Ameriabank, the primary member of Armenia’s Ameria Group, recently accepted a senior loan of USD 11.5 million from Switzerland-based Symbiotics. Ameriabank CEO Artak Hanesyan explained that the funding is “aimed at micro and SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] financing, which is a strategic priority for Ameriabank.” Symbiotics sourced the loan from
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Turkey’s Yapi Kredi Bank Sells $60m in Covered Bonds to EBRD for Residential Energy Efficiency
Yapi Kredi Bank, a Turkish member of Italy-based UniCredit Group, recently sold the local-currency equivalent of USD 60 million in covered bonds to the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The bonds, which are backed by housing loans, are slated to fund residential energy efficiency projects carried out by homeowners, housing managers and firms dealing in energy-efficient equipment.
The funding is supported by a concessional loan of USD 15 million from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fefisol Buys Equity Stake in Microfinance Institution Musoni of Kenya for $1m
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.2m in Local Currency to Advans, Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) of Cote d’Ivoire
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is extending the following local-currency loans: the equivalent of USD 1.24 million to Advans Cote d’Ivoire, a unit of Luxembourg’s Advans SA, and the equivalent of USD 950,000 to Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) Cote d’Ivoire, an affiliate of Switzerland’s Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.
Founded in 2012, Advans Cote d’Ivoire has a gross loan portfolio of EUR 74 million (USD 92 million), client deposits of EUR 46 million (USD 57 million), and 79,000 clients served via 12 branches as of June 2017. Advans SA, which is active in 10 countries
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GGF Lending $1.9m to Microcredit Foundation Sunrise Sarajevo for Energy-efficiency Measures Expected to Prevent 2k Tons of Annual Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Microcredit Foundation Sunrise Sarajevo, which the World Bank founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996, recently borrowed EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.9 million) from the Green for Growth Fund (GGF), which is domiciled in Luxembourg, to on-lend to homeowners, farmers, and micro- and small enterprises to fund energy-efficiency measures. GGF will also provide an unspecified amount of technical assistance funding to Sunrise for capacity development and marketing.
Samir Bajrovic, the director of Sunrise said, “Our organization is committed to continuously support programs and activities resulting in the reduction of energy poverty, improvement of air quality and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3m in Local Currency to Asian Credit Fund of Kazakhstan, Oxus Tajikistan for Microfinance
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Central Asia are among those that recently borrowed from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. Both of the loans are denominated in local currency and have terms of three years. Neither MFI accepts deposits.
The Asian Credit Fund, an MFI controlled by US-based NGO Mercy Corps, borrowed the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Nets $19m in Equity from BMZ to Boost Funding of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Projects via Microfinance Institutions, Banks
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), which invests in reductions in pollution and energy usage in Eurasia and North Africa, recently accepted an investment of EUR 15 million (USD 19 million) from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is also known by its German acronym BMZ, to boost the fund’s investment in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance of India Raises $12m in Equity from Creation Investments, Oikocredit, Gawa Capital
Fusion Microfinance, a lender to groups of women in India, recently raised INR 800 million (USD 12.4 million) in unspecified portions from US-based Creation Investments, Netherlands-based Oikocredit and Spain-based Gawa Capital Partners. All three of the investors were already shareholders in the microlender. Fusion plans to use the cash to invest in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions LOLC Cambodia, VisionFund Lanka Each Borrow $2.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued three-year loans totaling the equivalent of USD 4.7 million to two microfinance institutions with ties to Sri Lanka.
LOLC Cambodia, which is owned by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, borrowed half of the total, denominated in US dollars. LOLC Cambodia was founded in 1994 as Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) by US-based NGO Catholic Relief Services. The MFI has since been acquired by Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group, which is a member of Orix, a Japanese conglomerate. LOLC Group, whose name derives from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Bolivia, Vietnam Borrow $11.5m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Bolivia and one in Vietnam – recently borrowed a total of USD 11.5 million from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund, an offering of C-Quadrat Asset Management, which is a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat. The identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management did tell MicroCapital that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas Continues Buying Equity in Microfinance Institution Financiera Confianza of Peru with responsAbility Transaction
Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas, which was launched by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) in 1998, recently added to its shareholding in Financiera Confianza, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) by purchasing the stake held by Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments. Although the size and price of the holding, which responsAbility began building in 2008, remains confidential, responsAbility reports that it earned “over three
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $1.2m to DR Congo’s Hekima; Burkina Faso’s SOFIPE, ACFIME
The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed three-year loans to three microfinance institutions in Africa.
Hekima of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) borrowed USD 530,000 from GCAF. As of 2015, Hekima reports to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 3.6 million, loans of USD 2.3 million outstanding to 10,000 borrowers, and deposits of 890,000 held for 12,000 clients. The MFI’s mission includes “contributing to the economic, social and spiritual lives” of DRC’s people.
The Société de Financement de la Petite Entreprise (SOFIPE) of Burkina Faso borrowed the local-currency equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Organization Crystal of Georgia, VisionFund’s Monte Credit of Montenegro Borrow $3.6m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed three-year loans denominated in euros to two microfinance institutions. Crystal Microfinance Organization, a joint stock company in Georgia, borrowed the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3.6m in Local Currency to Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF) recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed three-year loans denominated in local-currency to two microfinance institutions in Indonesia. Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida), a cooperative providing savings, loans and training services to women, borrowed the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Untu Capital of Zimbabwe Selling $1m in Bonds in Increments of $50 via Mobile Money to Support Microfinance, SME Lending
Untu Capital, a microlender in Zimbabwe, is looking to raise up to USD 1 million to support its lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises by selling “U-Gain” bonds in increments of USD 50. Individuals may buy the bonds on Zimbabwe’s Financial Securities Exchange (FINSEC) via EcoCash, the mobile money service of South Africa’s Econet Group. Although the bonds have a term of one year
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Agriculture I Fund Takes Equity Stake in Indian Value-chain Lender Samunnati
Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments recently disbursed the first investment from its private equity fund responsAbility Agriculture I, acquiring a “significant” minority stake in Samunnati, a non-banking financial company in India that provides loans and advisory services to players in agricultural value chains. Although the price and size of the stake remain confidential, responsAbility Agriculture I generally places investments of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Extends $6m Credit Line to Raiffeisen Leasing Kosovo to Promote MSMEs
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently announced it will extend up to EUR 5 million (USD 6 million) in credit to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD to Lend $20m to Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank to Support SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, England, recently announced that it will loan USD 30 million to Uzbekistan’s Joint Stock Commercial