Symbiotics NewsWatch #187, 29 November 2011

Nov. 28	Impact Investors Earn More Than Good Karma The majority of small, social enterprises aimed at doing good in the developing world are profitable, according to a new report by the Global Impact Investing Network. This is impressive given the size and the scope of the GIIN survey, which looked at financial data from nearly 2,400 organizations across the globe. The organizations are mission-driven businesses receiving or seeking impact investment capital. Source: MarketWatch
Nov. 27	Nepal: Microfinance Institutions Double in Five Years People's access to finance increases‚ MFIs lack funds. The number of microfinance institutions has witnessed almost double growth in the last five years as the wholesale lending by banks provide easy source for funds. Despite the wholesale lending from banks and financial institutions, the microfinance institutions often suffer from lack of funds. Source: The Himalayan
Nov. 27	Rwanda: Savings and Credit Co-operatives to Offer Loans, Take Deposits  Rwanda has turned to grassroots savings mobilisation schemes to increase access to financial services. The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has licensed 355 of the 416 savings and credit co-operatives (Saccos) operating across the country to offer loans in addition to collecting deposits. Source: The East African
Nov. 24	India: With Bastion in Andhra Pradesh Crumbling, MFIs Turn to Other States While south India has been the bastion of MFIs, the north is still a tough terrain. But with the microfinance business coming to a standstill in Andhra Pradesh, their primary market, following the enactment of the MFI Act, the MFIs have begun focusing on northern states. Source: Business Standard
Nov. 23	Elisabeth Ryhne: Making Consumer Protection a Reality in Microfinance  Judging from last year's lobbying by the financial sector to block the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one would think banks are just plain anti-consumer protection regulation, almost by reflex. That's why it is so encouraging to see the global microfinance industry embrace a campaign to promote strong consumer protection Source: The Huffington Post
Nov. 23	India: Arman Financial Services Ltd. Receives Fresh Private Equity Funding From Belgium Based Incofin Arman Financial Services Ltd. (Arman), an Ahmedabad based NBFC listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), today announced that the Board had approved the proposed equity investment from Incofin, an investment management company based in Belgium that manages several private equity funds. This is now awaiting the approval of the shareholders of Arman. Source: Unitus Capital
Nov. 23	What the 1 Percent (of Capital Markets) Could Do for Impact Investing Anthony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson in their new book Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference discuss how opening just one percent of these assets for impact investing would create "a capital pool four times larger than all current annual official donor flows and almost three times greater than the total of U.S. annual charitable giving." Source: Next Billion