By Zacharia Osanga, The Citizen Dar es Salaam. The Dar es Salaam Community Bank is finalising plans to transform into a commercial bank, the board chairman Paul Rupia said yesterday. DCB, which is listed at the Dar es Salaam Stock market since 2008, started operations in 2002 as a microfinance bank serving the people of the city. Its main shareholders... 

// By Akinola Ajibade, The Nation The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced measures to sanitise microfinance banks (MfBs). In this report, AKINOLA AJIBADE examines how effective the measures are. The microfinance banking sub-sector is plagued by problems such as inadequate capital, bad debt, management ineptitude, weak corporate governance... 

// By Biswarup Gooptu, The Economic Times BANGALORE: Ujjivan Financial Services raised Rs 127.9 crore ($25 million) in its fifth round of equity financing, the Bangalore-based microfinance company announced on Wednesday. The latest round of capital infusion came largely from two new foreign institutional investors, FMO (Netherlands Development Finance... 

By Rebecca Ng, insurancenewsnet.com China Pacific Life Insurance Co., the fourth-largest life insurer in the country, has been approved to expand its rural individual life microinsurance pilot program to seven Chinese provinces, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. The Shanghai-based insurer will be allowed to operate rural individual... 

// AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics Press Release UN-Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) can be achieved by eliminating Poverty through Islamic Microfinance: (Istanbul) Two days International summit on Islamic Microfinance is started in Istanbul. The basic purpose behind this summit is to promote Islamic Microfinance and to elucidate... 

From Africa News The Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC) is bracing up to protect the industry and help safeguard funds of depositors. The business group is to operate under the second tier of the regulated microfinance institutions, which includes susu companies taking deposits and making profits. Under the new Bank of Ghana operating... 

// By Hope Moses-Ashike, Business Day Online As microfinance banks in the country adopt a uniform financial year-end, following a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), there is now more than ever – an oversight regulation on the part of the authorities. The directive, which came last week, according to the apex bank, is targeted... 

From Kong Kong’s Information Services Department Financial Secretary John Tsang will commission the Mortgage Corporation to introduce a three-year pilot microfinance scheme, offering a maximum loan tentatively capped at $100 million. In his 2012-13 Budget speech today, Mr Tsang said the scheme will be operated on a self-financing basis with supporting... 

From The Economic Times KOLKATA: State-run Small Industries Development Bank of India, or Sidbi, is contemplating equity investment in microfinance companies after a year long hiatus. Sidbi will use a 100-crore dedicated fund, created by the government, for investing in smaller MFIs to help them grow in a regulated environment, an official said. “We... 

From Options Senegal The Senegalese microfinance institution, Union des Institutions Mutualistes Communautaires d’Epargne et de Crédit (U-IMCEC) signed a memorandum of understanding today to provide access to financing and set up savings accounts for GIEs and GIE members in the Options Senegal Ecolign Entrepreneurial Program. U-IMCEC was formed...