Microfinance investment vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa: constraints and potentials

This paper sheds the light on the potential and constraints of possible interactions between Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) and the two main African Microfinance models namely the cooperative model, well developed in West Africa, and the commercial model, found in East Africa. We assess if both parties can gain from those interactions. We argue that given the significant funding needs of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in that part of the world, in particular with regards to equity investments and capacity building, the African microfinance sector requires resources that can only be provided with the contest of private investors. In this respect, provided some conditions are met, for instance the presence in these vehicles of Development financial institutions (DFIs) that play the role of catalysts by initiating investments and taking risks that private investors would not dare taking; MIVs could be suitable for the financing of the rural and the micro-enterprises segments which are still seen as highly risky investments. Those segments require more volumes and longer term funding, but they have a great potential positive effect on Microfinance recipients and more generally on the economies they live in. In the MIVs’ perspective, due to excessive risks’ perception, the interest for the African microfinance still remains limited to date; however, the increasing demand for socially responsible investments and the needs for Microfinance investment portfolios’ diversification will push those vehicles to commit more and more for investments in that part of the world.Microfinance, Microfinance investment vehicles, Sub-Saharan Africa

Les barrages face à la problématique des bois flottants : collecte, traitement et valorisation

National audienceDevelopment companies are not responsible for the supply of large woody debris in fluvial hydrosystems. Nevertheless, the evolution of law and the social demand for an increased environmental conservation encourage decision-makers to reconsider their management of wastes accumulating against dams and hydraulic structures. Floating woods are not only a nuisance likely to induce economic costs, but also resources whose recovering is possible for the purposes of the composting and heating. The success depends on wood integration into a process of gathering, treating and recovering and on the capacity of all the stakeholders to involve in the maintenance of water territories.Bien que les utilisateurs de prises d'eau ne soient pas responsables des entrées de bois dans les hydrosystèmes fluviaux, l'évolution de la législation et la demande sociale d'une protection accrue de l'environnement poussent les exploitants à reconsidérer leur gestion des corps flottants qui s'accumulent contre les barrages. Longtemps perçus comme une nuisance susceptible d'occasionner des pertes de charge, les bois flottants peuvent être valorisés, notamment dans le cadre du compostage et du chauffage. Mais cette valorisation reste tributaire de son insertion dans une filière dont le succès repose sur l'implication des différents acteurs à l'œuvre dans les territoires locaux de l'eau

Microfinance investment vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa: constraints and potentials

This paper sheds the light on the potential and constraints of possible interactions between Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) and the two main African Microfinance models namely the cooperative model, well developed in West Africa, and the commercial model, found in East Africa. We assess if both parties can gain from those interactions. We argue that given the significant funding needs of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in that part of the world, in particular with regards to equity investments and capacity building, the African microfinance sector requires resources that can only be provided with the contest of private investors. In this respect, provided some conditions are met, for instance the presence in these vehicles of Development financial institutions (DFIs) that play the role of catalysts by initiating investments and taking risks that private investors would not dare taking; MIVs could be suitable for the financing of the rural and the micro-enterprises segments which are still seen as highly risky investments. Those segments require more volumes and longer term funding, but they have a great potential positive effect on Microfinance recipients and more generally on the economies they live in. In the MIVs’ perspective, due to excessive risks’ perception, the interest for the African microfinance still remains limited to date; however, the increasing demand for socially responsible investments and the needs for Microfinance investment portfolios’ diversification will push those vehicles to commit more and more for investments in that part of the world

Microfinance investment vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa: constraints and potentials

This paper sheds the light on the potential and constraints of possible interactions between Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) and the two main African Microfinance models namely the cooperative model, well developed in West Africa, and the commercial model, found in East Africa. We assess if both parties can gain from those interactions. We argue that given the significant funding needs of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in that part of the world, in particular with regards to equity investments and capacity building, the African microfinance sector requires resources that can only be provided with the contest of private investors. In this respect, provided some conditions are met, for instance the presence in these vehicles of Development financial institutions (DFIs) that play the role of catalysts by initiating investments and taking risks that private investors would not dare taking; MIVs could be suitable for the financing of the rural and the micro-enterprises segments which are still seen as highly risky investments. Those segments require more volumes and longer term funding, but they have a great potential positive effect on Microfinance recipients and more generally on the economies they live in. In the MIVs’ perspective, due to excessive risks’ perception, the interest for the African microfinance still remains limited to date; however, the increasing demand for socially responsible investments and the needs for Microfinance investment portfolios’ diversification will push those vehicles to commit more and more for investments in that part of the world

