DemirBank, an Azerbaijani commercial bank that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises, recently announced that customers have the opportunity to repay loans at automated teller machines (ATMs) with their bank cards.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange Updates Online Funding Structure Database
The US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has updated its database on the debt owed by microfinance institutions (MFIs) to include 2011 data from 700 MFIs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inecobank Increases Lending to Micro-, Small Businesses in Rural Armenia, Securing all of $700k Offered Through International Finance Corporation as Performance-Based Grants
Inecobank, an Armenian microfinance bank, has increased its lending to micro- and small businesses in rural Armenia in concert with a set of performance-based grants from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $197m to Turkey’s Isbank to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises, $350m to Turkish Banks for Energy Efficiency
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, plans to provide a financing facility of EUR 150 million (USD 197 million) to Isbank, a Turkish commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Macedonia to Boost Usage of $129m Credit Line from European Investment Bank to Support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
The government of Macedonia reportedly has announced plans to step up disbursements from a credit line of EUR 100 million (USD 129 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending bank of the European Union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Online Fundraiser Kiva, Microlender Microinvest of Moldova End Partnership
Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, and Moldovan microfinance institution (MFI) Microinvest have agreed to terminate their six-year partnership for undisclosed reasons.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Poverty Scorecard for Nicaragua, Financial Inclusion in Russia, Health Microinsurance in India
“A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Nicaragua;” by Mark Schreiner; January 2013; 189 pages; available at http://www.microfinance.com/English/Papers/Scoring_Poverty_Nicaragua_2009_EN.pdf
This document introduces an “easy-to-use” poverty scorecard based on household expenditure data from Nicaragua’s 2009 Living Standards Measurement Survey.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $19m to UniCredit Serbia for Leasing to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, has provided a loan of EUR 15 million (USD 19.2 million) to UniCredit Serbia, a subsidiary of the Italy-based financial services company UniCredit, to expand lease financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $1.9m to Mi-Bospo of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently loaned EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.9 million) to Mikrokreditna Fondacija Mi-Bospo, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Bosnia and Herzegovina that loans exclusively to women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Simplified Tax Code for Microenterprises in Romania Snares Unprofitable Businesses
The government of Romania reportedly has simplified the tax rate for microenterprises, obliging them to pay a 3-percent tax on turnover.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Plans to Allocate $15m to EBRD Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP) Framework
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based multilateral financial institution, plans to allocate EUR 12 million (USD 15.4 million) to Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP), an EBRD framework intended to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy investments by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the residential sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ProCredit Bank Armenia Launches Visa Business Card
ProCredit Bank Armenia, a microfinance institution (MFI) and member of Germany’s ProCredit Holding, recently launched its Visa Business Card, which is supported by the 170-country network of US-based payment services firm Visa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Plans to Invest $20m in Da Vinci Private Equity Fund II for Financial Infrastructure SMEs in Commonwealth of Independent States
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral financial institution based in London, plans to invest up to USD 20 million in the Da Vinci Private Equity Fund II, which invests in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the financial infrastructure sector in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is composed of the former Soviet republics.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ProCredit Bank Ukraine Opens New Branch in Kharkiv
ProCredit Bank Ukraine, a microfinance institution (MFI) and member of Germany’s ProCredit Holding, recently opened a new branch in the city of Kharkiv.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets;” published by mWomen Global Development Alliance of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Visa, Bankable Frontier Associates
Published by Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s mWomen Global Development Alliance, Visa and Bankable Frontier Associates; 2013; 40 pages; available at: http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf
This report analyzes connections between mobile financial services and women’s financial inclusion in the developing world.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Commit $150m to Microfinance in Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral finance institution based in the Philippines, reportedly has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank, a financial services company based in the United Kingdom, to increase access to financial services for poor people in Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loan of $39m to UniCredit Bank Serbia for On-lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Pending Final Approval
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based multilateral financial institution, intends to loan EUR 30 million (USD 39 million) to the Serbian branch of UniCredit Bank, an Italy-based financial group with operations in 22 countries, for on-lending to private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Plans $200m to Expand Turkish Sustainable Energy Finance Facility (TurSEFF) for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Private Households
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based multilateral financial institution, is planning to extend the equivalent of USD 200 million in Turkish lira to the Turkish Sustainable Energy Finance Facility (TurSEFF), which offers credit lines for banks to use to fund investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.