The Indian unit of UK-based commercial financial institution Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of INR 370 million (USD 5.8 million) to Sonata Finance Private Limited, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that serves India’s northern states.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), Triodos to Acquire Myanmar’s Dawn Microfinance for $7m
Accion, a US-based microfinance NGO; 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 6.85 million in Dawn Microfinance, a Myanmar-based microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank Loans $14m to Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) SKS
The Indian unit of UK-based Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of INR 900 million (USD 14 million) to SKS Microfinance, a for-profit Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CelsiusPro Partners with BlueOrchard to Manage KfW’s Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), World Bank Group to Improve Agricultural Insurance in Ukraine
Swiss microfinance investment manager BlueOrchard and Swiss weather index insurance service provider CelsiusPro recently were appointed as co-managers of the Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), an initiative created by German development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) that aims to reduce the vulnerability of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households to climate change by improving access to and use of insurance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank of India Loans $5m to Indonesian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura
The Indian unit of UK-based commercial financial institution Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of IDR 60 billion (USD 5 million) to Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, a non-banking microfinance institution (MFI) founded in Indonesia in 2003. Additional information regarding the terms of the loan is not available.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Germany’s Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Together Invest $34m in Green for Growth Fund Southeastern Europe (GGF)
Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS), a German bank that focuses on investing in social and ecological projects, reportedly has invested EUR 22 million (USD 23 million) in the Green for Growth Fund Southeast Europe (GGF), a Germany-based fund that invests in energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $32m to Tunisia’s Banque de Tunisie for On-Lending to Micro, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs); $3.2m to Support Women-Led SMEs in Kosovo
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, has agreed to lend EUR 30 million (USD 32 million) to Tunisia’s Banque de Tunisie, for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Buys 33% Equity Stake in Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar (AMFIM)
For an undisclosed price, Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia, recently purchased a 33-percent stake in the Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar (AMFIM), a deposit-taking MFI that was launched in Myanmar in 2014.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Acquires 30% Stake in Microfinance Institution Women’s World Banking Ghana (WWBG)
Goodwell West Africa, one of four funds of the Netherlands’ Goodwell Investments, recently acquired a 30-percent share of Women’s World Banking Ghana (WWBG).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Purchases 8.4% of Shares of Cambodian MFI Amret, Becomes Majority Shareholder; FMO Increases Stake to 19.9%
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based venture capital company, has become the majority shareholder of Amret, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), upon approval by The National Bank of Cambodia of its purchase of 8.4 percent of the shares of Amret.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Acquires 19.9% Equity Stake in Cambodian Microfinance Institution Amret for $15m
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, recently acquired a 19.9-percent share of Amret, a microfinance institution in Cambodia, at a price of USD 15 million [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund Loans $800k to Organic Sesame Exporter Bioexport of Paraguay
The Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund, an investment vehicle managed by a unit of the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently announced that it has invested in Bioexport, a Paraguayan firm that purchases sesame and other crops directly from farmers and cooperatives for export.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Grooming Centre to Issue Microloans on MasterCard Pre-Paid Cards
The Grooming Centre, a nonprofit provider of loans and deposit services to women in Nigeria for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has partnered with MasterCard, a US-based payments company, to replace the NGO’s cash- and check-based loan disbursals with prepaid MasterCard-branded payment cards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Invests $16.5m in Tajikistan’s Imon International to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
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 mobilized a loan equivalent to USD 16.5 million to benefit Imon International, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Software Provider Mambu Links with NCC Group to Offer 90 Days of Business Continuity in Case of Catastrophic Failure of its Software-as-a-Service
Mambu, a Germany-based provider of off-site management information systems to microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently engaged the NCC Group, a US-based provider of security services relating to technology and intellectual property, to provide redundancy to Mambu customers in case of a failure of its software-as-a-service “cloud” systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank al Etihad Borrowing $20m from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Micro, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Jordan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, has agreed to open a credit line of USD 20 million for Bank al Etihad, a Jordanian provider of financial services to both large and small organizations, for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Asset Management, Formerly Absolute Portfolio Management, Loans $2.5m for Microfinance in Benin, Cambodia, Georgia
During February 2015, Austria’s Absolute Portfolio Management disbursed loans totaling USD 2.5 million to unspecified microfinance institutions in Benin, Cambodia and Georgia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Government to Allocate $319m to Create Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank (MUDRA) to Prioritize Microfinance Lending to Members of Scheduled Castes, Tribes
The Indian Government has announced plans to allocate INR 200 billion (USD 319 million) for a new bank to be known as The Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank (MUDRA).