The government of Azerbaijan, with technical assistance from the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), has instituted a series of regulatory reforms to improve financial infrastructure in the country. The Azerbaijan Financial Advisory Services program, which was
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $770k to Microfinance Institution Oxus Kyrgyzstan
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has issued a loan in the local currency equivalent of USD 770,000 to Oxus Kyrgyzstan, a member of the France-based Oxus Group. Oxus Kyrgyzstan
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $970k to Microfinance Institution Salym Finance of Kyrgyzstan
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has issued a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 970,000 to Salym Finance, a microfinance institution in Kyrgyzstan. Founded in 2007 with the brand name Credit Systems,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Expands “Women in Business” Programme to Montenegro, Microfinance Institution Alter Modus is First Lender to Participate
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, is expanding its Women in Business (WiB) programme to Montenegro. The WiB Montenegro programme, which is supported by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund IV Closes with $184m to Invest in Microfinance, SME Finance
US-based Creation Investments Capital Management LLC recently met its goal of securing commitments totaling USD 184 million for its Social Ventures Fund IV. The investors were a mix of “existing and new investors including corporate pension plans, funds of funds, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, public pension funds, and family offices.”
With approximately USD 700 million in assets under management as of September 2019, Creation Investments seeks to “serve the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Loans $33m to Erste Bank Montenegro for Housing Microfinance
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently announced it has lent EUR 30 million (USD 33 million) to Erste Bank Montenegro, a commercial banking member of the Austria-based Erste Group, to expand housing finance in Montenegro. Erste Bank Montenegro CEO Aleksa Lukic commented
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $35m in Local Currency to Bank of Georgia for Microfinance, SMEs – Including Women-owned Enterprises
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently announced it is lending GEL 100 million (USD 35 million) to the Bank of Georgia, a commercial bank owned by the UK-based Bank of Georgia Group, for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, which is cosponsored by
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Smallholder Households: Distinct Segments, Different Needs;” published by CGAP
By Jamie Anderson, Ramesh Karrupusamy, Paul Enrico Neumann, Howard Miller and Ram Tamara; published by CGAP; April 2019; 12 pages; available at https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019_04_Focus_Note_Smallholder_Households_Distinct_Segments_Different_Needs.pdf
To ensure that financial service providers (FSPs) are able to: (a) identify opportunities to serve smallholder households; (b) provide services that are tailored to smallholders’ needs;
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $21.4m to Microfinance Institutions in Bolivia, Cambodia, Kosovo, Moldova, Tajikistan – Including $11.1m to Eskhata Bank
Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently loaned EUR 10 million (USD 11.1 million) to Eskhata Bank, a provider of microfinance and traditional financial services in Tajikistan, in an effort to stimulate economic development in the country, including in rural areas. The investment is one of a group of loans totaling
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Loans $1.7m to Microfinance Institution Alter Modus to Finance Energy Efficiency in Montenegro
Alter Modus, a microlender in Montenegro, recently agreed to borrow EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.67 million) from the Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a public-private partnership based in Luxembourg, in order to boost Montenegro’s energy efficiency (EE) finance market. GGF also aims to boost Alter Modus’ expertise in EE lending by providing the microfinance institution with
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Securitizes $175m for 26 Microfinance Institutions, SME Lenders from Investors Including Alecta, Calvert, OPIC
A Switzerland-based “impact asset manager,” responsAbility Investments, recently securitized USD 175 million for lending to 26 funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The three-year securitization offers listed bonds at senior and mezzanine levels with unspecified “commercial” fixed rates of return, as well as a junior level with
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 9th Annual Uniglobal Central Asian and Caucasus Microfinance Forum; October 3 – 4, 2019; Tbilisi, Georgia
This conference will focus on “transparency, regulations, transformation of [the] microfinance industry, social reporting standards, investment, risk and asset management, and innovation” in the Central and Western Asia. Sessions will cover topics including
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $2.6m in Local Currency to VisionFund Microfinance Institution SEF International to Support Rural MSEs in Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently announced that it has lent local currency approximately equivalent to USD 2.58 million to SEF International, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Armenia, to finance micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) in rural areas. Commenting on the transaction, SEF CEO Garegin Gevorgyan said
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $2m to Kosovo Enterprise Program (KEP) Trust for Microfinance Lending
Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently announced that it has disbursed a loan of EUR 2 million (USD 2.26 million) to the Kosovo Enterprise Program (KEP) Trust from IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, a microfinance investment vehicle that is active in developing countries. During June 2019, IIV also invested in
MICROFINANCE EVENT: MENA Financial Institutions Forum (MENAFIF); September 24-25, 2019; Dubai, UAE
The goal of the MENA Financial Institutions Forum (MENAFIF) is to connect investors and financial institutions to “catalyze debt raising, equity investments and technical assistance programs” to support private sector growth and increase financial inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The forum offers sessions on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IsDB Group’s Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to Assist Kapitalbank in Developing Shariah-compliant Financial Services in Uzbekistan
The Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a Saudi Arabia-based multilateral institution, recently announced an agreement with Kapitalbank, an Uzbek commercial bank, to provide the bank with technical support in developing Islamic financial services in Uzbekistan. One aspect of Islamic lending is that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Erste Bank Serbia Opens $45m Credit Line from EBRD to Increase Financing to SMEs
The UK-headquartered European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently issued a loan to the Serbian unit of Austria-based Erste Group Bank in the amount of EUR 40 million (USD 45 million) with the aim of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia. As of year-end 2018
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Guarantees $1.5m in Microlending by Tamweelcom of Jordan to Refugees from Syria via Nasira Program
The Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, recently committed to a risk-sharing facility of up to USD 1.5 million to support Tamweelcom, a Jordan-based microfinance organization, in funding entrepreneurship among refugees from Syria. Tamweelcom will make loans of JOD 1,000 (USD 1,440) to JOD 7,000 (USD 9,900) to the refugees to put towards income-generating businesses. To be eligible, borrowers must hold identification from both the UN High