TriLinc Global Impact Fund (TriLinc) recently announced that it has approved the disbursal of USD 36.8 million to fund term loans and trade finance transactions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The term loans will be disbursed to 10 different companies
Category: Deals
SPECIAL REPORT: Raising Funds for Non-bank Financial Institutions in Africa
The non-bank financial institution (NBFI) sector, often referred to as the alternative finance sector or the shadow banking sector, around the world is largely dependent on the institutional market for funding. By regulation, NBFIs in most markets are prohibited from gathering deposits or restricted from transactional banking services, which are critical to attract deposits. In most markets, banks themselves are reluctant to lend to NBFIs, given the potential long-term competitive threat. For example, Capitec of South Africa and Equity Bank of Kenya, which are now very much fully-fledged banks, have roots as NBFIs. In South Africa, the deepest and broadest market in Africa, NBFIs have been largely focused on borrowing from the domestic market.
This is not without risks given, for example, the significant reversal in domestic investor sentiment following the collapse of African Bank in August 2014. African Bank’s largest peer, Capitec, was less affected because
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indonesian Government Seeks to Shift KUR Microlending to Agriculture, Fisheries, Manufacturing from Trading, Services
The Indonesian government recently announced it plans to grow the portion of its Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR) program that is used for agriculture, fishing and manufacturing from 22 percent of the program total to 40 percent. The remainder of KUR lending is for trading and services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $18m in Eurasia, Latin America, Zambia
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 17.5 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Invests $1.5m in Equity in India’s M-CRIL to Expand Ratings in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Nepal
Micro-Credit Ratings International Limited (M-CRIL), an India-based provider of rating and advisory services to the microfinance industry, recently sold an unspecified portion of its equity to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance institution with 67 member countries. One goal of the funding is to help M-CRIL expand in Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Nepal. ADB Principal Investment Specialist Anshukant Taneja said the investment will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab Sells Equity Stake in Clip, Provider of Payment-card Readers to Retailers in Mexico
Accion Venture Lab, an investment vehicle of US-based NGO Accion, recently sold its stake in Clip, a company that provides Mexican businesses devices that plug in to smartphones, allowing them to accept payments via credit and debit cards. Clip, which has offices in the US and Mexico
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Wake of 2016 Earthquake, Ecuadorean Microfinance Institution D-Miro Leveraging $2m in Equity from The Mission Alliance to Restructure $80m in Debt
Alliance Microfinance, an NGO owned by The Mission Alliance of Norway, recently committed USD 2 million in equity to assist Banco D-Miro of Ecuador in renegotiating USD 80 million in loans to achieve “reduced interest expense and extended amortization.” The Mission Alliance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Lending $3m to Philippines’ Microfinance Institution One Puhunan
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced that it will disburse a loan of USD 3 million from the Dutch government’s MASSIF Fund to the Microfinance Philippines Financing Company, which is also known as One Puhunan. The microfinance institution
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand’s Group Lease Acquires 30% Equity Stake in Sri Lanka’s Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF) for $70m
Group Lease Public Company Limited, which is listed on the Thailand Stock Exchange, recently acquired a 29.99-percent stake in Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF), which is traded on Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange, for LKR 10.6 billion (USD 70 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Garanti Leasing Borrowing $26m from EFSE to Finance Micro-, Small Enterprises in Turkey
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently announced it is lending EUR 25 million (USD 26.5 million) to Garanti Leasing, a subsidiary of Turkey-based Garanti Bank, to facilitate increased support for micro- and small enterprises in Turkey. Garanti Leasing plans to utilize half
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chilean Credit Reporting Firm Destacame Raises Seed Equity from Accion Venture Lab to Expand into Mexico
Destacame, a Chile-based credit scoring firm, recently announced that it has closed its seed round of financing, which was led by Accion Venture Lab, a USD 10 million investment vehicle of US-based NGO Accion. The funds are slated to allow Destacame
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Arise – Founded by Norfund, FMO, Rabobank to Invest in African Financial Services Providers – Buys 28% Equity Stake in Ghana’s CAL Bank from DPI
Arise, an investment company recently launched in South Africa by three European institutions, has paid an undisclosed price to acquire 27.7 percent of the shares of CAL Bank, a publicly traded financial institution in Ghana. Arise bought the stake from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Syndicates $44m in Debt from BIB, Incofin, MicroVest, Symbiotics for KazMicroFinance (KMF) of Kazakhstan
KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microfinance institution operating in Kazakhstan, recently borrowed USD 44 million syndicated by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) in an effort to enable KMF to expand its lending to small businesses. Of the total, IFC is providing USD 5 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Muthoot Raises $20m in Equity from Creation Investments Amidst Plans to Open 500 New Microfinance Branches
Creation Investments Capital Management, a US-based alternative investment company, recently announced that it has placed an equity investment of USD 20 million in Muthoot Microfin Limited, a unit of Indian conglomerate Muthoot Pappachan Group. Muthoot Microfin
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Lends $2m to VisionFund’s SEF International for Micro-, Small Enterprises in Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, recently announced that it has loaned AMD 970 million (USD 2 million) to Armenia’s SEF International to support the microfinance institution’s (MFI’s) lending to micro- and small businesses. SEF, which offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Lends $10.9m to Compagnie Internationale de Leasing to Support MSMEs in Tunisia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based financial institution, recently announced that it is providing a senior unsecured loan of TND 25 million (USD 10.9 million) to Compagnie Internationale de Leasing (CIL), a Tunisian company that rents and leases industrial equipment and goods. The loan is intended to allow CIL
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $9m in Ecuador, Honduras
C-Quadrat Asset Management, a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, today informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds extended credit totaling approximately USD 9 million to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Lends $1.5m for Women’s Enterprises in Palestine via Microfinance Institution Asala
The Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprise), a provider of loans and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa, recently announced that it will lend USD 1.5 million to the Asala for Credit and Development Company, a microfinance institution in Palestine, for on-lending to female entrepreneurs. The microlender operates nine offices in the West Bank and Gaza, focusing on serving micro- and small enterprises owned by women in rural areas. Asala, a for-profit successor to the Palestinian Businesswomen’s Association, was launched in 2014 with support from the Sharakat