Hi

Please look into this:

https://www.myc4.com/Portal/WebForms/Opportunities/ViewOpportunity.aspx?OpportunityId=4640

Second month - no repayments. You told there was one for march - and we didn't get it.

Best regards

Henrik

Please look into this one.  Has a payment been made in March, or are they late?  If they have not made a payment this month, please update the loan details and leave a posting on the Business blog.

https://www.myc4.com/Portal/WebForms/Opportunities/ViewOpportunity.aspx?OpportunityId=4489

Thankyou.
Kathy

Hi

Please look into this https://www.myc4.com/Portal/WebForms/Opportunities/DisplayOpportunityBlogPost.aspx?BlogId=24058&PostId=8448

Best regards

Henrik

From what I remember:

I believe technically yes,
but currently all listed ones are in Euro

One "technical" question: When MyC4 started, the borrower had to take the currency risk, not the lender. Don't get me wrong: I was one of the people strongly advocating the move to make investors take the currency risk and I still think it's the right way to go.

However, in a case like the one you describe, where an export-oriented business is actually ABLE to take the currency risk (and therefore lowering it's interest), is it technically (for the MyC4 platform) still possible to issue loans in Euro?

Cheers,

Joerg

 

We very much appreciate the concerns of the investors particularly regarding the current devaluation of the Ghana Cedi. In real terms, the value of the Ghana Cedi has gone down by about 20%. This develuation has been very recent particularly in the last two months, which compelled the central bank to raise the prime rate from 14% to 16% and 19% within the last three months. I am certain that the average devaluation of the Ghana Cedi for the period under review (from redenomination) should be much lower. I would inform you of the offical figure in due course. In this regard, the arguements have pointed to artificial develuation and therefore the GH Cedi is expected to stabilize pretty soon.

Congratulations Premier Resource Consulting for uploading your first business on Myc4

Thank you Joerg for noticing the devaluation problem. It is important for us investors to get some more clarity about this.

Stephane,

thanks for the quick answer.
I checked the rate against the dollar and you are right, it looks much more stable there - although they still have around a 7-10% annual loss against the dollar long term.

I'm not overly optimistic about the dollar since the are producing quite a bit of inflation over there in the US these days but that should not harm business with Africa, if that turns out to be a very long term thing African countries will turn towards Europe as a benchmark.

I understand that the rates you agree on are  in the competitive range I just wanted to know whether I got something wrong about the exchange rate. This is international business and we need to understand the metrics of that. We are all used to our domestic situation and probably to the situation in some other big economies but few of us have lots of past experience in doing business with Africa.

What I see here, is a currency that is somewhat stable against the dollar - at least more stable than the Dollar is against the Euro - and that gives some confidence that probably some of this is just a Euro/USD-cycle thing. Although that doesn't take away the risk, of course, but we are used to handle a deteriorating dollar these days, aren't we?

This is one thing I like about MyC4: You learn a lot about the world that you didn't know before...

Cheers,

Joerg

Joerg,
thanks for your comment.  I think that MyC4 may need to double-check the source of the data we're displaying.  The data may be wrong, as a result of the currency code changing about a year ago.  We need to double check that. 

However, regardless, the lending rate we agreed to with PRC is well in the norm for acceptable rates in microfinance in Ghana.  Increasing the lending rates would definitely push us into what is perceived as usurious/abusive rates for the local market which, obviously, we don't want to do.  Second, when evaluating the future change in exchange rates, it's equally important to look at the expected performance of the Euro, which is at all-time highs.  This may continue, or it may not.  I have no opinion here, but it matters to take it into considerations.  Many African countries have economies that are very reliant on natural resources, especially oil, which are traded in Dollars.  For this reason, they tend to try to stabilize their currencies relative to the Dollar, which has weakened significantly against the Euro, as you well know.  This isn't to say that African currencies haven't been historically unstable and trended downward, but maybe the past year isn't a very good predictor of the next year.  Again, I don't know.  Just food for thought. 

Stephane

Congratulations for putting up the first business from Ghana.

I am happy to be part of that business (hopefully).

However, there's one thing I would like to see clarified.

As of your Country data, the New Cedi has devalued about 35% over the course of the last year.
If this data is correct, are you sure a wanted interest of 12% for a 18 month creadi issued in local currency is sustainable? I mean, this means that I will have to expect to lose 20% of my investment on that business.

While this is fine for me for a smaller sum and the first investment, I don't think it's something that will be possible in the long run.

Or am I getting something wrong here?

Joerg