Friday, December 20, 2013

[MFP] An Exciting Opportunity at Harvard Business School

 

Colleagues,

 

We’re pleased to announce that the Harvard Business School - Accion Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance is accepting applications for the 2014 program. The name change confirms a shift in course focus and approach that has been under way for some time, from an exclusive focus on microfinance to a broader financial inclusion and impact-investing scope.

 

In the past, HBS and Accion have brought together leaders from roughly 100 countries – including over 300 CEOs from some of the field’s leading microfinance institutions and financial service providers. The course marries the best in strategic business thinking with the most important advances in financial inclusion and impact investing.

 

This year’s program will take place April 21-26, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. The cost is US $8,000, which includes tuition, housing, meals, and all course materials. We are able to offer a limited number of scholarships through the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, and all candidates interested in applying for a scholarship should indicate so on their application.

 

To learn more about the program and to apply, please click here. Please note that applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Applications are due December 31, 2013 and can be submitted to hbsaccion@accion.org.

 

Regards,

Bruce

 

Bruce J. MacDonald | SVP, Communications | Accion | 56 Roland Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02129

Tel +1 617.616.1546 | Fax +1 617.625.7020 | bmacdonald@accion.org | www.accion.org | skype: bruce.j.macdonald |@accion_global

 



 

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[MFP] Master's of Science assistantship in microfinance available at Purdue University

 

Master of Science (M.S.) Assistantship 

International Economic Development and Microfinance

Department of Consumer Science

Purdue University

 

Graduate Assistantship

One M.S. assistantship in international economic development will be available beginning August 2014 in the Department of Consumer Science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. This assistantship will support a student to work with Dr. Jonathan Bauchet to study microinsurance in developing countries and/or financial literacy among low-income populations in the United States. Support will be available for two years, including an assistantship of $13,300/year, a tuition waiver, and health insurance. The student should expect some reasonable teaching responsibilities. West Lafayette is located an hour north of Indianapolis, IN and two hours south of Chicago, IL, and has a low cost of living.

Minimum Requirements

•      A bachelor’s degree 

•      GPA 3.2 or equivalent

•      GRE 50% or better on Verbal and Quantitative, Analytical: 4.0

•      Good communication and writing skills 

•      A strong interest in collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving

 

Preferred Qualifications

•      An understanding of international economic development issues

•      Basic statistical skills (e.g., descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics)

•      Familiarity or experience with randomized control trials and/or household surveys

 

Application Procedures

To apply, please first email the following as a single PDF attachment to Dr. Jonathan Bauchet: (1) a cover letter describing your research interest, academic and related work experience, and career goals; (2) a CV; (3) unofficial transcripts; (4) a copy of your GRE scores; and (5) contact information of three references. After the initial screening, the selected applicant will be asked to submit his/her official application to the Graduate School

(https://app.applyyourself.com/AYApplicantLogin/ApplicantConnectLogin.asp?id=purduegrad). 

Review of applications will begin on January 15, 2014. Position will be open until filled. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Purdue University is an equal opportunity affirmative action employer.

 

Contact Information

Jonathan Bauchet, Ph.D.

Department of Consumer Science

Purdue University

812 W. State Street

West Lafayette, IN 47907

Phone: 765-494-4725

Email: jbauchet@purdue.edu

 

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

[MFP] CGAP Newsflash: Digital Finance Plus

 

 


CGAP Newsflash: Digital Finance Plus

What CGAP calls Digital Finance Plus is the use of mobile money and branchless banking to make basic, essential services and utilities - in energy, health, education, and water, for example - more accessible to people at the base of the economic pyramid. Here finance is not an end itself but a means to help solve significant development challenges in order to improve the lives of the poor.

Recently, CGAP's Kabir Kumar and Camilo Tellez-Merchan spoke with representatives from several businesses that link financial innovation with tangible benefits for the poor. Via Google Hangout, Victoria Arch from Angaza Design described how a pay-as-you-go finance model allows people to pay for solar lamps in small increments, providing an affordable alternative to fuel-based lighting sources, such as kerosene. Similarly, Rasoul Mikkelsen explained how Grundfos LifeLink combines the pay-as-you-go approach with M-PESA to make clean water more accessible for rural communities.

Watch the video interviews mentioned above, as well as an animated introduction to Digital Finance Plus, at CGAP.org. You can also watch this space for more updates, where we identify the more than 60 services in this new field of digital finance "plus" innovations who are leveraging the already established infrastructure of mobile payments - including mobile wallets and agents – to reach and serve their customers



CGAP
 

  

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

[MFP] Seeking a Chief of Pary

 

CARE Canada is currently seeking a Chief of Party for the POWER Africa project, starting January 1st, 2014.  The position description is below.  To apply please visit http://care.ca/about-us/careers and click on Job Opportunities.

