ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit organization that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 22 countries, recently announced the official launch of ACCION Microfinanças, an MFI in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. ACCION Microfinanças will provide working capital loans and financial education, employing systems including credit scoring, cash-flow assessment, payment technologies like mobile banking and prepaid bank cards to take advantage of Brazil’s correspondent banking framework [1]. ACCION Microfinanças began unofficial operations on February 1, 2011, as was reported by MicroCapital at the time [2].
The establishment of the new MFI is the first stage in an effort by ACCION to expand into the northern region of Brazil. Over time, ACCION Microfinanças plans also to offer microinsurance and credit cards. Michael Schein, president and CEO of ACCION International, calls the initiative “something of a return to roots, as it was in Recife, Brazil, that ACCION first helped pioneer the concept of microlending in 1973” [1].
Other investors in the new MFI, which is majority-held by ACCION International, include the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; and unspecified private investors.
As of 2010, ACCION International’s network serves 3.18 million people with an active loan portfolio of USD 3.81 billion.
By Rohan Trivedi, Research Associate
About ACCION International:
ACCION International is a private, US-based nonprofit organization with the mission of alleviating poverty by providing financial products such as microenterprise loans and business training to its clients. ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION’s partner microfinance institutions provide loans to men and women entrepreneurs in 22 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. As of 2010, ACCION’s network serves 3.18 million active clients and has an active loan portfolio of USD 3.81 billion.
About ACCION Microfinanças:
ACCION Microfinanças is a Brazilian microfinance institution (MFI) that was established in 2011 by ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit organization that supports the global development of microfinance. As of June 2011, ACCION Microfinanças operates in the state of Amazonas in the northern region of Brazil. Investors in the microfinance institution (MFI) include ACCION International; the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; and unspecified private investors. ACCION Microfinanças does not report data to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] ACCION Press Release: “ACCION Launches Microfinance Operations in Amazon”, http://www.accion.org/page.aspx?pid=2356
[2] MicroCapital.org story, February 28, 2011: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACCION Microfinanças of Manaus, Brazil Begins Disbursing Microfinance Loans”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-accion-microfinancas-of-manaus-brazil-begins-disbursing-microfinance-loans/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: ACCION International, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=ACCION+International
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/.
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