Articulations between commercial banks and microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Cameroon

In this article, we evaluate, from the point of view of banks, the potential of articulations between commercial banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cameroun in terms of financing of the rural and the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, we seek to define the best form of partnership between the two types of institutions. The results obtained suggest that the articulations between banks and MFIs can potentially be beneficial to all stakeholders (banks, MFIs but also recipients). This study also highlights the fact that these articulations can be even more beneficial if national commercial banks, under the Cameroonian law in our case, participate rather than branches of foreign banking groups. Indeed, our research reveals that through these partnerships, from their cultural proximity and their propensity to take more risks, national commercial banks will more likely offer either directly or indirectly (through MFIs) more adapted financial products and services to both the rural and the MSMEs’ segments. The question of knowing if a better form of partnership between commercial banks and MFIs exists, results suggest that there is no better form of partnership as such; that the best form depends on the MFI’s development stage and that in any case this partnership should privilege a national commercial bank rather than a branch of a foreign bank. Even if the foreign banks’ contest might be necessary at a given stage of the process, the results make it also possible to consider a new model of interactions implying Microfinance investment vehicles and national commercial banks. This model would have the advantage to help mitigate risks that those vehicles perceive when deciding to directly invest in MFIs.Banks, Microfinance institutions, Microfinance investment vehicles, Sub-Saharan Africa, Cameroon

Les risques liés aux embâcles de bois dans les cours d'eau : état des connaissances et principes de gestion

Wood trapped in rivers can obstruct infrastructures such as the bridges, and contribute to undermine them but also to increase the flooding and bank erosion frequency. In order to manage these risks, a set of actions can be promoted: a) maintain the channel and the riparian vegetation based on clear objectives in order to preserve wood jams which are ecologically interesting, b) build retention structures and adapt existing infrastructures to wood transfers, c) improve citizen environmental knowledge in order to help them to positively consider these natural elements.Le bois mort aggrave les conséquences des crues en s'accumulant au droit d'ouvrages, mais aussi en favorisant les sapements de berge et les débordements sur les propriétés riveraines. Face à ces problèmes, les gestionnaires préconisent un entretien sectorisé reposant des objectifs clairs afin de préserver les embâcles là où ils sont écologiquement intéressants. La construction d'ouvrages de rétention, lorsque des enjeux aval existent, ainsi que l'adaptation des infrastructures au transfert de flottants peuvent également être préconisés. Une campagne de sensibilisation des citoyens pourrait être aussi effectuée afin que ceux-ci perçoivent plus positivement ces structures naturelles

The Role of ICT in Reducing Information Asymmetry for Financial Access

This study assesses the role of ICT in complementing private credit bureaus (PCB) and public credit registries (PCR) in reducing information asymmetry for financial access. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments with 53 African countries for the period 2004-2011. The following findings are established. First on financial access: (i) the marginal effects from interactions between ICT and PCR (PCB) are consistently positive (negative); (ii) net effects from interactions are negative with the higher magnitude from PCR and (iii) only thresholds corresponding to interactions between PCR and internet penetration are within range. Second, findings on financial allocation efficiency reveal positive marginal and net effects exclusively for mobile phones and PCR. Third, allocation efficiency may be constrained by increasing financial deposits. Overall, the complementarity between information offices and ICT in boosting financial access is still very limited. Policy implications are discussed with emphasis on improving the engaged complementarity and fighting surplus liquidity

Le site de la Gravière à Fareins (Ain) : une occupation rurale de la fin de l’Âge du Fer au Moyen Âge central dans le sud du Val de Saône

