Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH, an Austrian investment company specializing in microfinance, has reported that its Dual Return Fund, a sub-fund of Vision Microfinance, has loaned USD 6 million to unnamed microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Ecuador, Georgia, Mexico and Peru.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Planet Rating Recognized as Microfinance Rating Agency by Philippine Central Bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
Planet Rating, a microfinance rating agency and member of the France-based PlaNet Finance Group, has been recognized by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, as a microfinance institution (MFI) rating agency. This recognition follows the company’s establishment of a regional office in Manila in 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Invests $1m in Svasti Microfinance Private Limited of India
Grameen Capital India, a Mumbai-based, socially-oriented advisory firm, recently announced that BlueOrchard, a Switzerland-based microfinance investment company, made an equity investment of INR 45 million (USD 1.01 million) in Svasti Microfinance Private Limited (Svasti), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships Social Investment Fund (SIF) 2010 Loans $700k to FONDECO of Bolivia, Enlace of El Salvador
Global Partnerships (GP), a microfinance organization based in the United States, recently reported to MicroCapital that it made debt investments totaling USD 700,000 in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia and El Salvador [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland Loans $2m to Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) of Jordan, Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made local-currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 2 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) of Jordan and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $7.4m to NLB Razvojna Banka of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund, recently loaned USD 7.4 million to NLB Razvojna banka, a financial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina that provides financial services to retail clients, corporate clients and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $6m to Microfinance Institution Financiera Creditos Arequipa SA (Financiera Crear), Fair Trade Groups Asociacion de Comites de Productores Agropecuarios (ACOPAGRO), Frontera de San Ignacio, All of Peru
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has loaned the equivalent of USD 6.62 million to microfinance institution Financiera Creditos Arequipa SA (Financiera Crear) and fair trade groups Asociacion de Comites de Productores Agropecuarios (ACOPAGRO) and Frontera de San Ignacio, all of Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $3.9m to Microfinance Institutions Financiera Confianza, Cooperativa Agropecuaria Limitada Naranjillo of Peru
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 3.9 million to microfinance organizations Financiera Confianza and Cooperativa Agropecuaria Limitada Naranjillo of Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $8.7m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Microenterprise Development Fund Kamurj of Armenia, ProCredit Bank Georgia
responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that operates a number of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments of USD 1.2 million in Armenian microfinance institution (MFI) Microenterprise Development Fund Kamurj (MDF Kamurj) and USD 7.5 million in Georgian MFI ProCredit Bank Georgia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Invests in Nigerian Mobile Money Service, Paga
Goodwell West Africa, a branch of Goodwell Investments of the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed amount in Paga’s mobile money service with approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
MICROFINANCE BRIEF: ResponsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund (rAMLF) Loans $2.5m to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, $500k to HUMO and Partners of Tajikistan
Switzerland’s responsAbility social investments recently reported to MicroCapital that its Microfinance Leaders Fund (rAMLF) has loaned USD 2.5 million to FINCA Kyrgyzstan and USD 500,000 to HUMO and Partners of Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), National Bank of Georgia, Georgian Ministry of Finance Agree to Promote Local-Currency Financing of Microfinance Institutions, Banks
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London; the National Bank of Georgia, the Georgian central bank; and the Georgian Ministry of Finance recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch EBRD’s “Local Currency Lending Programme” in Georgia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International to Receive Grant of $2.5m from United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF’s) MicroLead Program to Begin Microfinance Services In Democratic Republic of Congo
As part of its “Banking on Africa” campaign, Opportunity International, a global network of microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced plans to begin “community banking” operations in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) thanks in part to a USD 2.5 million grant from the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF’s) MicroLead program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Investor in Microfinance, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Matrix Partners India Raises $300m
Matrix Partners India, the Indian subsidiary of US-based private equity firm Matrix Partners, recently announced that it raised USD 300 million for its second fund. With the closing of this fund, Matrix Partners India currently has approximately USD 677 million in assets under management.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wholesale Lenders Agree to Restructure Debt of Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited
A group of lenders, led by Indian commercial bank ICICI Bank, has approved a debt restructuring plan for Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Entrepreneurship Program: Is There Greater Need for Investment in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Than in Microfinance?
Alan Patricof, Founder and Managing Director of US-based venture capital company Greycroft Partners, argues in a recent issues of Fortune magazine that while microfinance institutions (MFIs) “do play an important role in development, there is an even greater need to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have the greatest potential for job growth in most places around the world” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation, Equity Group Foundation Celebrate First Graduation From Financial Education Program in Kenya
The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian institution that seeks to alleviate poverty through microfinance and education, and Equity Group Foundation (EGF), the social arm of Kenyan microfinance institution Equity Bank, are celebrating the graduation of the first 1,000 participants from their financial education program in Kenya [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mercy Corps Announces Partnership With Philippine BPI Globe BanKO to Extend Mobile Banking to 1m Microfinance Clients
Mercy Corps, a US-based relief and development nonprofit, has announced plans to fund a USD 1 million partnership with BPI Globe BanKO, a savings bank in the Philippines, to expand the uptake of mobile banking services.