Finance Trust (UFT), an MFI in Kampala, Uganda, to support microenterprises.

This weblog is sponsored by Avgo.org and Photo Cyprus.

African Development Bank Supports African Women Entrepreneurs

Gerard — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:18:59 GMT

Women entrepreneurs constitute one of the key drivers of Africa's sustainable growth. As Africa's lead development partner, the African Development Bankactively supports women entrepreneurs.

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Canada pledges $43.4M in aid to Francophone African countries

Gerard — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:59:53 GMT

Canada will invest $43.4-million in new aid to Francophone African countries, the most tangible product of Stephen Harper’s trip to the weekend’s summit of Francophone nations. The funding, part of $1.1-billion in aid that the Conservative government promised in June to protect mothers and their children at the G8 summit of leading developed nations in Huntsville, Muskoka, will help protect 1.1 million women and children from malnourishment and sexual violence.

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Nigeria: CBN Approves Provisional Licences for 121 Microfinance Banks

Gerard — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:47:55 GMT

The apex bank yesterday said it had granted provisional approval for new licences to 121 out of the 224 microfinance institutions, whose licences were recently withdrawn.

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