Register now on Micronomore Universe Stakeholders Conference 2010

Its final, Mark your calendar!

This year’s Micronomore Universe National Stakeholders Conference will be held on Oct. 20, 2010 in Cebu City.

Register now:
http://www.micronomore.com/register

Micro No More takes you to a whole new universe of mobility, accessibility, affordability and reliability in the provision of much needed financial and business development services to the micro- and small entrepreneurs in island and mountain communities that remain un-served and under-served by traditional financial institutions.

The Micro No More Universe – the whole socio-economic performance realm where MFIs strengthen themselves, adhere to their socio-economic VMGs, and provide the most responsive products and services to their clients for that ultimate impact and effect on the clients’ familial and economic life.

This year 2010, we take off from our foundations of Micro No More 2008 and Micro No More – No Borders of 2009, blasting off to the farthest reaches of this empowering MSME finance advocacy.

Sign up now to reserve a seat!
http://www.micronomore.com/register

Seedfinance Corporation, Philippines – Investment News

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands. With an estimated population of about 92 million people, the Philippines is the world’s twelfth most populous country. 40% are considered poor. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas and in the sprawling urban slums. Considering the nature of employment and business in the Philippines, the presence and availability of microfinance is vital: 97% of total enterprises in the Philippines are micro-enterprises; 4.1 million families who belong to the lowest income strata are engaged in micro-enterprise activities, and many of the poorest manage at least two businesses. Even though there has been strong government support to develop the microfinance industry throughout the country, only 33% of the people concerned are reached by microfinance.

In April this year, responsAbility gave its first loan to Seedfinance Corporation. Seedfinance Corporation is an apex institution, which provides financial services to small microfinance institutions (MFIs), farmers’ organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Given their size and small-scale operations, these institutions are usually unable to access financial services from commercial banks or international investors.

Funding via Seedfinance is a great opportunity for responsAbility to support small institutions that otherwise would be too risky and costly to finance directly. The small MFIs and farmers’ organizations play an important role in terms of social impact, as they can reach clients in remote rural areas, where otherwise no financial services are provided.

Located in Pasig City in the Philippines, Seedfinance not only provides financial services to small institutions, but also technical assistance and capacity-building programs that are vital to small start-up MFIs and SMEs.

By the end of 2009, Seedfinance provided funding to 71 MFIs and six SMEs located in various regions of the country – (except in the western part of Mindanao, which remains a conflict area).

Source: http://www.responsability.com/site/index.cfm?id_art=62525&vsprache=EN

Sustainability Has No Place in the Profit System

Application of sustainability principles to the profit system is a contradiction. When renewable energy, coming from the earth’s resources is used to power up economy and enterprises, the profit interests of the oil cartel will be displaced. Manufacturers produce materials and technologies that easily break down or reach their obsolete stage faster than they should to generate more demands from repeat and new generation customers. Although this practice contributes large amounts of waste that pollutes the earth, in the profit system competition, this is the only way to sustain. Sustainability is the adversary of profitability. More

Global Financial Crisis – Visualized

The global financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2008. Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems. More…

SMART, Seed Finance partner to launch inter-island mobile money solution

Leading wireless services provider, Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) has collaborated with SEEDFINANCE Corporation, a provider of wholesale credit to Filipino microfinance institutions and small enterprises, to equip island-based microfinance institutions with mobile-based financial products and technologies that will allow them to send and receive funds using SMART mobile phones.

Dubbed as the Islands Activation Program, the initiative will utilize Smart Money as a fast and secure alternative to send and receive funds in islands or areas where there is little or no access to formal financial services, and will benefit members of close to a hundred microfinance institutions in various parts of the Philippines. More…

The 2009 Video-Shoot Contest: MNM Microfinance ‘n Motion

  1. Contest is open to any of the 67 presently active PFIs (partners) of SEEDFINANCE
  2. The subject of the video may either be one of the following:
    • A micro-entrepreneur client of the PFI in action at her/his enterprise
    • An SME or graduating-micro client of the PFI in action at her/his enterprise
  3. The contest focuses on the subject. Styled as an interview, the video must capture the client at work, and telling her story by answering five (5) basic questions: More…

The 2009 SEED FINANCE Stakeholders Conference

“MICRONOMORE, NO BORDERS!”

Mark your calendar on Nov. 26-27, 2009 in Luzon!

Consistently as in years past, this year’s conference again promises you more in learning, sharing, projecting, visioning and rising above the challenges!

More…

MICRO-PLUS as Micronomore

micronomore-as-micro-plusConsistent with the development perspective of bringing micro-entrepreneurs to the next level of economic growth, a new financial product was recently piloted to 3 cooperatives, namely: Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative and Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

This SME financing product, named as Micro-Plus, is designed for the partners’ microfinance graduates who have successfully increased their asset size and expanded their business reach. Borrower Risk Rating (BRR) System, used by Small Business Corporartion (SBC) and several banks, is employed in selecting clients for the MICRO-PLUS. More…

Renewable Energy: Getting Off the Grid

micronomore-getting-off-the-gridThe perspective of using cleaner, secure and sustainable sources of energy is not just immediately necessary in the face of the ever-rising prices of oil products but is our only way to live as humans and save the earth. Micro-no-more supports the NGOs, the Department of Energy and providers of solar and wind energy that are working in making solar and wind energy affordable to the people. More…

Islands Activation Program

Micro-no-more pooled-in the resources of SEEDFINANCE, SMART Communications and Partner-MFIs in launching the project: ISLANDS ACTIVATION PROGRAM. This program is designed for institutions located in remote areas where there is none if not very limited access to financial services. The solution includes provisioning SMART Money services and mobile-based applications for members of the institutions. More…

Bringing entrepreneurs and their supporters together

It has been a while. The ripples of change have been continually shaping and re-shaping the socio-economic landscape yet our partnership remains stable and mutually rewarding. From the beginnings of our collaboration in CARE, then at SEAD, and now on to SEEDFINANCE, we have seen each other’s growth as we overcame challenges and forded on. More…

MicroNoMore Photo Gallery: Meet you again

Click on a photo and see the miracles of MSME finance unfold

Entrepreneur Success Stories

Entrepreneur Success Stories - RowenaRowena has been a member oflamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) since 1996, who started with as a food peddler and later on into a small restaurant owner. She first availed a Php. 5,000.00 loan from LMPC (US$22). Gradually, she increased her loan to expand her food business and to establish new businesses. LMPC was there to provide Rowena Business Development Services.

She now owns a profitable hardware and electrical supply store, construction materials shop, heavy equipments, and an internet café. Rowena is one of the LMPC clients with loan size of up to P2M (US$44,000). More…

Make it grow: a development perspective

Energizing local economies and empowering local communities. Microfinance is not the catch-all cure for poverty and economic stagnation. It should have a perspective of the micro- going beyond its boundaries/limitations, growing with the times, adapting to the changes in the macro-economic environment, providing or laying down the groundwork for far-reaching solutions to present economic dire [...]

Make your money count

Make your money count Your money can be placed in assistance programs for microfinance and small-and-medium-enterprise-finance. SEEDFINANCE and its network of strategic partners enable funds to be coursed through local cooperatives, microfinance-NGOs, and rural banks in the form of wholesale credit lines for micro- and SME-finance.

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