The European Union (EU), the UK-based, multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Turkish government have partnered to introduce the Finance and Advice for Women in Business Programme in the northwest region of Turkey.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Labour Office’s (ILO’s) Impact Insurance Facility, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Seek to Stimulate Innovation in Microinsurance in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Impact Insurance Facility of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) recently signed a three-year partnership seeking to strengthen the resilience of middle-income workers in the informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial details of this partnership have not been reported.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Asset Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Issue $6m in Credits to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Colombia, Georgia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Tajikistan and Paraguay
During May 2015, Viennese asset manager C-Quadrat Asset Management USD 6 million worth of credits via the two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Colombia, Georgia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Tajikistan and Paraguay. Of this total, C-Quadrat Asset Management invested USD 500,000 in the microfinance institution based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Founded in 2001, this institution targets micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and provides services to approximately 3,200 clients.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund Loans $1.5m to Microfinance Institution Humo and Partners of Tajikistan
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM), a Belgium-based company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently loaned USD 1.5 million over 12 months via the Rural Impulse Fund II to Humo and Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Partner to Promote Youth Financial Inclusion
The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), a Switzerland-based association of approximately 1,000 financial intermediaries from 89 countries, and Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), a Netherlands-based nonprofit organization that promotes youth financial access and education, have signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize their ongoing collaboration with the aim of empowering people around the world between the ages of 6 and 30, in particular by increasing their financial capabilities, helping them to develop livelihoods and improving their access to “appropriate” financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Seeks Partners for Customer-Centric Financial Services Project
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit policy and research center devoted to worldwide growth of financial access, is searching for financial service providers with whom to partner to increase customer centricity within the providers’ systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: China’s Zuoli Micro-finance Obtains Government Approval to Lend to Online Retailers
Zuoli Kechuang Micro-finance Company, a microfinance institution in China, recently obtained approval from the Financial Work Office of the government of Zhejiang Province to cooperate with online money lending platforms and issue loans to online retailers nationwide. The company expects these loans to be in amounts of approximately RMB 500,000 (USD 80,000) at an annualised interest rate of approximately 15 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Donates $1.2m to Effort by Center for Latin American Monetary Studies to Improve Remittance Market in Latin America
The Multilateral Investment Fund, a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, has donated USD 1.2 million to fund a collaborative project with the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, an association of Latin American and Caribbean central banks (also known by its Spanish acronym CEMLA).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Messrs United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM), Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Partner on $5m Loan to Nigerian MFI Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO)
Messrs United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM), an indirect subsidiary of the French construction materials company Lafarge, and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the international development department of the French government, reportedly have collaborated to loan NGN 1 billion (USD 5 million) to Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), a Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI), for funding the construction of 5,000 new housing units in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard to Establish $250m Risk-Sharing Facility to Support Consumer Loans Distributed via Debit Card
MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, reportedly have pledged to establish a USD 250 million risk-sharing facility, which is expected to provide an unspecified number of people in emerging markets with access to small loans via payment cards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, Triodos Loan $35m to Khan Bank of Mongolia for On-Lending to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, and Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, have announced plans to invest a total of USD 35 million in Khan Bank, a commercial bank based in Mongolia, for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in that country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loan $97m to Alternatifbank of Turkey for On-Lending to Micro, Small Enterprises (MSEs); Energy Efficiency; Renewable Energy
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that seeks to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that the two organizations will disburse a senior loan of USD 97 million to Alternatifbank (ABank), a private commercial bank in Turkey.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Government of Guinea-Bissau to Promote Leasing to Small, Medium-sized Enterprise
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Guinea-Bissau.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Loan up to $10m to Prasac of Cambodia for On-Lending to Agricultural Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently announced that it has opened a long-term credit line of up to USD 10 million to Prasac Microfinance Institution Limited, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $40m to Banco Internacional of Ecuador for On-lending to Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Women-Owned Businesses
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently announced that it has lent USD 40 million to Banco Internacional, a commercial bank in Ecuador.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $2.5m to Microfinance Institution Vitas Palestine
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Funds Loan $1.25m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Ghana
During April 2015, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management disbursed from its Dual Return Funds local-currency loans totaling USD 1.25 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia and Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Loans $16m to Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Janalakshmi Financial Services
The Indian unit of UK-based commercial institution Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of INR 985 million (USD 15.5 million) to Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).