US-based MicroVest, a unit of Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), recently lent USD 4 million to Bayport Colombia, a financial services provider seeking to “expand credit accessibility and financial empowerment” among public sector employees. This transaction marks MicroVest’s third investment in Bayport since 2016.
Established in 2007, Bayport Colombia lends to employees and pensioners via payroll loans called “libranzas,” which are repaid via automatic payroll deductions. The loans carry fixed rates and an option for insurance coverage.
Bayport Colombia is a unit of Mauritius-based Bayport Management Limited, which also operates in Botswana, Ghana, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These subsidiaries offer services such as credit, savings and insurance. As of 2021, Bayport Management had a loan portfolio of USD 310 million.
MicroVest was founded in 2003 and specializes in wholesale lending to funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in low- and middle-income countries. For 2022, the organization reported average return on assets of 20 percent, ending the period with a gross loan portfolio of USD 1 billion, nearly all invested in Africa and Asia. The firm’s investees serve 9.6 million active borrowers, about half of whom are women and about one third of whom live in rural areas.
DAI Global is an employee-owned firm that is active in 100 countries in areas such as “economic development, sustainable business, climate change and the environment, governance, gender, and health.” The company has 16 offices and employed 5,000 people as of 2021.
By Hawra Moochhala, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
MicroVest press release
https://microvestfund.com/microvest-invests-in-bayport-colombia-to-expand-access-payroll-loans-for-public-sector-employees-across-country/
Bayport Colombia homepage
https://www.bayportcolombia.com/
Bayport Management homepage
https://www.bayportfinance.com/
Bayport Management Impact Report (2021)
https://www.bayportfinance.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/BML-2021-Impact-Report.pdf
MicroVest Impact Report (2022)
https://microvestfund.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PRINT-VER_MicroVest-2022-Impact-Report_FINAL-compressed.pdf
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