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> Posted by Andrea Horak, Program Coordinator, CFI
The Investing in Inclusive Finance program at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion explores the practices of investors in inclusive finance. Across areas including risk, governance, stakeholder alignment, and fund management, this blog series highlights what’s being done to help the industry better utilize private capital to develop financial institutions that incorporate social aims.
A business can be profitable without strong governance, but can this be sustained? The past has taught us that weak governance practices are often critically detrimental for an institution (see Weathering the Storm and Failures in Microfinance: Lessons Learned). Have businesses and institutions accepted that good governance is positively correlated with profitability? If they haven’t, they should.
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) ran a pilot project in 2011 testing a new set of governance indicators among a sample of 162 MFIs across 57 countries. From the initial findings, the MIX reported that the indicators showed a positive correlation among factors such as the presence of risk management functions, internal auditing, and board committees, suggesting that good governance practices do not exist in isolation.
In “Performance and Corporate Governance in Microfinance Institutions,” Roy Mersland and Reidar Oystein Strom examine the relationship between corporate governance in MFIs and firm performance on social and financial dimensions. In their study, the effects of various board characteristics, ownership types, and the external conditions of competition and regulation on an institution’s client outreach and financial performance are considered. As they analyze each of these relationships, the authors establish that the presence of internal auditors and local directors positively influence the financial performance of MFIs. The MIX data also found a strong correlation between MFIs with executive, risk, and audit committees, and the existence of risk management functions. Of course, as MFIs vary greatly in size, structure, and maturity, it’s also important to recognize that when it comes to governance, one size does not fit all.
> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Assistant, CFI
Peru ranks as the developing country with the best environment for microfinance, followed by Bolivia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Kenya, in that order. Latin America and the Caribbean is ranked as the best region in the world for microfinance, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and lastly the Middle East and North Africa. Globally, the microfinance industry is improving, fueled largely by an increase in credit bureaus, improving client protection, and the spread of regulatory frameworks for mobile banking.
These are a few of the big takeaways from the Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2013, which was launched yesterday in Guadalajara at the IDB’s 2013 Foromic conference. Now in its seventh year, the Global Microscope annual series examines the environment for microfinance – and increasingly financial inclusion – by considering the national regulatory environment and the corresponding institutional framework.
Originally developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit in collaboration with the Multilateral Investment Fund and CAF, this year’s study is also sponsored by Citi Microfinance and CFI. This year’s report scores 55 countries, and in general, the global picture is promising. Since last year, 30 countries improved their scores, 19 fell back, and the scores of six countries remained the same. The majority of improvements this year came from advancements in institutional frameworks. The scores for regulatory framework and practices mostly declined.
As a region, Latin America and the Caribbean countries claimed half the slots in the global top ten, with Peru maintaining its previous ranking as the top country in part through improvements in regulation for mobile banking. Unlike the rising score for Peru, Bolivia’s score fell, due to restrictive new legislation, although not far enough to dislodge Bolivia from its number 2 ranking.
> Posted by David Wager, Change Business Analyst, Credit Suisse
The Financial Inclusion 2020 project at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion is building a movement toward full financial inclusion by 2020. Accordingly, this blog series will spotlight financial inclusion efforts around the globe, share insights coming out of the creation of a roadmap to full financial inclusion, and highlight findings from research on the “invisible market.”
This is the second in a series of several posts from this year’s Credit Suisse Virtual Volunteers, where research and insights across a variety of financial inclusion areas will be shared. The post begins:
What are fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, and what do they have to do with financial inclusion?
FMCG companies sell household and personal products – such as washing detergent, groceries, and toiletries – that are high in volume, low in profit, and normally purchased regularly. These products sell quickly and are relatively low in price. To sell them effectively, FMCG companies have distribution systems that penetrate nearly all parts of the community, including the base of the pyramid. Ensuring that their products are in the right place and appropriate to the consumers’ needs is pivotal to their success.
Financial service providers may be able to learn from the FMCG companies’ tactics and experience. What’s more, by leveraging their extensive networks and strong consumer knowledge, FMCG companies may themselves be able to advance financial inclusion in a way that is beneficial and scalable, providing services for the last mile.
The right product. FMCG companies realize that a variety of product options need to be offered to cater to different consumers. A good example of this is single-use packages for cleaning products. FMCG companies have realized that many lower-income consumers will purchase small packages although they may not be able or willing to pay for a larger box that would serve them for a longer time. In this instance, the product has been tailored to reflect the market. But while this lesson also applies to financial services, it does not always occur in practice. For example, as noted by Ali Ndiwalana of Grameen Foundation Uganda in a Grameen Foundation blog post, financial products have not been adequately adjusted for the market in western Uganda. Here the minimum amount required to open a bank account is the equivalent of $20, a sum accessible to few people. The FMCG companies in this area make their products available in smaller sizes, as small as a 16-cent sachet of the smallest quantity of cooking oil.
> Posted by Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director, CFI
The following post was originally published on the CGAP Blog.
A great transformation is shifting the weight of global power, population, and economic growth from what was once called the first world to what can no longer be called the third, and more precisely toward the middle-income countries that are still, somewhat anachronistically, labeled emerging markets.
Through that shift, enormous numbers of people are moving out of poverty into the “vulnerable” class. Living on perhaps $4 to $10 per day, they are not quite middle class, but they possess, for the first time, a small amount of discretionary income above bare survival. In many countries, this group is, or will soon be, the largest segment of the population. For the first time, these hundreds of millions of households are starting to figure as prospective customers in the market analysis of companies around the world.
There is also a transformation going on in financial services, built on these rising incomes and fueled by information technology breakthroughs. Now is a time of creativity and experimentation with new products, providers, and delivery systems for financial services – and, importantly, outreach to previously excluded clients.
The responses of businesses and even nations to the opportunities presented by these demographic and technology shifts will create winners and losers. The winners will be companies that address this market while it is still relatively open, thereby securing their position in the world of the future. The winners will be nations that open their financial systems to the creative business models needed to serve these new customers, and thereby promote a productive and connected citizenry.
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