The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle launched by German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank, has informed MicroCapital that it recently disbursed an AMD 400 million (USD 974,000) loan to open joint stock corporation Araratbank of Armenia, a bank that primarily provides financial services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “How Can Microfinance Programs Help the Struggle Against Social problems Such as Begging, Child Labor, Prostitution, Violence Against Women, Criminality, Gangs, and Drug Addiction?;” by William O. Maddocks; Commissioned by the Global Microcredit Summit
By William O. Maddocks; Commissioned by the Global Microcredit Summit; 2011; 31 pages; available at: http://www.globalmicrocreditsummit2011.org/userfiles/file/Workshop%20Papers/W_%20Maddocks%20-%20How%20Can%20Microfinance%20Programs%20Help%20the%20Struggle%20Against%20Social%20Problems%20Such.pdf
This paper presents an analysis of the role of microfinance institutions in helping to solve “seemingly intractable social problems” including begging, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS and discrimination against the disabled, all while maintaining financial sustainability.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) to Loan $599k to Oxus Tajikistan
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), an organization that offers financing products to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and social business projects in Africa and Eurasia, recently informed MicroCapital that it has approved a three-year, local-currency loan equivalent to USD 599,000 to the MFI Oxus Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management Loans $8.5m From Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Indonesia, Russia
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an Austria-based microfinance investment and asset management company, has told MicroCapital that it issued the equivalent of USD 8.5 million in credit through funds it manages to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Indonesia and Russia during the month of February.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance at The Margin: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina”; by Ralph De Haas, Heike Harmgart, Britta Augsburg and Costas Meghir; published by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
By Ralph De Haas, Heike Harmgart, Britta Augsburg and Costas Meghir, published by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, November 2012, 8 pages, available at: http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/economics/publications/specials/bosnia_mircofinance.pdf
This report from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) describes a randomized field experiment in Bosnia and Herzegovina analyzing the effects that a lack of credit may have on entrepreneurship and poverty.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Regulation in Kazakhstan to Require Minimum Capital of $200k, Client Disclosure Norms
The Kazakh Ministry of Justice is reportedly in the process of registering a new law regulating microfinance that requires all “microcredit organizations” to convert to “microfinance organizations” within three years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aspekt to Provide Microfinance Software to Serbian Microlender MicroFinS-DBS
Aspekt, a Macedonia-based information and communication technology company, has signed a deal to install its microfinance software for MicroFinS-DBS, a limited liability company based in Serbia that provides microloans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Minsk Transit Bank, Belgazprombank of Belarus Access $50m Facility for SME Energy Efficiency From European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently launched a facility in Belarus to provide a total of up to USD 50 million in loans intended to fund investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microinsurance Product Development for Microinsurance Providers;” by Michael J. McCord; published by Microfinance Centre, Microinsurance Centre, International Fund for Agricultural Development
By Michael J. McCord; published by the Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, the Microinsurance Centre and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); 2012; 124 pages; available at: http://www.ifad.org/ruralfinance/wrmf/manual.pdf
In this manual, Mr. McCord proposes a “systematic new-product development process” for the microinsurance market.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “2012 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Snapshot”; by Ralitsa Sapundzhieva and Agharazi Babayev; published by Microfinance Information Exchange
By Ralitsa Sapundzhieva and Agharazi Babayev, published by Microfinance Information Exchange, January 2013, 27 pages, available at: http://www.themix.org/publications/mix-microfinance-world/2013/01/2012-eastern-europe-and-central-asia-regional-snapshot
This Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) report reviews the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $3m to Arnur Credit to Support Micro- and Small Enterprises in Rural Kazakhstan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in London, has agreed to provide a local-currency loan in an amount equivalent to USD 3 million to Arnur Credit, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kazakhstan, for on-lending to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) in rural areas of the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Loans $29m to Center-Invest Bank to Support Small Businesses in Southern Russia
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan RUB 900 million (USD 29 million) to Center-Invest Bank, a Russian private bank, to increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in southern Russia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Makes $643k Equity Buy into Kreditimi Rural I Kosoves of Kosovo
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a fund that seeks to foster economic development in southeastern Europe and parts of Central Asia, has made an equity investment of EUR 479,000 (USD 643,000) in Kreditimi Rural I Kosoves LLC (KRK), a microfinance institution based in Kosovo.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Uzbekistan’s Hamkor Bank to Launch Islamic Microfinance
The nonprofit AlHuda Center for Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) has signed an agreement with Hamkor Bank, a provider of microfinance services in Uzbekistan, to provide advisory services on Islamic microfinance and human capital development.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, John Deere Partner to Provide Farming Equipment in the Ukraine
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in London, and Raiffeisen Bank Aval, a subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International, have partnered to issue loans to Ukrainian farmers so that they can purchase farming equipment from a third partner in the project, US-based agricultural machinery provider John Deere.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Loan $20m for Russian Government’s Microfinance Development Program
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, reportedly approved a loan of USD 20 million to be disbursed to establish a government-run Microfinance Development Program in Russia, for which the Russian government will budget USD 40 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $5m in Local Currency to Converse Bank of Armenia to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution based in London, England, is providing a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 5 million (approximately AMD 2 billion) to Converse Bank CJSC, a closed joint stock company in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belarus Drafts Decree Regulating Microfinance Industry
The government of Belarus reportedly has issued a draft decree that would regulate microfinance institutions (MFIs).