This deal comes to us courtesy of the Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse. MicroCredit Enterprises, a California-based nonprofit organization (NGO) that mobilizes private capital for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the developing world, recently invested USD 600,000 in loans in CHC Limited, a Cambodian MFI.
As MicroCapital reported in an October “Who’s Who in Microfinance” article, MicroCredit Enterprises was founded in 2005 to target sustainable economic development among families living in extreme poverty (USD 1 per day or less). Its loan portfolio grosses USD 9.3 million and includes seventeen MFIs in twelve countries worldwide. Because the majority of MicroCredit Enterprises’ senior management team serves on a pro bono basis, the organization is able to operate with an annual budget of only 3 percent, or USD 300,000 of its loan portfolio. MicroCredit Enterprises is led by CEO Jonathan C. Lewis and CFO Michael H. Katcher.
CHC Limited, formerly known as Cambodian Health Committee Credit Program, was established in March 1994 in response to public health problems, in particular tuberculosis, among the rural poor in Svay Rieng province, Cambodia. At year-end 2006, it reported total assets of USD 1.2 million. In addition, MIX Market reports that as of the end of 2007, CHC Limited had 6,294 active clients, including over 4,000 savers. Its gross loan portfolio is just under USD 1.8 million with a portfolio-at-risk (PAR) over 60 days of 0.7 percent. In 2006, Micro-Credit Ratings International Limited (M-CRIL) gave CHC Limited a rating of beta plus (ß+). CHC Limited’s major shareholders include CARD Bank, CMI Holding International, as well as individual shareholders. It is currently led by a five-member Board of Directors.
By Mary Fu
Additional Resources:
CGAP: “List of Recent Transactions” – January 2008
MicroCapital article, October 11, 2007: “WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: MicroCredit Enterprises”
MicroCredit Enterprises: About
CHC Limited Microfinance Institution: About
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