Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company that focuses on emerging markets, recently informed MicroCapital that it completed the following bond transactions Bonds worth USD 10 million were sold to unidentified investors to benefit CFPA Microfinance Management, a microfinance institution (MFI) in China that is affiliated with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: French Insurer AXA Ups Commitment to Microinsurance, Increasing Equity Stake in UK’s MicroEnsure to 46%
MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International, recently announced that AXA Group, a French insurance and asset management company, will pay an undisclosed sum to increase its equity stake in the organization to 46 percent from an unspecified level.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Burgundy School, Chinese Association of Microfinance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University to Host 7th International Conference on the Institutional, Technological Environment for Microfinance (ITEM7), March 15-17, 2016, Shanghai, China
Event Name: 7th International Conference on the Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance (ITEM7)
Event Dates: March 15-17, 2016
Event Location: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Funds Loan $6.5m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in China, Panama
During January 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 6.5 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in China and Panama.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Olympus Capital Asia Invests $30m in Equity in Microfinance Institution Network CreditAccess
Olympus Capital Asia, a private equity firm with offices in Hong Kong, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and New York, recently invested USD 30 million in equity in CreditAccess Asia, a Dutch operator of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, aiming to help expand CreditAccess Asia’s retail lending services.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Global Financial Development Report 2015/2016,” Published by the World Bank
“Global Financial Development Report 2015/2016,” published by the World Bank, September 2015, 211 pages, available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/gfdr/report
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $11m to UniCredit Bank Serbia for On-Lending to Individuals for Home Improvement, Housing Finance
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it will loan EUR 10 million (USD 10.8 million) to UniCredit Bank Serbia, the Belgrade-based subsidiary of the Italian commercial banking firm UniCredit Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Funds Loan $20m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Eurasia, Latin America, Tanzania
During December 2015, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 20 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Moldova, Paraguay, Peru, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) Loan $3m in Local Currency to Tajikistan’s Eskhata Bank for Environmental Projects
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, and the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), an initiative of various international development institutions that offers donations and preferential-rate loans for projects in developing countries, jointly have provided a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 3 million to Eskhata Bank, a commercial bank in Tajikistan that focuses on microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), Tbilisi Business Center (TBC) Bank Georgia Partner to Fund Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs); Agricultural Producers
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it will disburse a subordinated loan of USD 15 million to Tbilisi Business Center (TBC) Bank, a Tbilisi, Georgia-based commercial bank, to support access to financing for micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) as well as agricultural producers in rural areas of Georgia. TBC will be EFSE’s fifth partner lending institution in Georgia [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $3m to Microfinance Organization Crystal of Georgia for On-Lending to Smallholder Agricultural Producers; Rural Microenterprises
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it will disburse a loan of USD 3 million to Joint Stock Company Microfinance Organization Crystal, a microfinance institution based in Kutaisi, Georgia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $13m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Romania
During November 2015, Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 13 million via its two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Nicaragua and Romania.
SPECIAL REPORT: How Microinsurance Affected Mongolian Herders Rebuilding After Drought
At European Microfinance Week yesterday, Veronika Bertram-Hümmer of Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin (the German Institute for Economic Research) and Leibniz Universitat Hannover presented research on how insured and uninsured herders in Mongolia recovered from the 2009-2010 drought that killed 22 percent of the livestock in the country. Insured households received an average payout of USD 312. None used the money to buy livestock, instead opting
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACTIAM-FMO SME Finance Fund Closes at $162m with New Investment from Pensioenfonds Vervoer; Increased Investments from Spoorwegpensioenfonds, Stichting Pensioenfonds Openbaar Vervoer
The ACTIAM-FMO SME Finance Fund, which is managed by Actiam, a Netherlands-based asset manager, and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently closed at approximately EUR 150 million (USD 162 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Lends $9m to Kyrgyzstan’s Kompanion; $5.4m to Morocco’s Albaraka to Finance Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lent the local-currency equivalent of USD 9 million to Kompanion Financial Group, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kyrgyzstan, and EUR 5 million (USD 5.4 million) to Albaraka, the first Moroccan MFI to partner with EBRD [1] [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Buys 20% Equity Stake in Microfinance Deposit Organization Matin of Tajikistan
For an undisclosed price, Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small, Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently purchased a 20-percent stake in Matin, a Tajikistan-based microfinance deposit organization (MDO).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $9.2m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Congo, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Peru
During October 2015, Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat Asset Management issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 9.2 million via its two Vision Microfinance funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Congo, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Commission (EC) Launches EaSI-MicPro, a New Online Information on Microcredit Providers
The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), recently launched EaSI-MicPro, a new online platform where microcredit providers can present information about their operations.