Une opération d’archéologie préventive réalisée sur le site de La Gravière à Fareins (Ain), commune localisée au sud du Val de Saône, a permis de suivre une occupation discontinue de rebord de plateau, depuis le second Âge du Fer jusqu’au Moyen Âge central. Si une partie des vestiges a souffert de destructions dans le cadre d’une exploitation d’une gravière dans les années 1980, le plan mis au jour correspond pour les périodes laténiennes et médiévales à celui d’un habitat rural à vocation agricole lié notamment au traitement des céréales. Pour la période antique, la nature de l’occupation demeure relativement floue compte tenu de la faiblesse de la documentation. La parcelle de fouille est probablement localisée en marge d’un établissement de qualité. Quoi qu’il en soit, ces découvertes constituent une pièce nouvelle à verser au dossier des formes de l’habitat gaulois et médiéval de la basse vallée de la Saône.Rescue archaeology on the site of La Gravière at Fareins (Ain), a municipality in the southern Saône valley, has enabled study of the discontinuous occupation of the rim of the plateau from the second Iron Age until the central Middle Ages. Although some of the remains were destroyed during exploitation of a gravel pit during the 1980s, current understanding for the La Tène and medieval periods suggests it was a rural agricultural settlement, linked in particular with the treatment of cereals. Understanding of the nature of the occupation during Antiquity remains hazy due to the poor quality of the data. The parcel of land excavated probably lies beside a high quality establishment. Whatever the actual situation, the finds offer new information on the forms of Gaulois and medieval habitats in the lower Saône valley.Eine Präventivgrabung in „La Gravière“ in Fareins (Departement Ain) im Süden des Val de Sâone bot Gelegenheit eine Siedlung am Rand eines Plateaus zu verfolgen, die mit Unterbrechungen von der jüngeren Eisenzeit bis zum Hochmittelalter angedauert hat. Zwar waren die Überreste durch die Ausbeutung einer Kiesgrube in den 1980er Jahren teilweise zerstört worden, doch der Grundriss der latenezeitlichen und mittelalterlichen Perioden zeugt von einer landwirtschaftlich geprägten, auf die Getreideverarbeitung ausgerichteten ländlichen Siedlung. Die Besiedlung der Antike ist aufgrund fehlender Dokumentation noch recht unklar. Wahrscheinlich liegt das ergrabene Areal am Rand einer Siedlung gehobenen Standards. Auf jeden Fall handelt es sich bei diesen Entdeckungen um ein neues Element, das die Typologie der gallischen und mittelalterlichen Siedlungsformen im unteren Saône-Tal ergänzt

Genomic and transcriptomic landscape of conjunctival melanoma.

Conjunctival melanoma (CJM) is a rare but potentially lethal and highly-recurrent cancer of the eye. Similar to cutaneous melanoma (CM), it originates from melanocytes. Unlike CM, however, CJM is relatively poorly characterized from a genomic point of view. To fill this knowledge gap and gain insight into the genomic nature of CJM, we performed whole-exome (WES) or whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of tumor-normal tissue pairs in 14 affected individuals, as well as RNA sequencing in a subset of 11 tumor tissues. Our results show that, similarly to CM, CJM is also characterized by a very high mutation load, composed of approximately 500 somatic mutations in exonic regions. This, as well as the presence of a UV light-induced mutational signature, are clear signs of the role of sunlight in CJM tumorigenesis. In addition, the genomic classification of CM proposed by TCGA seems to be well-applicable to CJM, with the presence of four typical subclasses defined on the basis of the most frequently mutated genes: BRAF, NF1, RAS, and triple wild-type. In line with these results, transcriptomic analyses revealed similarities with CM as well, namely the presence of a transcriptomic subtype enriched for immune genes and a subtype enriched for genes associated with keratins and epithelial functions. Finally, in seven tumors we detected somatic mutations in ACSS3, a possible new candidate oncogene. Transfected conjunctival melanoma cells overexpressing mutant ACSS3 showed higher proliferative activity, supporting the direct involvement of this gene in the tumorigenesis of CJM. Altogether, our results provide the first unbiased and complete genomic and transcriptomic classification of CJM