The Acumen Fund, a US-based nonprofit venture fund that invests in entrepreneurial approaches to reduce poverty, recently partnered with Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization that works with microfinance institutions (MFIs), to make a quasi-equity investment totaling USD 1.75 million in Juhudi Kilimo Company Limited (Juhudi Kilimo), a Kenyan MFI. While a quasi-equity investment generally has both equity and debt characteristics, the details of this aspect of the transaction have not been released. The Acumen Fund invested USD 1.2 million in Juhudi Kilimo, and Grameen Foundation invested USD 550,000. In 2009, Juhudi Kilimo reported to US-based, nonprofit data provider Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 1.6 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 983,000 and 3,570 borrowers.
By Jacqueline Foelster, Research Associate
About Acumen Fund: Founded in 2001 with seed capital from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation and individual philanthropists, the Acumen Fund is a nonprofit venture fund based in New York City. It advocates the use of entrepreneurial approaches to tackle poverty, focusing on early-stage debt and equity investments in enterprises that provide low-income customers with access to healthcare, water, housing, alternative energy or agricultural inputs. Commitments generally range from USD 300,000 to USD 2.5 million with an expected payback timeframe of five to seven years.
About Grameen Foundation: The Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC, aims to help microfinance institutions throughout the world replicate the Grameen Bank’s joint liability model. It provides financial, technological and managerial support to efforts to provide telecommunication services and new business opportunities for poor people in rural areas. Though the Grameen Foundation is independent of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, serves on the foundation’s Board of Directors. Grameen Foundation reported total assets of USD 33.1 million as of March 31, 2010.
About Juhudi Kilimo Company Limited (Juhudi Kilimo): Juhudi Kilimo is a Kenyan microfinance institution (MFI) that provides loan products to small-scale farmers in Kenya to purchase productive agricultural assets. It commenced operations in 2004 as an initiative within Kenyan nonprofit organization K-Rep Development Agency. In 2009, Juhudi Kilimo reported to US-based, nonprofit data provider Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 1.6 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 983,000 and 3,570 borrowers.
Source and Additional Resources:
[1] Grameen Foundation, Press Release, May 2011, “Acumen Fund and Grameen Foundation Invest in Agricultural Microfinance Company Juhudi Kilimo Company Limited”, http://www.grameenfoundation.org/press-releases/acumen-fund-and-grameen-foundation-invest-agricultural-microfinance-company-juhudi-ki
MicroCapital.org Brief, April 28, 2011, “Acumen Fund Makes Equity Investment of $1.9m in Pakistani National Rural Support Program (NRSP) Microfinance Bank”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-acumen-fund-makes-equity-investment-of-1-9m-in-pakistani-national-rural-support-program-nrsp-microfinance-bank/
MicroCapital.org Brief, May 13, 2010, “The Grameen Foundation Announces Pioneer Fund to Focus on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Underserved Areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-the-grameen-foundation-announces-pioneer-fund-to-focus-on-microfinance-institutions-mfis-in-underserved-areas-of-africa-asia-and-latin-america/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Acumen Fund, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Acumen+Fund
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Grameen Foundation, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Grameen+Foundation
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Juhudi Kilimo Company Limited, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Juhudi+Kilimo
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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