by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agricover Credit of Romania Borrowing $12m in Local-currency from EBRD for Agricultural Microfinance

Agricover Credit, a member of Romania’s Agricover Holding, is borrowing the local-currency equivalent of USD 12 million from the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for on-lending to farmers in Romania.

Established in 2008, Agricover Credit lends exclusively to the Romanian agricultural sector. Established seven years earlier, the Agricover Group has 850 employees serving 4,500 customers. Its primary holdings are Agricover Credit and Agricover SA, which trades agricultural inputs and

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $31k to Palmis Eneji, Franchiser of Energy-efficient Cookstove, Solar Lamp Sales in Haiti

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is lending approximately USD 31,000 to Palmis Eneji, a social business in Haiti that uses a franchise model to sell lighting and cooking appliances via

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Altum Credo Raises $10m from Aavishkaar, PS Pai, Others for Housing Finance

Altum Credo, a housing lender serving low- and moderate-income Indians, recently raised a total of INR 640 million (USD 9.8 million) from investors including Aavishkaar Venture Management Services, an India-based investor seeking to “enhance livelihoods and reduce vulnerabilities for the low-income population,” and PS Pai, who is known for his tenure at the Murugappa Group, an Indian conglomerate. The amounts they invested and the names of the other investors – identified

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Armenia, Kazakhstan Borrow $11m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund

Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Armenia and one in Kazakhstan – recently borrowed a total of USD 11 million from Austria-based C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund. The identities of the MFIs and the amounts each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management, the unit of C-Quadrat that manages the fund, tells MicroCapital that the Kazakhstani MFI was founded in the 1990s and provides

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branch International Raises $70m in Debt, Equity from Trinity, Victory Park, IFC, Andreessen Horowitz, CreditEase to Expand Digital Financial Services in Africa, India

Branch International, a for-profit lender to 1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, recently raised USD 70 million with the goal of expanding within Africa, entering the Indian market, and launching savings and transfer services. US-based Trinity Ventures led the fundraising round, and its general partner, Schwark Satyavolu, will take a position on the board of directors of Branch. While the amounts invested by each entity have not been released, the other investors are US-based Victory Park Capital, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, US-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and China-based CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. Branch’s other shareholders are listed at https://www.branch.co/about.

Branch evaluates the creditworthiness of applicants by harvesting data from their phones: GPS data, contact lists, type of phone, data from social networks, and

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Georgia’s Lazika, Tajikistan’s Humo Each Borrow $1.5m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance Lending

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing three-year loans of approximately USD 1.5 million each to microfinance institutions Lazika Capital of Georgia and Humo of Tajikistan.

Lazika is a non-banking institution that provides financial services to individuals with low and middle incomes for purposes including trade, agriculture and consumption. Its growth is focused on

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Syndicates $100m Loan to Access Bank for Agricultural Value Chains in Nigeria with Participation from Norfund, Proparco, Finnfund, Swedfund

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently arranged a syndicated loan totaling USD 100 million for Access Bank, which has 385 service points, mostly in Nigeria. The funding is intended for lending in USD to firms involved in the production, processing and distribution of agricultural goods. The focus is to be on export goods, such as

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ant Financial Buys 45% Equity Stake in Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank for $184m, Anticipating Synergies Between Alipay, Easypaisa

Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, which is controlled by Jack Ma, a co-founder of Chinese web retailer Alibaba, recently agreed to pay USD 184.5 million to acquire a 45-percent stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank, a Pakistani unit of Norway’s Telenor Group. Telenor Microfinance, which has 20 million customers as of 2018, launched its Easypaisa

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD) Borrowing $45m from IDB for SMEs in Farming Value Chains, Improving Impact Measurement

The Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD), a US-based funder of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently secured a seven-year loan of USD 45 million from the private-sector member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, IDB Invest.

LAAD will use the fund to invest in SMEs active in “all stages of production, storage, technology and commercialization” in Chile, Colombia,

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACEP Cameroun, Musoni Kenya Borrow Local-currency Equivalent of $3.7m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is extending three-year, local-currency loans equivalent to USD 2.5 million to Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) au Cameroun and USD 1.2 million to Musoni Kenya.

ACEP Cameroun was founded in 1999 with support from

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Buys Equity Stake in Microfinance Software Provider Musoni

Goodwell Investments, a firm with offices in the Netherlands and South Africa that invests in companies serving people with low incomes, recently placed its second equity investment in Musoni Services, a holding of Musoni Investments that offers software for managing microfinance institutions. The sizes of the investment and the stake being taken by Goodwell remain confidential. Musoni Services plans to use the liquidity to

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lafise Bancentro of Nicaragua Borrowing $75m for Mortgages, SMEs, Green Energy Projects from IFC, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)

Lafise Bancentro, the Nicaraguan member of Panama-based Grupo Lafise, recently agreed to accept a loan package arranged by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund housing loans as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for purposes including reducing energy usage or accessing clean energy sources. The package includes USD 50 million from IFC and USD 25 million from Austria-based OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), an affiliate of the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Of the total package, USD 42.5 million is senior debt with a term of

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $10m to VisionFund for Microfinance in Fragile States, Rural Areas in Africa, Asia

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently agreed to lend USD 10 million from the Massif fund to VisionFund International, an NGO conducting microfinance activities in 32

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $760k to Microfinance Institutions ACFB of Benin, MEC Fadec of Senegal

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is extending three-year, local-currency loans each approximately equivalent to USD 378,000 in favor of Benin’s Association des Caisses de Financement à la Base (ACFB) and Mutuelle d’Épargne et de Crédit (MEC) Fadec Njambur of Senegal.

This is the first loan from the GCA Foundation to ACFB. The GCA Foundation describes ACFB as a “microfinance institution whose mission is to promote low-income working populations, particularly women, by

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Commits $350m to Female Entrepreneurship, Women-led Private Equity Funds in Emerging Markets via 2X Women’s Initiative

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government that seeks to facilitate investment by US-based firms in developing countries, announced yesterday that it is committing USD 350 million to businesses and private equity funds led by women in developing countries. The includes applying a “gender lens to all the projects OPIC considers.”

OPIC CEO Ray Washburne said, “OPIC is proud to drive this effort through its 2X Women’s Initiative, which will mobilize USD 1 billion in investments to

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GuarantCo to Re-guarantee up to $74m in Infrastructure-related Transactions by African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The Kenya-based African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF) recently accepted a re-guarantee facility of USD 74 million from GuarantCo, a member of the UK-based Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) that reduces risk for lenders to infrastructure projects in low-income countries. AGF will use the facility to support lenders in disbursing “larger

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Takura Capital of Zimbabwe Acquires Vegetable Producer Companhia do Vanduzi of Mozambique

Zimbabwean private equity firm Takura Capital recently purchased Mozambican vegetable producer Companhia do Vanduzi for an undisclosed price via a bidding process managed by Verdant Capital, a corporate finance firm based in Mauritius. The seller is