Lok Capital (Lok), a Mauritius-based venture fund focused on the microfinance and social business sectors in India, reportedly has sold part of its equity stake in RuralShores Business Services, an India-based company offering business process outsourcing to public and private clients in the microfinance, banking, insurance, telecom and information technology sectors.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Allocates $5.3m to Test, Develop Social Impact Bond Market in Latin America, Caribbean
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced that it has allocated USD 5.3 million for the testing, development and implementation of social impact bond (SIB) programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $69m to UniCredit Bank Serbia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently announced that it is considering loaning EUR 50 million (USD 69 million) to UniCredit Bank Serbia, a subsidiary of Italy-based financial services company UniCredit Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, EFSE to Loan $16m to FINCA Azerbaijan to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Agricultural Lending
Through two unrelated transactions, the Azerbaijan-based subsidiary of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a US-based microfinance network, received local-currency loans totaling USD 16 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a government-backed microfinance investment vehicle based in Luxembourg.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Raiffeisen Bank Arranges $60m Loan to Microfinance Institution Access Bank of Azerbaijan
Raiffeisen Bank International, an Austria-based parent organization of financial service providers in 15 countries, has arranged a syndicated loan of USD 60 million with participation from 16 banks to AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya Grants Mobile Money Licenses to Finserve Africa, Tangaza Mobile Pay, Zioncell Kenya
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector of the country, recently granted mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licenses to Finserve Africa Limited, a subsidiary of Kenya’s Equity Bank, and two Kenyan mobile money transfer services, Tangaza Mobile Pay Limited and Zioncell Kenya Limited.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Seven International Lending Institutions Launch Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF)
The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF), an alliance focused on creating a sustainable financial market for small agricultural businesses, recently was launched by seven international lending institutions at the 11th Skoll World Forum on social entrepreneurship in Oxford, United Kingdom.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), World Bank (WB) to Develop National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Pakistan
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central banking authority, and the World Bank (WB), a US-based multilateral institution, reportedly have announced a partnership to develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) for Pakistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB) of Tanzania, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Sign $75m Agreement to Support Small, Medium-Sized Businesses Including Those Owned by Women, Involved in Agriculture
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB), a commercial bank in Tanzania, recently signed an agreement worth USD 75 million to support financing to small businesses in the country, particularly agribusinesses and companies owned by women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), IFC Capitalization Fund Invest $15m in Subordinated Debt in Nicaragua-based Banco de Finanzas (BDF)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced a USD 15 million subordinated bond investment in Banco de Finanzas, a Nicaragua-based commercial bank that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panama-based bank holding company Grupo Banco de Finanzas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Macedonia-based Aspekt to Supply Microfinance Software to Georgia-based Microlender Credit Plus
Aspekt, a Macedonia-based information and computer technology company, recently signed a deal to provide their microfinance portfolio management software tool, “Microfinance Software Solution,” to Credit Plus, a Georgia-based microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel, MTN Group Partner to Provide Mobile Money Transfers Between Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast
Airtel Burkina Faso, a subsidiary of India-based telecommunications company Bharti Airtel, and Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) Group, a telecommunications company based in South Africa, recently announced a partnership that will allow their mobile money customers to transfer funds between Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Commits Support Worth $300k to Back Newly Licensed AB Bank Rwanda, 8th Member of Access Microfinance Holding
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced a deal worth USD 300,000 to support AB Bank Rwanda Limited, which was licensed in December 2013 to operate as a microfinance bank (MFB)[1][2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIF, EBRD, European Commission, DEG to Allocate $19.8m for Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Via Western Balkans Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF)
The European Investment Fund (EIF), a public-private partnership that provides risk capital to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, recently announced an agreement to allocate a total of EUR 14.5 million (USD 19.8 million) to support investing in SMEs in the Western Balkans region through the Western Balkans Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Lends $4m to Arvand of Tajikistan, Bina Artha Ventura of Indonesia, Thaneakea Phum of Cambodia
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced the disbursement of the first tranche of a 54-month loan of EUR 1.04 million (USD 1.43 million) to Arvand, a financial institution that provides microcredit to low-income individuals in Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Satin Creditcare Raises $4.7m in Equity from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)
Satin Creditcare Network (Satin), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), recently announced that it has raised INR 284 million (USD 4.7 million) in equity from the Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a Norway-based public-private partnership that invests in and offers technical support to MFIs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Etisalat Lanka of Sri Lanka, Dialog Axiata of UAE Partner to Extend Ezcash Mobile Payment System in Sri Lanka
Dialog Axiata (DA), a Sri Lankan mobile communications subsidiary of Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad, reportedly has announced that it will begin a partnership with Etisalat Lanka (EL), a cellular network owned by the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation of the United Arab Emirates, to extend Dialog’s “eZcash” mobile payments to EL’s customers in Sri Lanka.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: American Refugee Committee (ARC) Sells Liberia-based Liberty Finance to DCRB Investments
The American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance in Africa, Asia, Haiti, and the Middle East, recently announced that it has sold its Liberia-based microfinance institution, Liberty Finance, to DCRB Investments (DCRB), a private investment company based in Liberia.