The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to work with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the country’s central bank, to develop a financial inclusion strategy for improving digital financial services, expanding access to underserved populations and protecting consumer rights in the country. NBU Chairman Kyrylo Shevchenko said,
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deposit Insurance Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Renews Credit Line from EBRD with 40% Lower Ceiling
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently agreed to provide a “standby credit line” in the amount of EUR 30 million (USD 35.2 million) to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) to help it
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Microfinance Sector in Europe: Field Analysis and Policy Recommendations;” by Kinga Dabrowska, Pitor Korynski, Justyna Pytkowska
Based on data collected from 22 European microfinance institutions and industry associations, the authors describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canada’s Desjardins Group Launches Aequitas Fund with $38m to Advance UN Sustainable Development Goals Including Gender Equity, Climate Change Readiness
The Canadian cooperative Desjardins Group recently invested CAD 50 million (USD 37.9 million) to create the Aequitas fund, a private investment fund aimed at achieving gender equality, advancing climate change solutions and meeting other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The fund will promote financial inclusion through provision of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Edgar Martinez Named CEO of VisionFund International, Provider of Microfinance in 28 Countries
In January 2021, Edgar Martinez will take the positions of President and CEO at VisionFund International (VFI). The organization, which is owned by US-based NGO World Vision, provides microfinance services
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 17th Annual Global Microfinance Forum; April 22-23, 2021; NOW VIRTUAL
Originally planned to take place in person in Prague, this virtual event is centered on helping actors in the microfinance industry to prosper in the context of future economic and regulatory environments. Session topics include repayment suspensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financial Literacy Centre of Kosovo Provides Curriculum, Textbooks for Primary Schools
The Financial Literacy Centre (FLC), which was established in Kosovo in 2017 by the Central Bank of Kosovo and the Development Facility of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), recently helped build financial literacy into the curriculum of Kosovo’s Ministry of Education. The programming includes “an inclusive approach featuring characters of various physical abilities and gender presentation” introducing “learners to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Centre “Borrow Wisely Campaign” Seeks to Prevent Over-indebtedness
During the month of October, the Microfinance Centre (MFC), a 113-member network based in Poland, is running its annual Borrow Wisely Campaign (BWC) “to make [borrowers] aware of the threat of excessive debt and help them learn how to avoid it.” BWC and its members do this through:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Women’s World Banking Partner on Digital Financial Inclusion for Women
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the US-based nonprofit Women’s World Banking (WWB) recently launched a strategic partnership to increase “access to digital financial services for women and girls, specifically in emerging markets and least developed countries.” The goals include to boost
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Loans $5m in Local Currency to TBC Leasing to Boost Energy Efficiency of SMEs in Georgia
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Germany-based investment fund, recently loaned TBC Leasing, a member of Georgia’s Tbilisi Business Centre (TBC) Bank, approximately GEL 16 million (USD 5 million) to fund the leasing of equipment
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Isbank Georgia, IFC Agree on Cross-currency Interest Swaps, $10m Loan for SMEs
Isbank Georgia, a subsidiary of Turkey-based bank Türkiye Is Bankasl, recently agreed to borrow USD 10 million from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. Isbank is to use the funds to on-lend primarily to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.4m to Microinvest of Moldova for Microfinance, Mostly in Rural Areas
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently loaned approximately MDL 39 million (USD 2.4 million) to Microinvest, a microlender in Moldova. Microinvest offers collateral and collateral-free loans for business, agriculture, housing, vehicles and consumption. These loans range in size from MDL 2,000 (USD 120) to MDL 4 million (USD 240,000), with terms of 3 months to 7 years. Microinvest has a portfolio of MDL 1.9 billion (USD 114 million) outstanding to 35,000 clients as of 2020. About two thirds of these customers live in rural areas, and the male-female ratio is even.
Microinvest is majority held by Balkan Financial Sector Equity Fund. The Romania-based Banca Transilvania Financial Group was seeking
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Guarantee Lending to SMEs by Raiffeisen Bank Albania
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, recently partnered with Raiffeisen Bank Albania on a risk-sharing facility of EUR 50 million (USD 59.2 million). This will allow Raiffeisen Bank Albania to increase its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans Inecobank of Armenia $6m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Offset Effects of COVID-19 via Mobile Banking
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (IM) recently disbursed a loan of USD 6 million to Inecobank, an Armenia-based institution, from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a fund launched by the German government’s KfW Entwicklungsbank and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. The proceeds will enable Inecobank to increase its lending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, due to the pandemic, the bank moved all of its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Lending $2.4m to BT Leasing MD to Support MSEs in Moldova During Coronavirus Pandemic
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently agreed to loan EUR 2 million (USD 2.4 million) to Banca Transilvania (BT) Leasing MD, a Moldovan entity controlled by Romania’s BT, to finance micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) that need
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Future Banking; September 9-10, 2020; Bucharest, Romania
This event features 25 speakers in a format offering both in-person and virtual options. It will cover a range of technical, marketing, funding and other topics
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lends $12m to Credo Bank for Microfinance in Rural Georgia to Offset Effects of COVID-19 on Food Production
Credo Bank, a microfinance institution in Georgia, recently accepted a local-currency loan in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 11.8 million from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Credo will use the funds to on-lend primarily as working capital for people living in rural areas,
SPECIAL REPORT: Stakeholders Fearful, But with Tentative Hope Too in e-MFP’s Just-published “COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass”
The
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) has published the COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass, a special edition of the Compass series specifically focused on the current challenges, medium-term priorities, concerns, opportunities and forecasts for a sector facing probably the greatest crisis in its modern history.
The world – the financial inclusion sector included – is in the midst of twin crises: (1) a novel and highly contagious virus with no vaccine or cure that shows no signs of abating; and (2) a genuinely global recession as a result of the unavoidable containment measures put in place. The situation is uncertain and dynamic. Six months from now, the landscape will