EU: Access to finance major problem for SMEs

30 September 2009 in Banking, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Microfinance

The European Commission published the results of the new ”Flash Eurobarometer: SMEs’ access to finance”. The survey, conducted with 9071 firms in 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland and Norway, was set up to assess EU companies’ use of various sources of finance, to get a picture of the magnitude of companies’ difficulties in getting [...]

Launch of a new financial product for development

30 September 2009 in Banking, Development, Microfinance

AFD and Crédit Agricole Asset Management have launched CAAM AFD Avenirs durables (Sustainable Futures), an innovative mutual fund that allows savers to participate in financing projects in developing countries. This innovative product aims to create new sources of financing for development, while at the same time meeting the demands of savers seeking socially responsible investments [...]

CfP: The Microinsurance Innovation Facility

30 September 2009 in Banking, Development, Microfinance, Research

The Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the European Development Research Network (EUDN) invite academic researchers to submit proposals for research that will contribute new knowledge to support microinsurance development in developing countries. Deadline: 30 October 2009. http://www.eudnet.net/microinsurance.html

The Global Financial Crisis: What does it mean for microfinance?

3 February 2009 in Africa, Asia, Banking, Crisis, Economy, Microfinance

In most past financial crises – like those of the 1990s in Asia, Mexico, and Russia – financial services for poor people have been remarkably resilient. In fact, the quality of the loan portfolios of microfinance institutions (MFIs) during the Asian crisis and in Latin America during various banking crises barely quivered, while corporate portfolios [...]