The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reported the Rural Impulse Fund, an investment fund managed by Incofin, based in Antwerp, Belgium, issued a loan of USD 500,000 to PRESTANIC, a rural Latin America microfinance institution (MFI).
PRESTANIC, based in Nicaragua, was founded in 1991 by the Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD). PRESTANIC received its legal status to operate independently in November 1999. According to PRESTANIC’s MIX profile, as of its 2006 year end financial statement, the MFI had total assets of equivalent USD 13.0 million. The MFI’s return on assets was 4.28 percent and its return on equity was 16.31 percent. Its gross loan portfolio was equivalent USD 11.0 million and it serviced approximately 9,219 active borrowers. The average loan balance for the MFI was equivalent USD 1,198. The responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund and the responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds, both managed by responsAbility, also loaned to PRESTANIC this year.
The Rural Impulse Fund (RIF) targets rural MFIs and was announced by Incofin, a social investment company that specializes in microfinance investment in developing countries, in August, which was covered by MicroCapital.org. “The RIF aims to increase the supply of rural microfinance by extending commercial funding and strengthening the financial structure of MFIs which have both successfully provided financial services to rural poor and been financially sustainable.” RIF’s total assets are USD 38 million. The RIF investor base is 50% public and 50% private.
Additional Resources:
CGAP: “List of Recent Transactions”
MIX Market: “Profile for PRESTANIC”
MIX Market: “Profile for Rural Impulse Fund”
MicroCapital.org article, August 29, 2007: “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Swiss ResponsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds Begins Microfinance Investing and Loans USD 500,000 and USD 344,456 Respectively to PRESTANIC in Latin America and Al Karama in Middle East”
MicroCapital.org article, August 15, 2007: “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Incofin Announces Creation of Rural Impulse Fund, an Investment Fund to Target Rural Microfinance; BIO, EIB, IFC, FMO Invest”
MicroCapital.org article, April 6, 2007: “ResponsAbility Lends USD 3.9 Million to 7 Latin American Microbanks: FDL, ADMIC, PRESTANIC, ProCredit Ecuador, AMC-SV, Fundación Campo, Corporación de Productores Café.”
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