In a recent story on New Economic Perspectives, a website offering policy advice and economic analysis, William K Black comments on David Roodman’s article in the Washington Post, “Microcredit doesn’t end poverty, despite all the hype,” which was published on March 11, 2012.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Foundation Prizma of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Borrow $2.7m from Sparkasse Bank
Microcredit Foundation Prizma, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has received a loan of BAM 4 million (USD 2.7 million) from Sparkasse Bank, an Austrian-owned financial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the expansion of Prizma’s microfinance operations within the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Russia’s Microfinance Sector Doubles Growth to 32% in 2011, Default Rate Stands at 7%
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Russia reportedly disbursed loans of approximately RUR 29 billion (USD 1 billion) to individual borrowers in 2011, representing a 32.2-percent increase from 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Increases Share Capital to $108m
AccessBank, an Azerbaijan-based microfinance institution (MFI), recently announced that it has increased its share capital by 25 percent from AZN 67.8 million (USD 86 million) to AZN 85 million (USD 108 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Fund, Banca Transilvania Sign $10m Loan Agreement for Microfinance in Romania
The European Investment Fund, a public-private partnership that provides risk finance to lenders to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe, and Banca Transilvania, a privately-owned Romanian bank, have signed a EUR 7.5 million (USD 10 million) loan agreement under the European Progress Microfinance Facility, an organization that provides grants and funding to microcredit lenders in the European Union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reports of Overheating in Microfinance Sector in Kyrgyzstan
The Kyrgyz National Bank, the central bank of Kyrgyzstan, reportedly has stated that the microfinance sector in the country is overheating.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $1.5m to Constanta of Georgia, $2.5m to Eskhata of Tajikistan
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested USD 1.5 million in Georgia’s Constanta and USD 2.5 million in Tajikistan’s Bank Eskhata.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Azerbaijan Microfinance Association Mulling Agricultural Credit Guarantee Fund
The Azerbaijan Microfinance Association, an organization with approximately 31 microfinance institution members, is considering the introduction of an agricultural guarantee fund, which would guarantee up to 80 percent of an entrepreneur’s loan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Roshan of Afghanistan to Add Western Union Services to M-Paisa Mobile Money
Afghanistan-based telecommunications provider Roshan and US-based Western Union have announced plans to offer Western Union money transfers into mobile phone accounts in Afghanistan through the mobile financial services platform M-Paisa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Bankengruppe, German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to Invest $100m in Micro Finance Initiative for Asia (MIFA)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly plans to set up the Micro Finance Initiative for Asia (MIFA), a Luxembourg-based USD 100 million microfinance debt fund.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: JSC Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture to Issue $20m to Kazakh Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) for Rural Microlending
Joint Stock Company Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture (FFSA), a government-owned institution that provides credit and insurance services on a retail and wholesale basis in rural Kazakhstan, has reportedly pledged to allocate KZT 3 billion (USD 20 million) for microfinance in rural areas of Kazakhstan in 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Partner Microcredit Foundation, European Fund for Southeast Europe Publish 100k Financial Literacy Guides for Microfinance Clients in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Partner Microcredit Foundation (PMCF), a microfinance institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the technical assistance arm of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a development finance investment fund, have collaborated on a financial literacy project for which PMCF created a “guide to smart borrowing” that covers topics including conducting business with financial institutions, obtaining a loan, acting as a guarantor on a loan, management of household budgets and the basics of consumer protection. The guide emphasizes details of the loan application process.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Offers Vehicle Insurance
Azerbaijani microfinance institution AccessBank has announced that it will be offering insurance policies for vehicle owners.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $32m to Garanti Bank Romania for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan EUR 22.5 million (USD 32.3 million) to the Romanian branch of Garanti Bank “to help finance small and medium businesses in Romania, especially those owned or managed by women entrepreneurs.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rural Impulse Fund II, MicroVest II, ASN-Novib Fund Purchase 45% Stake In Arnur Credit Microfinance Institution of Kazakhstan
Rural Impulse Fund II, a Belgian microfinance investment vehicle managed by Incofin Investment Management; MicroVest II, a US-based equity fund managed by MicroVest Capital Management, and ASN-Novib fund, a Dutch microfinance investment vehicle managed by Triple Jump, have taken stakes totaling 45 – percent ownership in Arnur Credit, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kazakhstan.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Competition, Loan Rates, and Information in Microcredit Markets; Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Snapshot; and Economic Strengthening of the Bottom Billion
“Competition, Loan Rates and Information Dispersion in Microcredit Markets” by G. Baquero, Malika Hamadi, and Andréas Heinen; published by the European School of Management and Technology; November 21, 2011; 58 pages; available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2006485&
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $4.5m to Microfinance Institutions in Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyz Republic
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that funds it manages have disbursed loans totaling USD 4.5 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Kyrgyz Republic.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DemirBank of Azerbaijan to Borrow $8m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility, Co-Managed by responsAbility
DemirBank, an Azerbaijan-based commercial bank that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises, has signed an agreement with the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a microfinance investment vehicle created by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank, to receive USD 8 million in loans over a three-year period.