// 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... 

// 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... 

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... 

From cambridge-news.co.uk FrontlineSMS has been listed in The Global Journal’s Top 100 Best NGOs at number 47. Founded in 2005 by Bluntisham-based Ken Banks, FrontlineSMS has become a key player in the use of mobile technology to help developing countries, with Banks being awarded National Geographic Emerging Explorer status in 2010. “The fact... 

// By Wambi Michael, Inter Press Service For most Ugandan women, obtaining a commercial loan to start a business has been very difficult. Many do not have the required collateral of land title deeds and many cannot afford the interest rates charged by commercial banks. But six women-led rural banks have begun changing the lives of women in rural... 

On January 27, 2012 MFTransparency will unveil the microloan pricing data collected as part of the Transparent Pricing Initiatives in Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. Concluding months of research and analysis, MFTransparency will present transparent prices for microloans offered in Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania, information never before available. Ghana,... 

African Press Organization (APO)/ — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $1.1 million (174.5 million Nigerian naira) alongside Advans S.A., German development bank KfW, and Dutch development bank FMO to establish La Fayette Microfinance Bank in Oyo State, Nigeria. La Fayette, which is expected to start operations during the... 

// Grameen Foundation Press Release Skilled Business Volunteers Help Ethiopian Social Enterprises Alleviate Global Poverty Washington, D.C., January 25, 2012 – Bankers without Borders® (BwB), Grameen Foundation’s global volunteer initiative, announced today that the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI) will become... 

From Opportunity International The three-year grant from Credit Suisse will build upon an ongoing partnership to improve access to financial tools and support the growing need for highly trained financial services personnel in the world’s most remote regions through the Next Generation Microfinance Bankers program Oak Brook, Ill., Jan. 24, 2012...