Credo Bank, a microfinance institution in Georgia, recently accepted a local-currency loan in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 11.8 million from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Credo will use the funds to on-lend primarily as working capital for people living in rural areas,
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO Investing $1.5m in FINCA Malawi for Microfinance, SME Lending
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, a government-backed institution also known as BIO, recently began disbursing funds as part of a four-year loan of USD 1.5 million to FINCA Malawi, a microfinance institution (MFI) owned by the US-based firm FINCA Impact Finance. The microbank will use the funds for on-lending via its 23 branches and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco del País, Citibank, DFC, Microsoft, Government of Taiwan, Collaborate to Support Women-led SMEs, “Gender-smart” Investing, Technology Infrastructure
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed institution, recently announced it will participate in the following initiatives promoting the economic empowerment of women:
1) The office of the US President and DFC increased the target of funds to be mobilized through the 2X Women’s Initiative of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative to USD 6 billion. 2X Women was launched in 2018 and has since documented
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAURIE Microfinance of Senegal Borrows $1.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, Mostly for Rural Women
Coopérative Autonome pour le Renforcement des Initiatives Économiques par la Micro finance (CAURIE-MF), a microfinance institution in Senegal, recently borrowed the approximate equivalent of USD 1.4 million from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. Based in the city of Thies, CAURIE-MF serves about 80,000 women, including 48,000
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: USAID Gives $2.5m for Design of Kiva Invest in Women Fund (K-IWF) from Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative
The US Agency for International Development (AID) recently gave USD 2.5 million from the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative to US-based nonprofit Kiva to develop the Kiva Invest in Women Fund (K-IWF). Kiva plans for this investment vehicle to mobilize USD 100 million for women entrepreneurs as part of Kiva Capital, the NGOs “asset management subsidiary offering impact-first investment vehicles.” As groundwork for the fund, Kiva Capital will use the money to:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Lends $100m to ProCredit Holding to Finance Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern, Southeastern Europe; Ecuador
To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently issued a senior loan of USD 100 million to Germany-based ProCredit Holding. The financing will benefit ProCredit entities in Ecuador and eight countries in Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. IFC is funding the loan through Working Capital Solutions, a program that provides one-year, renewable loans to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TerraPay, Visa Partner to Boost Interoperability, Digital Payments, Remittances, Financial Inclusion
TerraPay, a digital payment firm headquartered in the Netherlands, recently partnered with Visa, a US-based payment technology company, to increase the accessibility of contactless and other digital payments, both domestic and cross-border. Otto Williams, Visa’s Head of Strategic Partnerships, Financial Technology (FinTech) and Ventures in Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the partnership will “drive seamless and interoperable financial services and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MAPFRE, GSI Launch $57m Global Social Impact Fund to Invest in Africa, Central America
The Spain-based insurance firm MAPFRE (Mutualidad Agrupación Propietarios Fincas Rústicas de España) and Global Social Impact (GSI), a Spanish investment firm, recently announced the creation of the Global Social Impact Fund to invest in “companies with high social impact on both frontier and emerging markets.” The fund, which will invest primarily via debt, has a target volume of EUR 50 million (USD 57.1 million). Its sectors of focus are agriculture, energy and financial inclusion. It will begin its deployments in sub-Saharan Africa and later expand to Central America. MAPFRE and Santa Comba, the Spanish holding company that is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FinDev Canada, FMO Loan $72m to Latin American Agribusiness Development (LAAD) for SME Finance
Development finance institutions (DFIs) FinDev Canada and the Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently provided a syndicated loan of USD 72 million to the US-based, for-profit Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD). LAAD will use the funds to finance term loans and revolving lines of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of spurring market development and job growth in rural communities. LAAD requires that each of its loans is used according to an
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vancity Loans $740k to Brighter Investment for Education Microfinance in Ghana
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Vancity) of Canada is lending CAD 1 million (USD 740,000) to Brighter Investment, a Canadian lender to university students in Ghana. Of the total, half of the funds were disbursed to Brighter Investment in April, and the remainder is scheduled to be distributed in September. Brighter Investment is using the cash to expand its funding of students,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Proximity Finance Raises $14m in Equity from Finnfund, Nordic Microfinance Initiative, Proparco to Support Farmers in Myanmar
Proximity Finance, a unit of Myanmar-focused social enterprise Proximity Designs, recently agreed to a package of equity investments totaling USD 14 million in equal shares from three European institutional investors, Proparco (Promotion et Participation pour la Coopération Économique), the Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) and Finnfund. The deal, which is pending regulatory approval, would support Proximity Finance’s services to small-scale, rural farmers in Myanmar, including plans to disburse 1.5 million loans within four years and expand
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Loans $13.6m to NamPost for Microfinance Lending to Pensioners in Namibia
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the overseas development agency of the French government, recently issued a concessional loan of NAD 235 million (USD 13.6 million) to NamPost, Namibia’s postal service, to increase its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Planet42, Financier of Used Vehicles for Unbanked in South Africa, Raises $2.6m in Equity
Planet42, a lender in South Africa formerly named CarGet, recently raised EUR 2.3 million (USD 2.6 million) in equity to expand its “rent-to-buy” service for used cars in South Africa. Neither the names of the investors – a mix of private and institutional entities – nor the sizes of their stakes have been released.
Planet42 serves “the financially excluded…people ignored by banks…due to overly strict lending criteria.” The firm manages risk through “an automated scoring algorithm and securing its assets [via] title deed, tracking technology [and] comprehensive and mechanical insurance.” Clients submit a monthly rental payment and are offered a buy-out price that declines over five years to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobi-Changa, ThundaFund, UNCDF Crowdfunding Platform to Help Youth, Women in The Gambia Raise Money for MSMEs, Build Financial Histories
As part of the EU-funded “Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Youth and Women in The Gambia Programme,” the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is partnering with crowdfunding platforms Mobi-Changa and Thundafund to develop a new fundraising platform. The service will allow individuals to donate to and invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: J.P. Morgan, EBRD Deliver Advisory, Training Services to MSMEs Led by Women in Turkey
US-based financial services firm J.P. Morgan recently agreed to co-fund the Turkish operations of the Women in Business Programme of the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD). Women in Business, which expanded to Turkey in 2014, supports micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operated by women in 18 countries. In Turkey, the support from J.P. Morgan will fund:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $100m to NBK Egypt for Short-term Financing Amidst Pandemic, with “Focus” on SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned USD 100 million to the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Egypt, which provides Islamic and traditional financial services to consumers and corporations in Egypt. The loan will allow NBK Egypt to boost its short-term lending to businesses that are experiencing
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Raises $7.8m for Pan Asia Bank of Sri Lanka in Sale of “Green Bonds” to Investors Including SEB
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based manager of international investments in small business, recently issued a four-year loan of LKR 1.42 billion (USD 7.75 million) to Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation for on-lending to projects with reduced effects on the environment in sectors such as energy and agriculture. Symbiotics raised the money through an issue of “green” bonds. Of the bond buyers,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zola, EDF Harness Securitization to Expand Solar Energy in Côte d’Ivoire with Support from Credit Agricole CIB, Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, Societe Generale, AfDB
Credit Agricole CIB (Corporate and Investment Bank), a member of the France-based Credit Agricole Group; the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation; and French investment firm NEoT Off-Grid Africa recently launched a securitization vehicle to enable Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire to increase its sales of solar power systems to households that are not connected to traditional power grids. Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire, which uses a