Event Name: 13th Annual EMN Conference “Who, What and For Whom? Shaping European Microfinance”
Event Dates: June 16-17, 2016
Event Location: Novotel Warszawa Centrum Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Sector Development Program (FSD) Africa to Invest $2m in Microinsurance Innovation Laboratory of International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) Impact Insurance Facility
The Financial Sector Development Program (FSD) Africa, a project funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), will invest USD 1.8 million over the next four years in the “microinsurance innovation laboratory” to be developed by the Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Issues $22m in Bonds to Benefit Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Annapurna, ESAF Microfinance and Investment (EMFIL), Satin Creditcare
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company that focuses on emerging markets, recently informed MicroCapital that it has completed bond transactions with a total value of USD 22 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of West African States, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector to invest $30m in Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
Banque Centrale des Etats de L’Afrique (BCEAO), the central bank for eight West African countries, and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a development finance institution affiliated with the Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank, recently agreed to provide USD 30 million to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Funds Loan $6.5m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in China, Panama
During January 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 6.5 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in China and Panama.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Completes Bond Disbursements Totaling $5.5m to Microfinance Institution Prasac of Cambodia
Symbiotics Group, a Swiss for-profit provider of investment and business services, recently issued the second tranche of a bond totaling USD 5.5 million to Prasac, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Directorate for Development and Cooperation (LuxDev) Donates $219k to Support Microfinance Institution (MFI) Asusu Of Niger to Train 550 Young Entrepreneurs
The Luxembourg Directorate for Development and Cooperation (LuxDev), a government-owned institution encouraging international development, has awarded a donation of EUR 200,000 (USD 218,000) to ADA, a Luxembourg-based nonprofit organization formerly known as Appui au Developpement Autonome. The donation is intended to assist Asusu, a Niger-based microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Olympus Capital Asia Invests $30m in Equity in Microfinance Institution Network CreditAccess
Olympus Capital Asia, a private equity firm with offices in Hong Kong, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and New York, recently invested USD 30 million in equity in CreditAccess Asia, a Dutch operator of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, aiming to help expand CreditAccess Asia’s retail lending services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Donates $4.5m to World Vision Myanmar for Microfinance Lending, Savings
The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund, a Myanmar-based multi-donor trust fund, recently has donated a three-year USD 4.5 million grant to three organizations affiliated with US-based NGO World Vision, to aid approximately 100,000 people in gaining improved access to financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Omidyar Network Leads Investment in eCurrency Mint to Support Technology That Enables Central Banks in Issuing Digital Currency
Omidyar Network, a US-based investment firm, recently made an investment of undisclosed amount in eCurrency Mint (eCM), an Ireland-based company that has developed a technology that enables central banks to issue digital currency, called eCurrency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Loans $340k in Local Currency to Senegal’s Mec Fadec, $930k to Tajikistan’s Humo & Partners
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a local-currency, three-year loan equivalent to USD 340,000 to Mec Fadec, a Senegalese microfinance institution (MFI), and a one-year loan of USD 930,000 to Humo & Partners, a Tajikistan-based MFI.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: M-Kopa Solar Raises $19m in Private Equity Investment to Expand Pay-As-You-Go Model in East Africa
M-Kopa Solar, a Kenya-based “pay-as-you-go” solar energy supplier for homes in Africa that do not have traditional electricity connections, has raised KES 2 billion (USD 19 million) in an equity round led by London-based Generation Investment Management LLP.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $11m to UniCredit Bank Serbia for On-Lending to Individuals for Home Improvement, Housing Finance
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it will loan EUR 10 million (USD 10.8 million) to UniCredit Bank Serbia, the Belgrade-based subsidiary of the Italian commercial banking firm UniCredit Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Funds Loan $20m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Eurasia, Latin America, Tanzania
During December 2015, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 20 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Moldova, Paraguay, Peru, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) Loan $3m in Local Currency to Tajikistan’s Eskhata Bank for Environmental Projects
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, and the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), an initiative of various international development institutions that offers donations and preferential-rate loans for projects in developing countries, jointly have provided a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 3 million to Eskhata Bank, a commercial bank in Tajikistan that focuses on microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dahabshiil’s “MicroDahab-MFI”, SolarGen Technologies Announce “Lease to Purchase” Energy Product for Low-Income Somali Farmers, Small-scale Entrepreneurs in Somalia
MicroDahab-MFI, the microfinance institution (MFI) that serves as the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Arab Emirates-based conglomerate Dahabshiil Group, and SolarGen Technologies, a Somalia-based distributor of renewable energy technologies, have announced a joint energy project in Somalia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Pledges $27m in Loans, Financial Advisory Services to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises via International Finance Corporation’s (IFC’s) Global SME Finance Facility
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands recently announced that the Dutch government has pledged USD 27 million to IFC’s “Global SME Finance Facility,”[1] a credit line that provides funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $300m in Equity in Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it has made an equity investment of USD 300 million in Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), a bank backed by the government of China.