Insuring Microcredit against HIV/AIDS in South Africa - Protecting Borrowers and Microfinance Institutions

    This research paper investigates the continued access to credit for families that are at high risk of being infected with HIV: Credit providers typically exclude these customers or substantially increase the risk premium Families at risk are mostly low-income families. Maintaining their access to finance would give them the opportunity to retain an active role in the economy and prevent destitution. These low-income families are served by microfinance institutions (MFIs) that specialise in providing small amounts of credit to people who do not have access to formal financial institutions. Therefore this publication develops a microinsurance concept as a hedging mechanism. Different product designs are analysed, resulting in a product proposal. The risk costs are calculated to determine the appropriate pricing. The analysis concludes that such a microinsurance product is a viable mechanism to reduce the risk for any single institution by pooling the risks of many MFIs. As a last step, the study analyses the practical implementation of this product.

This book is distributed only to German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

Small Enterprise Finance in Turkey
In-depth Analysis of the Current Status in Small Enterprise Financing by Commercial Banks

    Small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey account for 99 percent of all enterprises, about 75 percent of employment, and more than 25 percent of value added. Nevertheless, their share of bank loans is less than 5 percent according to research. International organizations identified the insufficient funding by financial institutions as a major problem of SMEs in Turkey and an obstacle to Turkish economic growth in general. International researchers still address the insufficient external SME financing, but it seems to become apparent that the situation is improving. The thesis paper on hand questions former research statements and provides an updated analysis on SME financing by commercial banks in Turkey. Both, the current situation of SME financing based on research, and the results from a loan demand study as well as a new empirical supply study conducted by the author, are presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are given as a result of the joint analysis of all information gathered in the process of desk and field research.

This book is distributed only to German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

Developing Commercially Viable Microfinance - Microfinance Handbook

    Microfinance is the part of the financial sector that attempts to respond to the demand for financial services of households and enterprises that have no access to the formal financial sector. This bilingual handbook (english/chinese) had originally been developed on behalf of the German KfW and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. It gathers information about the "state of the art" of the microfinance industry and covers the guiding microfinance principles, main products and financial technologies. In addition, it introduces different institutional models and provides insights into key institutional success factors.

This book is distributed only to German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).