Symbiotics NewsWatch #215, 19 June 2012

Jun. 19	Nigeria: Fortis Microfinance Bank to list on NSE The financial services sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will tomorrow host a new entrant - Fortis Microfinance Bank plc – which is prosecuting a three year strategic growth plan, commencing with a capital raising exercise that will pool in about N7 billion fresh funds to the organisation. Source: Business Day
Jun. 18	From Protection to Inclusion: Making the Shift to Cashless Payments Meaningful There is a growing shift away from cash payments to electronic platforms, and yet there is a long way to go to sequence to accounts that are used by unbanked beneficiaries for their household’s financial needs. Source: CGAP Technology Blog
Jun. 18	India: Investors Want MFIs to Deliver on Social Goals Commitment to the poor and client protection are no longer mere moral obligations for microfinance institutions (MFIs), but official objectives they must meet. Investors across the globe have conveyed the message to MFIs in strong words and some even want legal agreements to ensure these firms meet their social objectives and implement fair corporate governance practices in letter and spirit. Source: Livemint
Jun. 15	G20 Summit’s Commitment to Action Will Help Promote Financial Inclusion Amid the chronic chasm between the world’s wealthy and its excluded, almost half of the adult population worldwide – an estimated 2.5 billion people – lack access to basic financial services. The global economic crisis has intensified the plight of the financially excluded, preventing even more of the world’s poor from gaining a foothold on an important ladder out of poverty. Source: World Bank
Jun. 13	Africa: Banking on Africa’s poor Vast distances, high costs and unstable incomes.Those are just some of the challenges faced by millions of Africa’s poorest trying to access financial services in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Source: Global Post
Jun. 12	Sri Lanka: Micro Credit vs. Micro Grants Development workers have debated for ever and a day on whether the best method of alleviating the poverty of the absolutely poor and landless is micro credit or a once and for all micro grant. Source: Daily FT