 

CARE International is one of the world’s leading non-governmental relief and development organizations and is currently the world’s leading organization in the promotion of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) in Africa, reaching more than 3.8 million people in 26 countries. 

 

CARE Canada’s POWER Africa project aims to increase financial inclusion in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Rwanda through the VSLA approach while also creating a platform for sharing lessons learned within and between the 4 target countries. Although financial inclusion levels and rates vary across the 4 project countries, the poorest households in rural areas are still significantly excluded from financial services. The CARE model is based on VSLA as a means to not only provide access to valuable financial services, but to provide a pathway for formal financial inclusion. VSLA builds the financial skills and assets of participating households by providing access to a safe, convenient place to save as well as small timely loans. VSLAs provide the members with practical financial experience which they can leverage to successfully engage with formal financial service providers (FSPs). Equipped with financial literacy to ensure that members understand the way that formal financial markets work, pilots linking VSLA with FSPs have resulted in increased financial access for VSLA participants and high repayment rates for the banks.

With a budget of over $13 million, the project’s ultimate goal is to increase financial inclusion for 480,000 individuals and their families in the 4 target countries. Depending on the country and context, this will be achieved through:  1) extending VSL outreach to 300,000 new clients; and 2) providing opportunities for 205,000 people to access formal financial services through linkages to various service providers including through the introduction and expansion of technology-enabled financial services.

Position summary:

The Chief of Party (COP) provides overall leadership and direction to the POWER Africa project, including personnel and financial management, administrative oversight and program quality assurance.  The COP also ensures that lessons are captured, necessary studies are conducted, and results and project achievements are disseminated within the countries (and across  the region).

The COP will lead the four year, four country initiative to scale up CARE’s Village Savings and Loans Assocation (VSLA) programs and develop programmatic approaches that link VSLAs effectively with financial service providers. 

 

 

Lauren Hendricks

Executive Director, Access Africa

CARE USA

lhendricks@care.org

+255 784 348474

Skype: lauren_hendricks

 

From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Maude Massu
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 6:26 PM
To: microfinancepractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 

 

Greetings All,

 

You may find this article in the UK’s Evening Standard of interest to read about CARE’s financial inclusion work with Barclays in Uganda.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/sarah-sands-a-new-revolution-is-sweeping-through-africa--in-banking-8977387.html?origin=internalSea

 

Kind regards,

Maude 

 

Maude Massu
Microfinance Advisor
CARE International UK
Direct Line: +44 207 091 6054
Email: massu@careinternational.org Website: www.careinternational.org.uk 

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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Re: [MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 


Hello there,

Just came across this in a paper and flet it may be worth sharing with the group.

It would seem that there is plenty of disruptive technology there to be exploited.

Who is going to be the first to bring these services to the MF arena?

How does these services differ from M-Pesa etc.? and why?


On 6 December 2013 01:32, Anuj Jain <ajain@stfx.ca> wrote:
 

Thanks for sharing this Maude.

 

This gradual evolution of the base savings group approach to deeper financial inclusion through linkages with formal sector is very promising, even though the road ahead is long and not an easy one.

 

We have 5 participants from 4 African countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Egypt) in our Community Based Microfinance for Financial Inclusion, Hyderabad course; getting exposed to both good and bad of SHG-Bank linkage program in India and sharing their own lessons from the pilots.

 

Let's see what plans they come up with by the end of the program next week!

 

Best,

 

Anuj

 

 

From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Maude Massu
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 8:56 PM
To: microfinancepractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 

 

Greetings All,

 

You may find this article in the UK's Evening Standard of interest to read about CARE's financial inclusion work with Barclays in Uganda.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/sarah-sands-a-new-revolution-is-sweeping-through-africa--in-banking-8977387.html?origin=internalSea

 

Kind regards,

Maude 

 

Maude Massu
Microfinance Advisor
CARE International UK
Direct Line: +44 207 091 6054
Email: massu@careinternational.org Website: www.careinternational.org.uk 




--
Garrett Wyse
00-353-87-6536002

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Thursday, December 5, 2013

RE: [MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 

Thanks for sharing this Maude.

 

This gradual evolution of the base savings group approach to deeper financial inclusion through linkages with formal sector is very promising, even though the road ahead is long and not an easy one.

