A Swiss microfinance investment fund founded in 2003, ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund reported $57 million in total assets at year-end 2005, with $53.7 million allocated to microfinance investments.
Continue reading “ResponsAbility Microfinance Investment in Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan”
Cambodian Enterpreneur Building Ltd was established in 1995 to empower entrepreneurial poor women in both urban and rural areas to develop income generating activities and microenterprise. At year end 2005, it reported 11,119 active borrowers with a $6.3 million gross loan portfolio out of $7 million in total assets. Total equity was $1.5 million with a debt to equity ratio of 359.32% and a return on equity of 15.64%.
XacBank is the result of a 2001 merger between the two largest non-bank financial institutions in Mongolia, Goviin Ekhlel and X.A.C. As of year-end 2005, XacBank had 50,101 active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of $30 million out of $48 million in total assets. Total equity was $7.7 million, with a debt equity ratio of 520.73% and a return on equity of 16.31%, according to the MIX Market.
The Bellwether Microfinance Fund is an Equity Fund founded in 1995 in Hyderabad, India. It reported $5 million in assets to MIX Market as of 7/15/05 and currently has investments in six Microfinance Institutions in India. These include MAS Financial, Sonata, Ujjivan, SWAWS, Satin Credit and Arohan.
Private investor Impulse Microfinance Investment Fund loaned $1 million to non-profit Pro Mujer Bolivia, member of the ProMujer network operating in Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico (see list and definition of microfinance networks here).
Continue reading “Impulse Microfinance Investment Fund, Managed by Incofin, Makes USD $1 Million Debt Investment in Pro Mujer Bolivia”
Both MFI’s PRESTANIC (Asociación fondo Nicaraguense para el Desarrollo Comunitario) and FADES (Fundación para Alternativas de Desarrollo) received $250,000 loans from private investor fund Incofin.
Continue reading “Incofin Loans USD $500,000 Total to Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) PRESTANIC in Nicaragua and FADES in Bolivia”
The loan received from Oikocredit was for 1 billion Ugandan Shillings (UGX), equivalent to about $558,000. It is the latest of several microcredit investments made recently by Oikocredit in Uganda (see Microcapital Blog Friday 6/9/06 and Thursday 6/8/06 for information on other transactions).
Oikocredit granted a five year loan for 500 million Ugandan Shillings (UGX), or $279,350, to the Emesco Development Foundation in Uganda. Oikocredit is one of the larger microfinance investment funds with 467 projects and assets totaling US$304 million at the end of 2005. According to the MIX Market, $126 million of this is allocated to Microfinance Investments.
The Microenterprise Development Network, or MED-net, is an initiative by World Vision. A Christian relief and development organization, World Vision had $301 million in total assets at year end 2005, as reported in the 2005 Financial Statements. According to the MED-net portfolio, World Vision’s Microenterprise Development program had 390,047 active clients in 46 countries, with $134,344,795 in loans outstanding at year end 2005. In Uganda, this program provides both community and individual loans to over 15,000 clients.
Bellwether Microfinance Fund purchased shares valued at $274,000 from Arohan Microfinance Services. They also granted $164,400 in convertible debt, which carries the option of being converted to equity.
Unitus Equity Fund (UEF) and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) are financing Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) offering microloans to India’s urban poor. With its investment of about $296,000, UEP will gain a 24% ownership stake in Ujjivan. MSDF will possess a 13.8% stake, and the Bellwether Microfinance Fund will continue its support of Ujjivan by taking a 12.6% stake.
Ujjivan reported net current assets of 11,359 thousand rupees ($249,000) as of March 31,2005 and a net loss of 830 thousand rupees ($18,200) for the last quarter. However, it does not report to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse. The gaze of the microfinance sector in India is focused on rural India even though the population of urban poor is estimated to equal 106 million, 30% of the total urban population. Ujjivan believes the key difference between the urban and rural populations is lack of time and availability of space, not stability or community affinity, and is tailoring its products to serve the population of around 2 million urban poor in the city of Bangalore. Two driving reasons for borrowing by women in this segment, according to Ujjivan’s market research, are providing family housing and business working capital.
Continue reading “Unitus Equity Fund, Bellwether Microfinance Fund and the Dell Foundation Make Microfinance Investment in Indian Ujjivan Financial Services”The Calvert Foundation has made a second significant investment in the recently founded MicroCredit Enterprises LLC. It had also invested $3 million at the end of last year (see microcapital blog).
