The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Chadian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the governmental body charged with organizing and implementing development projects in the country, to support the development of leasing options for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Chad.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Cooperation and Development Fund of Taiwan (TaiwanICDF) Loan Tunisie Leasing $14m to Fund Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Tunisia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, and the International Cooperation and Development Fund of Taiwan (TaiwanICDF), the principal body that oversees Taiwan’s overseas development programs, have jointly disbursed a loan of EUR 10 million (USD 13.7 million) to Tunisie Leasing, a financial institution that offers leasing services in Tunisia and Algeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Likely to Loan Mongolian XacBank $5m for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs); $10m for Sustainable Energy
The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering disbursing a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 5 million to XacBank, a lender to micro-, small and medium-sized businesses in Mongolia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Homeless International Purchases T24 MCB Banking Software from Temenos
Homeless International, a UK-based nonprofit housing consultancy and finance agency that focuses on reducing urban poverty in Africa and Asia, has purchased T24 MCB, a cloud-based core banking software platform that was developed for the microfinance and community banking (MCB) segment by Temenos Group AG, a software company based in Switzerland.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA International Raises $30m in Debt in Nine Local Currencies to Support Financial Inclusion of Microentrepreneuers
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International), a US-based nonprofit microfinance network, has announced that it has raised debt funding equivalent to USD 30 million in nine local currencies to support the financial inclusion of low-income microentrepreneurs through its Local Currency Microfinance Note III [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $9.4m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tanzania
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an arm of Austria-based asset group C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that it has distributed credits worth approximately USD 9.4 million through its two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $47m to Garanti Bank Romania to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Mostly Those Owned by Women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $12m to Araratbank of Armenia to Support Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, has announced that it is loaning USD 12 million to Araratbank Open Joint Stock Corporation (OJSC), an Armenian bank that provides financial services to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ANZ Royal Bank, Microfinance Institution (MFI) Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) to Share Branches, ATMs
ANZ Royal Bank (ANZ), a joint venture between the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ Group) and the Cambodian Royal Group of Companies, and Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly have entered into a partnership to offer a wider range of financial service products to the clients of the two institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Fund (EIF) to Guarantee $9m in Microloans Disbursed by Romania’s Libra Internet Bank Under Progress Microfinance Facility
The European Investment Fund (EIF), a provider of finance to lenders to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and Libra Internet Bank, a Romania-based bank that conducts the majority of its business online, have signed a guarantee agreement to help Libra lend RON 30 million (USD 9.26 million) to 400 microbusinesses in Romania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $2m to Cambodian Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea; Invests $546k in Equity in Palestinian Arab Center for Agricultural Development
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), which provides financial services to “social businesses,” recently informed MicroCapital that it has provided a three-year loan of EUR 1.5 million (USD 2.05 million) to Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea Company Limited (AMK), a microfinance institution located in Cambodia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation, Tigo to Expand Mobile Financial Services in Ghana
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; the MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit founded by US-based global payment processing company MasterCard that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets; and Tigo Ghana, a unit of Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, recently announced that they have signed an agreement worth USD 2 million to provide advisory services to support Tigo Ghana “to develop and expand mobile financial services in support of wider financial inclusion”[1] in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure Raises $10m in Equity from International Finance Corporation, Omidyar Network, Opportunity International, Telenor Group; First-Time Investors AXA, Sanlam Emerging Markets
MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International, has announced that it has raised a total of USD 10.4 million from six investors including some of the company’s past investors: Opportunity International; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm; and Telenor Group, a telecommunications company based in Norway.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rebtel Partnership with TransferTo Adds 50 Additional Countries to International Airtime Remittance Mobile App “Sendly”
Swedish telecommunications company Rebtel has partnered with Singapore-based TransferTo, an airtime remittance company that “interconnects mobile operators’ prepaid systems”[1], to expand by 50 the number of countries in which it offers cross-border top-up services to users of its mobile application, Sendly.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Signs Deals with AB Bank Rwanda, IHS Holding of Nigeria, Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda to Expand Microfinance, Telecommunications
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has signed deals with AB Bank Rwanda (ABR), a microfinance bank (MFB) affiliated with Access Microfinance Holding of Germany; IHS Holding Limited, a mobile services infrastructure company based in Nigeria that operates in five African countries; and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a foreign-owned Rwandan MFB, in an effort to increase access to telecommunications and financial opportunities in Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elevar Equity, Omidyar Network, Saama Capital, WestBridge Capital Invest $27m in Equity in India’s Vistaar Finance for Lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
Elevar Equity, which invests in “disconnected communities” from offices in India and the US; Omidyar Network, a US-based investor in “socially responsible” organizations; Saama Capital, an India-focused venture capital fund registered in Mauritius; and WestBridge Capital, an India-based investment company with offices in India, Mauritius and the United States, reportedly have collectively invested INR 1.6 billion (USD 27 million) in Bangalore-based non-banking finance company Vistaar Finance (Vistaar).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo, Airtel, Zantel Link Mobile Money Systems in Tanzania
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications company also known as Tigo; Airtel Tanzania, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel; and Zantel Tanzania, a telecommunications company owned by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates, recently announced an agreement to allow customers of the three firms’ mobile money services to send and receive money to and from users of all three systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Lends $1m to Première Agence de Microfinance au Burkina Faso, $239k to Biotropical of Cameroon
Grameen Credit Agricole, a Luxembourg-based organization that provides financing to microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently informed MicroCapital that it has granted a 3-year loan of EUR 770,000 (USD 1.05 million) to the Première Agence de Microfinance au Burkina Faso (PAMF-BF), an MFI in Burkina Faso, and a loan of EUR 175,000 (USD 239,000) to Biotropical, a Cameroon-based fruit company that works with small farmers.