Symbiotics NewsWatch #209, 08 May 2012

May 07	Mexico: Mexico's Credit Card Grupo Elektra's Ricardo Salinas Pliego makes his billions the old-fashioned way: by charging the poor usurious interest rates. In Mexico that's not a bad thing. In a country where 52% of people live on less than $80 a month, Salinas has become one of the world’s wealthiest people by selling goods--and credit--to Mexico’s working poor. Source: Forbes
May 07	Pakistan: A Microfinance Tool For an Entire Society  Microfinance in general involves providing credit to the poor, mostly located in rural areas amid focus on women. The objective is to bring them into the financial net to allow them to develop sustainable sources of livelihood, with an ultimate objective of lifting their standard of living. While perceived as a successful model of development, it has attracted its share of criticism in recent past. Source: The Express Tribune
May 07	Africa: International Finance Corp., MasterCard Foundation working to expand microfinancing in Africa The World Bank partner devoted to developing the private sector and The MasterCard Foundation will spend millions of dollars so more impoverished Africans can get loans and other financial services, officials said Monday. Source: The Washington Post
May 04	China: Beijing to Learn Lessons From Indian Microfinance Fallout Mistakes made by microfinance institutions in India and elsewhere serve as valuable lessons to China as it seeks ways to provide basic financial services to millions of its poor. Source: Emerging Markets
May 04	Russia: Interest Rates on Microloans in Russia: How Much is Too Much? This post kicks-off a three-part series on Russia’s financial inclusion space. This short series will feature prominent voices from Russia’s microfinance industry and discuss new developments and implications for the global industry as a whole. Source: CGAP Microfinance Blog
May 02	Asia: ADB Secures More Than $12 Billion to Help Asia's Poorest The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has secured Special Drawing Rights 7.9 billion ($12.4 billion) for the next four-year phase of its concessional development fund that will provide critical financial support to fight poverty in the Asia and Pacific region. Source: ADB
May 01	Tapping the Next Big Thing in Emerging-Market Banking  Over the next ten years, an estimated 60 percent of the growth in global banking revenues will come from emerging markets. New McKinsey research shows that a particularly attractive segment will be micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises: the revenues they generate for banks could jump from $150 billion in 2010 to more than $350 billion by 2015. Source: McKinsey May 01 Bridging the Gap in Microfinance Many microfinance institutions—realising the strength in numbers—are using the much-maligned credit derivative to tide over the severe credit crunch that has hit the sector. Source: Forbes India   Apr. 27 India: Ensuring microfinance’s future prospects The private sector MFIs have demonstrated a scalable model that can also benefit the rural youth by providing gainful employment. Source: LiveMint   Apr. 26 Accion Releases Report on Financial Behavior Of Rural Residents in Latin America Research identifies challenges, opportunities for financial inclusion in rural Latin America; proposed strategies potentially applicable to microfinance industry worldwide. Source: Market Watch   Apr. 26 Morgan Stanley Offering Advisors Sustainable Investing Platform  Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is launching a platform for its financial advisors to offer clients investments with positive social and environmental impact in what appears to be a major push to offer sustainable investing to mainstream investors. Source: Financial Advisor   Apr. 25 Two Persistent Divides in Financial Inclusion: Gender and Rural What percentage of women in South Asia have a formal account compared to those in Latin America? What are the most common self-reported barriers to financial inclusion among women and rural residents worldwide? To what degree has mobile money reached the unbanked in Sub-Saharan Africa? Source: CGAP Microfinance Blog   Apr. 25 Mexico's Compartamos Sees More Growth In Micro-Lending Mexico's Compartamos SAB said Wednesday its net profit expanded 12% on the year in the first quarter as the microfinance lender grew its loan portfolio and attracted new clients. Source: The Wall Street Journal   Apr. 24 South Africa: Microfinance Bodies Merge Into Single Fund A new umbrella microfinance agency, which will fall under the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), will use the new Postbank facilities at post offices around the country to fast-track loans to small businesses. Source: IOL