The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth a total of USD 29 million in Raiffeisen Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a bank that provides corporate, retail and investment banking services.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Proposals Sought by “Social Performance Start-up Fund for Networks” of Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States
The Social Performance (SP) Start-up Fund for Networks, an initiative aimed at increasing the implementation and transparency of SP processes and tools by microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently initiated a call for proposals from national microfinance associations from Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa for projects aiming to support SP activities.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Co-financing $10m in Loans from Mongolian Microfinance Institution XacBank
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced it has committed USD 5 million to co-finance up to 50 percent of loans issued by XacBank, a Mongolian community development microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), Araratbank Sign $10m Loan Agreement for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, agreed to loan USD 10 million to Araratbank at EFSE’s recent annual meeting in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Fund Loans $7m to Šiauliu Bankas of Lithuania for Expansion of Microfinance Portfolio
The European Investment Fund (EIF), a public-private partnership (PPP) that supports financial institutions in Europe that serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has agreed to loan EUR 5 million (USD 7.2 million) to Šiauliu Bankas, a Lithuanian bank that provides finance to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio Loans $5m to Mongolian Microfinance Institution XacBank
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a Belgian fund manager that invests in microfinance, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned USD 5 million from the Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio to XacBank, a community development microfinance institution (MFI) in Mongolia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Program to Model Microfinance Strategy on Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
The Afghan government reportedly has decided to model its microfinance programs after the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a government program that provides loans, grants and technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Loan $20m to Khan Bank of Mongolia to Support Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced it will loan USD 20 million to Khan Bank LLC of Mongolia to help strengthen its capital position and increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The seven-year subordinated loan will allow the bank to offer up to 14,000 new loans to SMEs through the end of 2015. Khan Bank reports that it serves about 80 percent of all Mongolian households and that most of its borrowers are women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Expands in Rural Kyrgyzstan as Lending Shifts to Agriculture
Kyrgyzstan’s microcredit sector reportedly has been growing in recent years and extending to outlying regions. The growth of microcredit in rural regions has corresponded to an increase in agricultural business following the June 2010 ethnic riots in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $6m to ProCredit Bank of Moldova, Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Russia, FINCA Jordan
responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has loaned the equivalent of USD 6.3 million to ProCredit Bank of Moldova, Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Russia and FINCA Jordan through MIVs that it manages.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU): Afghan Islamic Investment and Financial Cooperatives (IIFCs) Distributed Microfinance Loans Worth $7.4m in Last Third of 2010
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association and support agency for credit unions, reports that between September and December 2010, 30 Islamic investment and financial cooperatives (IIFCs) in Afghanistan distributed loans worth USD 7.4 million to approximately 8,000 farmers and other small and medium-scale business owners, increasing cooperative membership by 10 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Call for Applications For India’s 8th Annual Citi Micro Entrepreneur Awards
Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of global financial services provider Citi, has issued a call for applications for its 8th annual Citi Micro Entrepreneur Awards (CMEA).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reporting Tepid Growth, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Permits Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to Accept Gold as Collateral
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is reported to be permitting microfinance institutions (MFIs) to accept gold as collateral to secure microfinance loans. International: The News, a Pakistan-based news source, speculates that SBP has changed its stance on the issue in an effort to boost the issuance of loans following the floods that greatly affected Pakistan in 2010. In a circular reportedly issued to all MFIs in the country, SBP stated, “the negative growth [in 2010] was mainly due to the devastating floods during the third quarter of 2010 that gripped most parts of the country…Moreover, an overall difficult macroeconomic environment continues to challenge the credit growth of microfinance players” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Habitat for Humanity, Microfinance Centre (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States Establish “Shelter Innovation Center” to Address Housing Needs in Europe, Central Asia
Habitat for Humanity (Habitat), a nonprofit housing organization based in the US state of Georgia that seeks to eliminate substandard housing, and the Microfinance Centre (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, a regional network of 110 microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently agreed to work together to establish a Regional Center for Innovation for Shelter and Finance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Paper Gains on Early Investment in SKS Microfinance Largely Evaporate For Sequoia Capital
Since its initial investment in SKS Microfinance, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI), Sequoia Capital, a US-based venture capital firm, has experienced significant gains on paper followed by partial losses of those gains.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Brief “Measuring Changes in Client Lives Through Microfinance: Contributions of Different Approaches” Finds Existing RCTs Insufficient to Prove Success of MicroCredit
A recent brief published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) examines different approaches to measuring changes in client lives that may be attributed to microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ericsson Mobile Money Service Grows to Serve Thousands of Users in Several Currencies
Ericsson, a Sweden-based telecommunications company, has launched an international money transfer and payment service via internet and mobile phone. Ericsson began a pilot program in September 2010 involving 50 service delivery partners in six European countries and the Philippines and is in the process of scaling operations. As of May 2011, the program serves thousands of users with several currencies. Detailed numbers are not available.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Turkmenistan Adopts Microfinance Law
Mejlis, the Legislature of Turkmenistan, has passed a law on “microfinance institutions and microfinance” [1]. According to the official report released by the Mejlis, the law is intended to attract financial resources to the country, facilitate the creation of industrial and business infrastructure and enhance the competitiveness of Turkmenistan’s private sector. Further details on the law are unavailable.