According to the Calvert Foundation’s press release, the funding received by MicroCredit Enterprises was just one of its recent microfinance investments. Others include $250,000 to MI-BOSPO, which provides microloans for Bosnian women; $326,396 to OikoCredit, one of the largest financiers of the Microfinance industry; and $600,000 to the Latin America Challenge Investment Fund, SA (LACIF), which provides loans to Latin American MFIs.
Continue reading “Calvert Foundation Invests Another US$1 million in MicroCredit Enterprises LLC to Fund Microfinance Investing”
The Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA) is a full scale commercial bank and the leading microfinance provider in Azerbaijan. The bank has disbursed over 16,000 loans totaling over US$52 million. Its major shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, The International Finance Corporation, KfW Development Bank, LFS Financial Systems GmbH, and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank. The Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan does not report to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and no further information on its performance is publicly available.
In its latest deal, MFBA received a US$4 million loan from Swiss group, Blue Orchard Microfinance SA. The loan was financed by Blue Orchard’s latest bond issue of US$120 million, funded by private commercial investors worldwide. In addition to MFBA, 21 other microfinance institutions will benefit from funding financed by the bond issue. This marks the first time that these institutions have had formal access to the European capital markets.
Additional Resources
1) Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan
2) Blue Orchard Microfinance SA
3) The MIXMarket
FIS Empresa Social, an Argentinean microfinance institution, has closed on a US$200,000 direct debt facility with the Dignity Fund. The transaction was facilitated by Redmond, Washington-based Unitus, with assistance from Chatham Financial. FIS seeks to provide microcredit services on a broad, sustainable scale in Argentina. The two-year loan, made in the local currency of Argentinean Pesos, will be used to aggressively expand the institution’s client base from 3,000 to 55,000 by 2009. FIS does not report financial information to the MIXMarket.
The Dignity Fund is a limited partnership, private investment fund. The partnership seeks to increase access to financial services among the poor and provides debt financing to promising microfinance institutions. As of year-end 2005, the fund had allocated US$3,500,000 to microfinance investments.
Unitus is a non-profit microfinance investment fund with assets of US$7,100,000 as of August 2004. It provides both strategic consulting and funding for microfinance institutions using its “Acceleration Model.” Unitus brought Chatham Financial in to advise on the complexities of the transaction. The company is a leader in foreign exchange and interest rate transactions.
Additional Resources
1) MIXMarket: UNITUS
2) MIXMarket: Dignity Fund
3) FIS Empresa Social
4) Unitus
5) Dignity Fund
6) Yahoo! Finance: “The Dignity Fund Provides $200,000 Debt Facility for Unitus Microfinance Institution Partner FIS,” April 26, 2006.
Dutch Bank, Triodos, has long sponsored socially-responsible investment funds with a particular tilt towards microfinance. The Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation is a joint initiative between the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation and Triodos Bank. It uses special savings accounts to fund microfinance investments and fair trade producers. The fund had EUR 24 million in assets at the end of 2005.
Continue reading “Triodos Family of Funds Keeps Pace in First Quarter with New Investments in Prizma, Bandari Sacco, AMRET, and Acleda Bank Totaling Over US$5 Million”
MicroCapital reported on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Citigroup’s joint investment in Uganda Microfinance Limited at the end of March. In addition to contributing to the growing trend of cooperation between microfinance institutions and commercial banks, the IFC funded two additional deals during the first quarter of 2006 totaling nearly US$17 million.
Continue reading “International Finance Corporation Continues Support of Microfinance with US$17 Million in New Investments in Fundación WWB Colombia and Morocco’s FONDEP Micro-Crédit”
responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, the Swiss microfinance investment fund with US$50,241,143 in assets under management, recently undertook new debt investments in five separate microfinance institutions located around the world. responsAbility typically invests in microfinance institutions, though on occasion it branches out into small and medium enterprises and trade finance for small businesses in developing countries. The fund has increased its net asset value by 6.44% since its inception in 2003.
Continue reading “responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Grows Book of Business with New Debt Investments in Partneri Shquiptar ne Mikrokredi, Mi-Bospo, Edpyme Proempresa, COAC Pablo Munoz, and MFW”
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) have developed a credit scheme that will bolster the development of Uganda Microfinance Limited. The IFC has issued a $1,000,000 line of credit to Uganda Microfinance to strengthen its balance sheet. Uganda Microfinance will then be able to borrow local currency on commercial terms from the Citigroup subsidiary, Citibank Uganda Limited. The deal is further indication that major commercial banks are taking a growing interest in microfinance, both on wholesale and retail terms.
Continue reading “International Finance Corporation and Citigroup Extend Credit to Uganda Microfinance”