Business Standard, an Indian newspaper, has reported that SEED Financial Services, an Indian consulting, planning and implementation agency; Financial Information Network and Operations Limited (FINO), an Indian technology company that seeks to enable financial inclusion; and A Little World, a technology company based in India are seeking private equity funding to scale their business correspondent operations. Business correspondents are individuals or organizations that are permitted to “raise deposits; disburse tiny loans; recover bad loans; sell micro insurance, mutual funds, pension products and other third-party products; and receive and deliver small value remittances” on behalf on banks [2].
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FM Bank of Poland Signs $24.6m Agreement with European Investment Fund (EIF), Guaranteed By European Progress Microfinance Facility (EPMF)
FM Bank, a Polish financial institution specializing in servicing micro- and small enterprises, has signed an agreement for a loan of PLN 68.7 million (USD 24.6 million) from European Investment Fund (EIF), which invests in institutions that finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan, which will be used to on-lend to start-up enterprises, will be made under a 75-percent guarantee from the European Progress Microfinance Facility (EPMF), which seeks to enable microfinance institutions (MFIs) within the EU to increase lending to entrepreneurs by issuing guarantees, loans and equity financing. Under the agreement, FM Bank will provide Polish entrepreneurs loans of up to EUR 25,000 (USD 35,600) for enterprises that have been operating for less than one year [1]. Currently, entrepreneurs with less than 12 months of business history are excluded from external financing in Poland according to EIF.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility of Switzerland Loans $6.9m to FIE Grand Poder of Argentina, Corporacion Narino Empresa y Futuro (Contactar) of Colombia, Banco Solidario of Ecuador, Arasy Organica of Paraguay
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 6.92 million to microfinance organizations Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Ecuador.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Sahayata Microfinance Raises $4.4m from DWM (Cyprus) Limited Through Sale of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs)
Sahayata Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has raised INR 195 million (USD 4.4 million) through the issue of secured, redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility of Switzerland Loans $11m to ProCredit Georgia, Frontiers of Kyrgyz Republic, AgroInvest Holding of Montenegro, Sathapana of Cambodia
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 11 million to microfinance organizations in Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Montenegro and Cambodia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Social Venture Capital Firm Dia Vikas Capital Makes Investments Totaling $6.1m in Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) BWDA Finance Limited, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi North East, ESAF Microfinance and Investment Private Limited, Cashpor Microcredit
Indian social venture firm and subsidiary of nonprofit Opportunity International Australia, Dia Vikas Capital recently invested INR 278 million (USD 6.1 million) in equity and debt and across four microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland Makes Debt Investments Worth $4m in Coffee Cooperatives Coagriscal and Coprocael of Honduras, Microfinance Institution Centro de Apoyo al Microempresario (CAME) of Mexico
responsAbility Social Investments, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 4 million to Coagriscal and Coprocael, Honduran coffee farming cooperatives and Centro de Apoyo al Microempresario (CAME), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Mexico.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland Loans $15m to FINCA International Subsidiaries in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested USD 15 million in debt in FINCA International subsidiaries in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. FINCA International is a global microfinance network operating in 21 countries reporting total assets of USD 467 million as of 2009 [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) Loans $5m to Costa Rican Bank Banco Improsa for Central American Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), a public-private institution that was established in 2001, recently loaned USD 5 million to Banco Improsa, a Costa Rican bank focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in an effort to support the growth of the bank’s leasing business in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The investment by BIO is in the form of a senior loan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PlaNet Guarantee, Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) to Launch Index Insurance Platform in West Africa
PlaNet Guarantee, a member of the France-based PlaNet Finance Group, and the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), a program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), have joined to launch a regional platform for index insurance in West Africa. The objective of the project is “to develop agricultural insurance systems in West African countries including Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso” [1]. PlaNet Finance Group reports that this will be done by developing indexes, designing insurance products, providing underwriting, making links between distribution channels and insurers, training farmers and disseminating information to partners [1]. The platform will be based in Senegal with satellite branches in the other two countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dutch Development Finance Institution FMO Invests $4.4m in Global Partnerships Social Investment Fund 2010
Global Partnerships (GP), a microfinance organization with offices in the United States and Nicaragua, recently reported to MicroCapital that the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) has invested USD 4.4 million in the Global Partnerships Social Investment Fund (SIF) 2010, raising the fund’s capital to USD 25 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Provides 50% Credit Guarantee to $8.4m Bond Issuance of Housing Developer Vinte Viviendas Integrales of Mexico, Anticipates 2,200 Jobs Created
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced a 50 percent credit guarantee to a bond issuance in the amount of MXN 100 million (USD 8.4 million) offered by Vinte Viviendas Integrales, a housing developer in Mexico. Sergio Leal, Vinte’s CEO said that, “IFC’s structured financing will help Vinte access a new type of institutional investor to help expand our portfolio of affordable-housing projects.” [1]
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen Fund Makes Equity Investment of $1.9m in Pakistani National Rural Support Program (NRSP) Microfinance Bank
Acumen Fund, a US-based nonprofit global venture fund that invests in entrepreneurial approaches to tackle poverty, recently made an equity investment of USD 1.9 million in the National Rural Support Program (NRSP) Microfinance Bank, a Pakistani microfinance institution (MFI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $30m to Banco Regional of Paraguay to Improve Access to Financial Services for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently loaned USD 30 million to Banco Regional, a commercial bank based in Paraguay, to improve access to financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Promote Energy Efficiency in Poland Through $21m Loan to BZ WBK Finance & Leasing
In its effort to boost energy efficiency in Eastern Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London, recently loaned EUR 15 million (USD 21.6 million) to BZ WBK Finance & Leasing, a subsidiary of Polish leasing company Bank Zachodni WBK, that provides medium- and long-term leasing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Loans $3m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) AccessBank of Tajikistan, LOLC Micro Credit Limited (LOMC) of Sri Lanka
BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, recently made loans totaling USD 3 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Makes First Direct Loan of $5m to Microfinance Network FINCA International
BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based microfinance investment company BlueOrchard, recently made a debt investment of USD 5 million in FINCA International, a US-based microfinance network, through its Dexia Microcredit Fund, one of the microfinance investment vehicles BlueOrchard manages.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships (GP) Renews Existing Loan, Makes New $500k Loan to Pro Mujer Nicaragua; Converts $1.2m Loan into Local Currency for Credivision Peru
Global Partnerships (GP), a microfinance organization with offices in the United States and Nicaragua, recently reported to MicroCapital that it made new loans and renewed existing loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America worth USD 2.3 million.