Oxfam UK, a UK-based charity, City of London and Symbiotics, a Swiss microfinance investment intermediary, recently launched a joint initiative known as the Small Enterprise Impact Investing Fund (SEIIF). SEIIF is intended to deliver measurable social as well as financial returns to its stakeholders by investing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through financial intermediaries operating in developing countries.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Yunus Social Business Fund Begins Financing Small and Medium-Sized (SMEs) in Haiti
Grameen Bank founder and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr Muhammad Yunus recently announced the support of the Germany-based Yunus Social Business Fund for social businesses in Haiti through a mix of loans and equity.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Development and Employment Fund (DEF) of Jordan Offers $5m in Grants to Microfund for Women (MFW), Ahli Microfinance Company (AMC)
The Development and Employment Fund (DEF), a provider of retail and wholesale microfinance services backed by the Jordanian government, reportedly has offered grants totaling JOD 3.5 million (USD 5 million) to the Microfund for Women (MFW) and the Ahli Microfinance Company (AMC), two microfinance providers in Jordan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions, Boom Financial to Offer Mobile Banking to Credit Unions Worldwide
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association and support organization for credit unions, and Boom Financial, a US-based mobile banking, payments and money transfer provider, have partnered in an effort to assist credit unions worldwide in offering mobile banking services to their customers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech of Qatar, Kiva of USA Launch Kiva Arab Youth Website to Raise Funds for Microlending
Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, has partnered with Silatech, a Qatar-based social enterprise serving youth in the Middle East, to create Kiva Arab Youth, an online platform allowing individuals to makes loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the region that then on-lend the funds to aid young Arab entrepreneurs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP) Deposit Taking Microfinance Institution of Kenya Looking to Raise $18.5m in Share Capital
Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP), a deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI) in Kenya, is looking to raise KES 1.6 billion (USD 18.5 million) in share capital for expansion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments Loans $8m to Prasac of Cambodia, $1m to ASKI of the Philippines
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a for-profit Swiss fund manager, recently disbursed USD 8 million in debt to Prasac, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peru’s Grupo ACP Receives Approval to Convert Microfinance Institution Forjadores de Negocios of Mexico into Banco Forjadores
Grupo Accion Comunitaria del Peru (ACP) Inversiones y Desarrollo, a nonprofit holding company based in Peru, recently received the approval of Mexican banking regulators to convert Forjadores de Negocios SA, its Mexican microfinance institution (MFI), into Banco Forjadores, which is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest $18m in Equitas Microfinance India, Private Equity Funds Looking to Invest in Indian Microfinance Institutions
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, reportedly has proposed investing INR 1 billion (USD 18.9 million) in Equitas Microfinance India, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund II Loans $2.6m to Kenya Women Finance Trust, Incofin Investment Management to Finance Technical Assistance Project for AB Bank Zambia
The Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT), a Kenyan deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI), recently received a EUR 2 million (USD 2.6 million) loan from Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund (RIF) II, a Belgian microfinance investment vehicle (MIV).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Social Investments Loans $1.5m to AccessBank Tanzania, $1.3m to EKI of Bosnia and Herzegovina
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 1 million through the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), one of the microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) it manages, to AccessBank Tanzania, a commercial bank established as part of Germany’s AccessHolding in 2007.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unilever Pakistan, National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) to Provide Microcredit, Business Training to Shop Owners
Unilever Pakistan, a member of the British-Dutch Unilever consumer goods group, and the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), a nonprofit organization providing microcredit to rural Pakistanis, recently agreed to provide entrepreneurial assistance to indigent microentrepreneurs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Omtrix’s Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF) Provides $3m Loan to Fundacion Genesis Empresial of Guatemala
Omtrix Incorporated, a privately owned fund management consulting firm based in Costa Rica, recently announced the first disbursement from its Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF), which will go to Fundacion Genesis Empresarial, a Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Backs Housing Microfinance in Peru with $45m Investment in BBVA Continental
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, and BBVA Continental, a commercial bank in Lima, Peru, recently entered into a USD 75 million loan agreement to boost renewable energy and mortgage financing in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $19m to Sekerbank of Turkey
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), which is advised by German firm Finance in Motion, recently disbursed a subordinated loan of approximately EUR 15 million (USD 19.4 million) to Turkish commercial bank Sekerbank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $1.5m to FINCA Jordan to Boost Microfinance Services
The Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small a Medium-Sized Enterprise), an initiative of KfW Entwicklungsbank that provides medium- and long-term debt and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East, recently made a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 1.5 million to FINCA Jordan Specialized Microloans, a Jordanian microfinance institution (MFI) that is part of the US-based FINCA International microfinance network.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Intellecap’s IntelleCash Microfinance Network Purchases 56% Stake in Arohan Financial Services of India
IntelleCash Microfinance Network, a subsidiary of the India-based social-sector advisory firm Intellectual Capital Advisory Services (Intellecap), reportedly has purchased a 56-percent stake in Arohan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), for INR 520 million (USD 10 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citibank Indonesia, Overseas Private Investment Corporation Share Risk on $18m Loan to Bank Andara to Support Microfinance Institutions
Citibank Indonesia, a branch of US-based financial services conglomerate Citigroup; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US–based development finance institution; and Bank Andara, an Indonesian company that provides wholesale services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and savings services to individuals, have announced the disbursement of a USD 18.5 million term loan to finance the growth of Bank Andara’s wholesale microfinance lending.