MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agents for Impact Disburses $1.5m from IIV to FINCA Bank Kyrgyzstan for Microfinance

Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued USD 1.5 million to FINCA Bank Kyrgyzstan, a unit of US-based FINCA Impact Finance, on behalf of Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV). FINCA Kyrgyzstan serves 155,000 customers – half women – with USD 45 million of savings held and a loan portfolio of USD 85 million as of December 2020. The organization, which was founded in 1995, offers both group and individual loans as well as money transfer services and financial literacy training via 70 branches and online.

FINCA Impact Finance is for-profit entity partially held by the US-based NGO FINCA International, which was launched in 1984 as the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International). FINCA Impact Finance comprises 20 banks and microfinance institutions delivering savings, loans and other services to 2.6 million customers in Africa, Eurasia and Latin America. Among its programs is FINCA Ventures, which has eight investments as of 2021 in the form of “patient capital and technical assistance to early-stage social enterprises to support innovation in energy, water/sanitation/hygiene, education, health, agriculture and fintech [financial technology].”

Launched in 2006, IIV manages “investments in sustainable agriculture, social enterprises and social impact lending.” The firm created its primary product, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, in 2011 to invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises via intermediaries in developing countries. It does this mainly via “small and medium-sized MFIs, particularly in rural areas.” The minimum investment in the fund is EUR 100 (USD 113). As of April 2022, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds has a volume of EUR 889 million (USD 934 million).

AFI, which was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Frankfurt, does not disclose the volume of its operations. The goal of the firm is to bring together investors to make progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with AFI

FINCA Impact Finance profile on FINCA Kyrgyzstan
https://www.fincaimpact.com/network/

FINCA International homepage
https://finca.org/

UN Sustainable Development Goals
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

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