Invest In Visions Mikrofinanzfonds, a fund managed by Germany-based Invest In Visions (IIV), recently made loans totaling EUR 30 million (USD 35.6 million) to two Indian microfinance institutions, Asirvad Microfinance and Sonata Finance. Asirvad received EUR 25 million (USD 29.6 million) and Sonata received EUR 5 million (USD 5.9 million). Both microfinance institutions serve low-income female customers in India,
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kåpan, Nordea, Skandia Invest $90m via DWM Impact Investment Strategy in MSMEs, Including Female-, Minority-owned Businesses
Developing World Markets (DWM), a fund manager based in the US state of Connecticut, recently raised USD 90.4 million to “provide local-currency debt financing to benefit low-income communities and micro-, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs] in emerging and frontier markets.” The target beneficiaries include minority- and female-owned and operated businesses in sectors such as “sustainable” agriculture, housing, education, health, renewable energy, and water and sanitation. This funding comes from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Supersim Raises $6m in Debt for Microfinance in Brazil
Supersim Análise de Dados e Correspondente Bancário, a Brazilian financial technology (fintech) startup, recently entered into a securitized debt agreement with a cap of BRL 30 million (USD 5.7 million), arranged by Navi, a Brazil-based asset manager. The source or sources of the funds remain confidential. This is the first time Supersim
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Retail Capital Raises $6.8m for Merchant Cash Advances to SMEs in South Africa
Retail Capital, a provider of cash advances and asset financing to small businesses in South Africa, recently signed on to a credit line of ZAR 110 million (USD 6.8 million) arranged from an unspecified international investor by Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm. Verdant Capital reports that, since the COVID-19 pandemic, about 90 percent of Retail Capital’s clients have been authorized to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.4m to Microinvest of Moldova for Microfinance, Mostly in Rural Areas
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently loaned approximately MDL 39 million (USD 2.4 million) to Microinvest, a microlender in Moldova. Microinvest offers collateral and collateral-free loans for business, agriculture, housing, vehicles and consumption. These loans range in size from MDL 2,000 (USD 120) to MDL 4 million (USD 240,000), with terms of 3 months to 7 years. Microinvest has a portfolio of MDL 1.9 billion (USD 114 million) outstanding to 35,000 clients as of 2020. About two thirds of these customers live in rural areas, and the male-female ratio is even.
Microinvest is majority held by Balkan Financial Sector Equity Fund. The Romania-based Banca Transilvania Financial Group was seeking
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Guarantee Lending to SMEs by Raiffeisen Bank Albania
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, recently partnered with Raiffeisen Bank Albania on a risk-sharing facility of EUR 50 million (USD 59.2 million). This will allow Raiffeisen Bank Albania to increase its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $15m to PGMF of Myanmar for Microcredit, COVID-19 Relief
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private partnership also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a five-year loan of USD 15 million to Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF), a microfinance institution in Myanmar. The goal is to support microenterprises facing escalating income inequality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization’s “commitment to invest in business with women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Launches $6.7m Bond for Samunnati, Provider of Microfinance, Market Access, Technology to Agricultural Sector in India
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company, recently launched a bond issue intended to raise INR 500 million (USD 6.75 million) for Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited, a for-profit non-banking financial company in India. The proceeds will flow
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SEAF Invests Equity in CloudCfo, Provider of Business Services to SMEs in the Philippines, via Women’s Opportunity Fund
The Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF), a US-based “impact investing” fund manager, recently announced its disbursement of an undisclosed amount of capital to Philippines-based startup CloudCfo. The firm will use the proceeds to boost its growth across its online accounting, bookkeeping and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans $3m to Cooperativa Pacifico for Microfinance in Peru
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (IM) recently disbursed a loan of USD 3 million from one of its funds, Incofin CVSO, to Cooperativa Pacifico to allow the Peruvian microfinance institution to expand
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans Inecobank of Armenia $6m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Offset Effects of COVID-19 via Mobile Banking
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (IM) recently disbursed a loan of USD 6 million to Inecobank, an Armenia-based institution, from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a fund launched by the German government’s KfW Entwicklungsbank and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. The proceeds will enable Inecobank to increase its lending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, due to the pandemic, the bank moved all of its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banque Nationale de Crédit Lending $890k to Microfinance Institution FINCA Haiti to Support Microentrepreneurs, Small Businesses
FINCA Haiti, a microfinance institution owned by US-based FINCA Impact Finance, recently opened a credit line of HTG 100 million (USD 892,000) from Banque Nationale de Crédit, a bank in Haiti. According to FINCA Impact Finance, “This is the first locally-sourced credit line
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MoneyGram International, Airtel Africa to Offer Mobile Remittances
MoneyGram International, a US-based money-transfer company serving 200 countries, is partnering with Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of India-based telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel, to allow 19 million users of the Airtel Money service in 12 countries to receive MoneyGram remittances directly into their mobile wallets. These funds then can be withdrawn at Airtel Africa service locations
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Maha Agriculture Borrows $6m from FMO for Digital Microfinance in Myanmar
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan of USD 6 million to Myanmar-based microfinance institution (MFI) Maha Agriculture Public Company Limited to be on-lent as microloans in rural Myanmar. The goal of the loan is to support small-scale farmers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Lending $2.4m to BT Leasing MD to Support MSEs in Moldova During Coronavirus Pandemic
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently agreed to loan EUR 2 million (USD 2.4 million) to Banca Transilvania (BT) Leasing MD, a Moldovan entity controlled by Romania’s BT, to finance micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) that need
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $3.5m for Microfinance, SMEs Via ACEP Burkina Faso
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan of EUR 3 million (USD 3.5 million) to Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) Burkina Faso to support its lending to microenterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). FMO sourced the funding from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loans $50m to Diamond Trust Bank Kenya to Support SMEs Challenged by COVID-19
To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently issued a loan of USD 50 million to Nairobi-based Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB Kenya). The targeted sectors include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Lends $47m to CaixaBank to Support SMEs in Morocco Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
CaixaBank, a Spanish retail bank, recently accepted a loan of approximately MAD 430 million (USD 46.8 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution that has been investing in Morocco since 2012. CaixaBank is to use the funding to