During March 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management GmbH issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 1.5 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Costa Rica and Moldova.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Teranga Capital Launches Fund for Small Growing Business in Senegal
Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), a France-based family of investment funds that supports “socially responsible” entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa, recently announced the inauguration of its third fund, Teranga Capital (TC).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Afluenta Raises $8m in Series B Equity Funding from International Finance Corporation, Elevar for Peer-to-Peer Lending in Latin America
Afluenta, an Argentina-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, recently announced it closed a series B funding round totaling USD 8 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, and Elevar Equity, a “development-focused” private equity fund based in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS) Invests $15m in Sanad Fund for MSME to Deploy in Middle East, North Africa
Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS), a German bank that focuses on investing in socially responsible and ecological projects, recently invested EUR 13 million (USD 14.5 million) in Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership that provides debt and equity financing in the Middle East and North Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Southeast Europe (GGF) Signs $2.2m Senior Loan Facility with ICS Total Leasing & Finance of Moldova
The Green for Growth Fund Southeast Europe (GGF), a Germany-based fund that invests in energy efficiency and renewable energy, recently announced that it has agreed to disburse a senior loan of EUR 2 million (USD 2.2 million) to ICS Total Leasing & Finance S.A. (TLF), a Moldova-based non-banking financial institution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Telenor Pakistan Acquires Additional 49% Equity Stake in Tameer Microfinance Bank, Bringing Its Ownership to 100%
Telenor Pakistan, a subsidiary of Norway-based telecom provider Telenor Group, recently bought additional shares of the Tameer Microfinance Bank, a Pakistan-based provider of microfinance services, increasing its stake from 51 percent to 100 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GSMA Launching “Connected Women Commitment” to Extend Mobile Money, Internet Usage Among Women
The GSM Association (GSMA), a coordinating group for telecoms operating under the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, recently announced that it and its members are launching the “Connected Women Commitment” with the goal of lessening the “mobile gender gap” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) to Distribute Funds from Government-Backed Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR) Microloan Program via Rural Banking Members of Perbarindo
Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), a state-owned bank in Indonesia, recently signed an agreement with Perbarindo, an Indonesian association of rural banks, to support the government-backed microloan program Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR) channeling “subsidized loans” to micro- small and medium-sized enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equator Capital Takes Equity Stake in Nigeria’s Fortis Microfinance Bank via ShoreCap II Fund
Equator Capital Partners, an “impact” fund manager based in the US city of Chicago, Illinois, recently invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a minority stake in Fortis Microfinance Bank PLC, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Abuja, Nigeria [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Investments Acquires Ghana’s UT Life Insurance
Leapfrog Investments, a Mauritius-based private equity fund that invests in companies that serve people in Africa and Asia who earn low incomes, recently acquired a majority stake in UT Life Insurance, a Ghana-based insurance company, for an undisclosed price.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Prudential Financial to Invest $350m in African Insurers, To Be Managed by LeapFrog
Prudential Financial Incorporated, a US-based financial services company, recently announced an investment of USD 350 million in life insurance companies in African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Acquires Minority Stake in Microfinance Software Firm Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a for-profit social investment company based in the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a “significant minority stake” in Musoni Services, a Dutch microfinance software company with operations in Myanmar and nine African countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Completes $153m Syndicated Loan to Sri Lanka’s Commercial Leasing & Finance (CLC)
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently served as lead arranger and facility agent to finalize a USD 153 million senior secured syndicated loan for Sri Lanka’s Commercial Leasing & Finance (CLC).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Qalaa Holdings Planning to Sell 70% Stake in Microlender Tanmeyah to Egyptian Financial Group (EFG) Hermes for $40m
Qalaa Holdings, an Egypt-based investment holding company previously named Citadel Capital, recently announced that it will sell its 70-percent ownership in Tanmeyah, an Egypt-based provider of microloans and microinsurance, to Egyptian Financial Group (EFG) Hermes, an investment bank serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Provide Microfinance to Food Producers in Senegal in Partnership with Micronutrient Initiative
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canadian nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, recently joined the “Project integer de nutrition dans les regions de Kedougou et Kolda (PINKK)”, which is aimed at increasing food security for women and children in the Senegalese regions of Kedougou and Kolda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) Members to Access Agricultural Credit Facilitation Fund of Projet d’Appui au Développement de la Microfinance Rurale (PADMIR)
Nine financial cooperatives associated with the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL), a network of 208 financial institutions that also provides financial services directly to the public, have met the requirements to access the Agricultural Credit Facilitation Fund of Projet d’Appui au Développement de la Microfinance Rurale (PADMIR), a Cameroon-based investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: French Insurer AXA Ups Commitment to Microinsurance, Increasing Equity Stake in UK’s MicroEnsure to 46%
MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International, recently announced that AXA Group, a French insurance and asset management company, will pay an undisclosed sum to increase its equity stake in the organization to 46 percent from an unspecified level.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Development Bank (AfDB), MasterCard Collaborate on Financial Inclusion in Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB), a multilateral institution providing loans and grants to governments and private companies on the continent; and MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, recently announced that they are launching a collaboration aimed at increasing financial inclusion in Africa.