After receiving approval from regulators in Kenya and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equity Group, a Kenya-based commercial bank, recently acquired 79 percent of the shares of ProCredit Bank Congo, which is located in DRC and focuses on serving small and medium-sized enterprises. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Buys 20% Equity Stake in Microfinance Deposit Organization Matin of Tajikistan
For an undisclosed price, Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small, Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently purchased a 20-percent stake in Matin, a Tajikistan-based microfinance deposit organization (MDO).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Bank (EIB) Lends $9.8m to Kenya’s Faulu Microfinance Bank to Finance Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending institution of the European Union (EU), recently lent Faulu Microfinance Bank (Faulu MFB), a Kenya-based microfinance institution (MFI), KES 1 billion (USD 9.79 million) under EIB’s East African Community Microfinance Facility [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $9.2m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Congo, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Peru
During October 2015, Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 9.2 million via its two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Congo, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Commission, European Investment Fund (EIF) to Guarantee $261m through European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), Supporting 20,000 Microenterprises via Romania’s Nextebank, 5 Western European Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body; the European Investment Fund (EIF), an EU-affiliated provider of finance to organizations that lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and six European microfinance institutions (MFIs) recently signed guarantee agreements under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), an initiative that supports “the modernisation of employment and social policies,”[3] job mobility, microfinance, microenterprises and social inclusion in the European Union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank, Small Farmers Development Bank, Nepalese Government Commit $18m for Reconstruction after Earthquakes in Nepal, Including $7m for Microfinance
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution based in the Philippines; the Small Farmers Development Bank, a wholesale provider of credit to agricultural cooperatives and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Nepal; and the Nepalese government reportedly approved a financial assistance package of USD 17.8 million for reconstruction, relief and preparedness for future disasters in Nepal following the earthquakes that hit the country in April and May 2015.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Syndicates $135m Loan to Agribusiness Company Vicentin of Argentina
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will syndicate a loan of USD 135 million to Vicentin, an Argentinian agribusiness company, to support its export business.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Sohan Lal Commodity Management Raises $15m from Creation, Everstone for its Agricultural Lender, Kissandhan
Creation Investments Capital Management, which is based in the US city of Chicago, Illinois, recently informed MicroCapital that it and Everstone Capital, an investor with offices in India, Mauritius and Singapore, have invested a total of USD 15 million in equity in Indian agricultural logistics firm Sohan Lal Commodity Management.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA) of Singapore Invests $1m in Convertible Debt into Cambodian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Chamroeun
Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has disbursed USD 1 million in subordinated, convertible debt to Cambodian MFI Chamroeun Microfinance Limited.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Credit Fund of Kazakhstan Raises Equity from Employee-Owned Karavella, Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA)
Asian Credit Fund (ACF), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kazakhstan, recently informed MicroCapital that it has raised an undisclosed amount of cash through a second round of equity financing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $30m to Georgia’s Bank Republic for On-lending to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to support economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it will provide a loan of USD 30 million to Bank Republic, which serves retail and corporate customers in Georgia as a subsidiary of the French financial services provider Société Générale.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $437k in Local Currency to Microfinance Institution (MFI) GRAINE of Burkina Faso
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, two and a half-year loan equivalent to EUR 385,000 (USD 437,000) to Groupe d’Accompagnement a l’Investissement et a l’Epargne (GRAINE), an MFI in Burkina Faso.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $7m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
During September 2015, Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 7 million via its two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Loans $10m to Paraguay’s Vision Banco to Fund Water, Sanitation Facilities for Low-Income Populations
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral finance institution that operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently approved a loan of USD 10 million to Vision Banco, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Paraguay.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Safaricom Foundation; Junior Achievement Kenya; Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiHEA) Launch $133k Fund for Youth-Owned Microenterprises
Safaricom Foundation, a charity funded by the Kenya-based telecommunications company Safaricom Limited, recently launched a “revolving fund”[1] that is intended to assist youth-owned businesses in Kenya.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Japan’s Orix Corporation Acquires Additional 6% Equity in Cambodia’s Acleda Bank
Orix Corporation, a financial services provider based in Tokyo, Japan, recently announced that it has acquired a 6.25-percent equity stake in Acleda Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that provides deposits and microcredit in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $13m to Krygyzstan’s Optima Bank for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral investment institution headquarted in London, England, recently announced that it will loan the local-currency equivalent of USD 13 million to Optima Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC to Advise Government of Myanmar on Regulation; Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); Financial Inclusion; Microfinance
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar.