The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned EUR 25 million (USD 29 million) to Qatar National Bank Finans Finansal Kiralama (QNB Finans Leasing), a subsidiary of the Turkish commercial bank, QNB Finansbank.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Loans $1.5m to Microfinance Organization Crystal of Georgia
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based lender to projects deemed beneficial to the environment, recently loaned USD 1.5 million to Joint Stock Company Microfinance Organization Crystal, a microfinance institution primarily serving microentrepreneurs and farmers in rural Georgia. Crystal plans to use the proceeds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Rating Issues Financial, Social, Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Ratings; Client Protection Certifications in Burkina Faso, France, Asia, Latin America
Italy-based MicroFinanza Rating (MFR) recently informed MicroCapital that during June it issued three Social Ratings, 11 Financial Ratings and two Client Protection Certifications to 13 microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Azerbaijan to Expand Digital Financial Services in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with Funding from Switzerland’s SECO
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently began working with the government of Azerbaijan to implement a cashless payment system in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a self-governing territory in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Sweden Gives $3m for EBRD’s Women in Business Programme for SMEs in Moldova
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently disbursed a grant in the amount of SEK 26 million (USD 3 million) to support its Women in Business Programme in Moldova. The funds, which have been supplied by the Swedish government
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) Loans $7m to Trustbank of Uzbekistan to Launch Shariah-compliant Services for Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a unit of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, recently loaned USD 7 million to Private Joint Stock Trustbank, a commercial bank in Uzbekistan, for it to roll out Shariah-compliant financial products
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Training Farmer Cooperatives in Serbia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development bank, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an Italy-based organization of the UN dedicated to addressing world hunger, recently have united to support farmer cooperatives in Serbia. With assistance from the Serbian government,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Loans $7m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Partner Microcredit Foundation, Mi-Bospo for Energy Efficiency Financing in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based lender to projects deemed beneficial to the environment, recently disbursed two loans to nonprofit microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina: one in the amount of EUR 5 million (USD 5.8 million) to Partner Microcredit Foundation (MCF) and the other in the amount of EUR 1 million (USD 1.2 million) to Mi-Bospo.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility-managed Private Equity Vehicle Acquires 51% Stake in Bank Lviv, Lender to SMEs, Agricultural Firms in the Ukraine
A private equity investment vehicle managed by responsAbility Investments AG, a Switzerland-based asset manager specializing in impact investments in developing countries, recently paid an undisclosed sum to buy a 51-percent
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $5.9m in Local Currency to Erste Bank ad Novi Sad to Support Household Energy Efficiency in Serbia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned RSD 600 million (USD 5.9 million) to Erste Bank ad Nova Sad (Erste Bank Serbia), a commercial banking subsidiary
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 8th Annual Central Asian & Caucasus Microfinance Forum; September 6 – 7, 2018; Almaty, Kazakhstan
Summary of Event: This event will include sessions on topics such as MFI (Microfinance Institution) Challenges After Getting Funds for Sustainable Development; Local-currency Risks from the Fund-management Perspective; How MFIs Can Become More Appealing to Investors; the Green Economy: Microfinance and Poverty; Financial
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loans $1.2m to AFK of Kosovo for Microlending to Smallholder Farmers; Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of the World Bank Group, recently loaned EUR 1 million (USD 1.2 million) to the Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK), a microfinance institution that focuses on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kazakhstan’s Government Expanding Bastau Business Project, Supporting Agricultural Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship Training, Rural Microfinance
Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Nurzhan Altayev, recently announced plans to expand the Bastau Business Project, a government-sponsored initiative that involves “training rural people with entrepreneurial skills, including the principles of forming agricultural cooperatives, and supporting their business projects” with credit. The program, launched in 2017,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $59m in Local Currency to ProCredit Bank of Bulgaria for On-lending to SMEs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development bank, recently loaned EUR 50 million (USD 59 million) to ProCredit Bank (Bulgaria) EAD, a provider of financial services to individuals and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s agRIF Buys 10% Equity Stake in Armenia’s Inecobank from IFC, DEG
A microfinance investment vehicle of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management, agRIF, recently paid an undisclosed sum to acquire a 10-percent stake in Inecobank, a commercial bank in Armenia whose mission is “to promote private sector development acting as a
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KEP Trust Borrows $2.3m from IFC, Global Agriculture & Food Security Program (GAFSP) for Microfinance Lending in Kosovo
KEP Trust, a nonprofit microfinance institution formerly known as the Kosovo Enterprise Program (KEP), recently agreed to borrow EUR 2 million (USD 2.3 million) from the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) for on-lending to farmers as well as micro- and small enterprises in Kosovo. Of the total loan package, 30 percent is sourced from the IFC-managed Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), which pools investment from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $6.5m to KMF for Microfinance in Kazakhstan
Germany-based Invest in Visions, (IIV) recently reported that in April it disbursed a loan of USD 6.46 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kazakhstan, from its microfinance investment vehicle IIV Mikrofinanzfonds. Also during April, IIV lent a total of USD 13 million to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Lends $24m to BT Leasing for Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Romania
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-domiciled microfinance investment vehicle, recently lent EUR 20 million (USD 24 million) to BT Leasing, a member of Romania’s Grupul Financiar Banca Transilvania (BT). BT Leasing CEO Ionut Morar explained, “We are glad to receive this funding that allows us to support Romanian entrepreneurs, especially