 

We have 5 participants from 4 African countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Egypt) in our Community Based Microfinance for Financial Inclusion, Hyderabad course; getting exposed to both good and bad of SHG-Bank linkage program in India and sharing their own lessons from the pilots.

 

Let’s see what plans they come up with by the end of the program next week!

 

Best,

 

Anuj

 

 

From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Maude Massu
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 8:56 PM
To: microfinancepractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 

 

Greetings All,

 

You may find this article in the UK’s Evening Standard of interest to read about CARE’s financial inclusion work with Barclays in Uganda.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/sarah-sands-a-new-revolution-is-sweeping-through-africa--in-banking-8977387.html?origin=internalSea

 

Kind regards,

Maude 

 

Maude Massu
Microfinance Advisor
CARE International UK
Direct Line: +44 207 091 6054
Email: massu@careinternational.org Website: www.careinternational.org.uk 

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

[MFP] A new revolution in banking- featuring CARE's Banking on Change partnership

 

Greetings All,

 

You may find this article in the UK's Evening Standard of interest to read about CARE's financial inclusion work with Barclays in Uganda.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/sarah-sands-a-new-revolution-is-sweeping-through-africa--in-banking-8977387.html?origin=internalSea

 

Kind regards,

Maude 


Maude Massu
Microfinance Advisor
CARE International UK
Direct Line: +44 207 091 6054
Email: massu@careinternational.org Website: www.careinternational.org.uk 

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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

[MFP] CGAP Newsflash: Linking Electronic Payments and Social Cash Transfers in India

 


CGAP Newsflash: Linking Electronic Payments and Social Cash Transfers in India 
 

The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, home to 90 million people, has been using electronic channels to disburse social welfare payments since 2006.   In fiscal year 2012-2013 alone, the Government of Andhra Pradesh channeled  $1 billion worth of social welfare payments through electronic channels, and this figure is expected to increase. Andhra Pradesh was the first state in India to implement this electronic payment channel at scale and it continues to be a leader in improving payment delivery to very poor populations.

Earlier this year, the government of India announced the direct benefit transfer scheme, an ambitious program that aims to transfer billions of dollars worth of subsidies to hundreds of millions of poor across the country through a bank accounts linked to Aadhaar, a unique ID, for every Indian.  Andhra Pradesh is also taking things one step further in their electronic system  by beginning to link linking its electronic benefit payments with Aadhaar. 

From April to September 2013,  CGAP directed a research study to better understand the experience of receiving social benefits through electronic means in Andhra Pradesh, the agents who deliver these payments, and the banks who disburse funds. In addition, researchers analyzed the potential impact that a full roll-out of the Aadhaar system could have on the already largely electronic payment system of Andhra Pradesh. 

The study found that improving the business case - for both banks and agents - and creating a better experience for recipients are critical to build an electronic social cash transfer system that successfully works for the poor. While there are no banking regulations that prevent the electronic payments from advancing financial inclusion, there are design elements in the program that prevent this system from offering financial services more broadly.

Read the Executive Summary >>
Read the blog post >>
View the photo gallery >>


 

CGAP


 

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[MFP] Register now for the LinkEd development finance e-learning courses starting on March 3, 2014

 

LinkEd, the development finance e-learning platform of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management has opened the registration for the following e-learning courses:

§ Certified Expert in Microfinance

§ Certified Expert in SME Finance

§ Certified Expert in Risk Management

§ Certificat d'Expert en Gestion des Risques (French)

§ Certified Expert in Climate & Renewable Energy Finance

Frankfurt School delivers applicable content that will help to achieve personal career objectives and that will make an impact on the bottom line of institutions of the participants. The 6-month part-time certification courses match individual schedules. It is up to the participant when and where to study. This allows balancing a busy workload and family obligations with an intellectually stimulating programme.

What do the courses offer?

§ An interactive e-learning course including video lectures and PDF scripts, practical exercises, online tests and case studies

§ A discussion forum for course related issues as well as for exchange of opinions and experiences between classmates and tutors.

§ Personalized support of the LinkEd team

§ The option to obtain a Frankfurt School certificate upon passing the final exam or a confirmation of course completion after working through all of the modules.

§ A large network of final exam locations at partner institutions all over the world.

Interested? Register now at www.linked.fs.de

The courses will start on March 3, 2014

For further information please visit our website www.linked.fs.de

Or contact the LinkEd Team
Sonnemannstraße 9-11
60314 Frankfurt am Main

Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)69 154008-624
Fax.: +49 (0)69 154008-4624
Email: linked@fs.de
Website: www.linked.fs.de

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