The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development institution, recently announced it will loan USD 2 million in local currency to Microfund for Women (MFW), a microfinance institution in Jordan, to support female entrepreneurs in that country.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Lending $25m to Turkey’s Yapi Kredi Leasing for Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, recently indicated that it intends to lend USD 25 million to Turkey’s Yapi Kredi Leasing, “the largest subsidiary of Yapi Kredi Bank.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Sells Equity Stakes in Microfinance Institution Financiera Confianza of Peru, Affiliate of Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) recently informed MicroCapital that three of its funds, Incofin CVSO, Volksvermogen and Rural Impulse Fund I, have sold their stakes in Financiera Confianza, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas, which in turn was launched by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) in 2007. While the sizes and prices of the stakes, which included all Confianza shares held by Incofin IM funds, remain confidential, Incofin IM reports that the funds earned “over
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tunisia’s Union Internationale de Banques (UIB) Borrows $45m from EBRD for SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently announced it will loan EUR 40 million (USD 44.9 million) to Union Internationale de Banques (UIB), a Tunisian bank, to support small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) “lending activities and expand access to finance for underserved
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Loans $22m to UniCredit Bank Serbia for Renewable Energy Projects
The Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a Luxembourg-based facility investing in environmental efforts, recently announced it will loan EUR 20 million (USD 21.9 million) to UniCredit Bank Serbia, an arm of Italy’s UniCredit Group, to “reduce carbon dioxide emissions” by on-lending the funds to enable
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Sells 55% Equity Stake in Colombian Microfinance Institution Crezcamos to Its Founder, Mauricio Osorio
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently informed MicroCapital that its Rural Impulse Funds I and II have sold all of their shares of Crezcamos, a Colombian microfinance institution (MFI), to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Places $10m Equity Investment in Satin Creditcare Network to Support Microfinance for Women in Rural India
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a Philippines-based multilateral institution, recently made an equity investment of USD 10 million in Satin Creditcare Network Limited, a for-profit Indian microfinance institution (MFI). The funding will be used to “expand and broaden” the institution’s services for unserved
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vision Microfinance Funds of C-Quadrat Loan $45m in Countries Including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Nicaragua
C-Quadrat Asset Management recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 45 million during April to unidentified providers of financial services in a range of countries including Cambodia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan as well as – for the first time –
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Lending $49m to Mongolia’s XacBank in Partnership with Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, IFC
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently agreed to loan USD 49 million to XacBank, a microfinance institution in Mongolia, to support lending to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Lending $5m to Accion’s Early Dawn Microfinance to Support Women Entrepreneurs in Myanmar
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently agreed to loan Myanmar-based Early Dawn Microfinance Company Limited USD 5 million. Dawn lends to low-income women in living in urban and peri-urban areas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canadian Government, KfW Contract with Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Develop Capacity of Benin’s Microfinance Industry
Canada’s Développement international Desjardins (DiD) recently announced it has received funding from the Canadian government and Germany’s KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) Development Bank to continue its work to strengthen Benin’s financial sector. The Canadian government awarded DiD a six-year contract to support 10 financial institutions and four related organizations
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $46m, Largely in Asia, Panama, Tanzania
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 46 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia, India, Panama, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financiera FINCA Nicaragua Launches $10m Bond Offering to Expand Microfinance Lending
Financiera FINCA Nicaragua, an affiliate of US-based microfinance NGO FINCA International, recently registered a bond program totaling the equivalent of USD 10 million from which it subsequently issued one- and three-year bonds totaling USD 1.1 million. Investors over-subscribed
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tala Raises $30m in Series B Equity from IVP, Ribbit Capital, Existing Investors to Expand Mobile Phone Microlending in Asia, Latin America
Tala, a US-based microlender serving East Africa and Southeast Asia via mobile phone apps, recently raised USD 30 million through its Series B equity round in order to expand its services into South Asia and Latin America. Tala provides loans between USD 10
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CreditAccess Asia Raises $103m in Equity from Investors Including Asian Development Bank, Istituto Atesino di Sviluppo, Olympus Capital
CreditAccess Asia, which is based in the Netherlands and provides microfinance services in four countries in Asia, recently acquired new equity investments totaling EUR 95 million (USD 103 million). The investors include the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Italian private equity firm Istituto Atesino di Sviluppo. Olympus Capital Asia, a previous equity investor in CreditAccess, was among the investors increasing their stakes through the conversion
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s agRIF Raises $27m for Financial Inclusion in Agriculture from Investors Including AXA, KBC, Korys, Invest in Visions, MRBB
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently informed MicroCapital that its agRIF, the successor to the Rural Impulse Funds I and II, has raised USD 27 million in unspecified portions from multiple investors, bringing its size
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Extends Credit of $20m QNB Finansbank of Turkey for On-lending to Agricultural Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle led by German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), recently announced that it has provided an additional senior loan to QNB Finansbank, a Turkey-based commercial bank, in the amount of USD 20 million. QNB plans to use the funds to expand its agricultural lending in rural Turkey. In support of the transaction, EFSE is offering QNB
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mastercard, Unilever to Launch Partnership to Facilitate Growth of Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) with Pilot Project in Kenya
Mastercard, a US-based technology and payments company; and Unilever, a UK-based supplier of consumer goods, recently announced that they will develop a partnership to provide access to digital technologies to small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries with the aim of helping them buy supplies and sell goods more efficiently. The partnership’s first project will be to spread the use of Mastercard’s digital payment platforms via