by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Marion Allet: e-MFP Microfinance and Environment Action Group Offers Tools for Microfinance Institutions Looking to Go Green

MicroCapital: Would you please tell us about the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Microfinance and Environment Action Group?

Marion Allet: The e-MFP Microfinance and Environment Action Group was officially launched in February 2013. It is an initiative of various organizations that were already involved in “green microfinance,” such as MicroEnergy International, ADA, PlaNet Finance, Enclude, PAMIGA (the Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) etc. A few years ago, there were very few actors addressing the issue of the environment within microfinance, so we thought there was a real need for sharing experiences. We also wanted to provide some practical tools to help stakeholders understand what green microfinance is and how to get involved.

by Ben Krupp -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Lends $5m to DemirBank of Azerbaijan to Promote Residential, Business Energy-Efficiency Projects

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development bank that operates in eastern Europe, central Asia and northern Africa, has loaned USD 5 million to DemirBank, a commercial bank in Azerbaijan that focuses on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the intention of promoting projects that reduce energy use in the country.

by Ben Krupp -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion’s Frontier Investments Invests Equity in Britain’s Eseye, Provider of Machine-to-Machine “M2M” Services That Can Facilitate Utility Service to Low-Income Households

Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, a venture-equity initiative that seeks to invest in companies serving financially excluded populations, has invested an undisclosed amount in Eseye Limited, a UK-based machine-to-machine (M2M) technology provider, during Eseye’s series-B financing round, which raised a total of USD 9 million.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Partner Microcredit Foundation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borrows $4m from European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) for Lending to Micro, Small Enterprises (MSEs)

Partner Microcredit Foundation (PMCF), a microfinance institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, recently borrowed EUR 3 million (USD 4.1 million) under a senior loan agreement from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle organization promoting economic development.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Partner Microcredit Foundation (PMCF) of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borrows $5.5m from Green for Growth Fund (GGF) for Energy Efficiency Financing

Partner Microcredit Foundation (PMCF), a microfinance institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, recently borrowed EUR 4 million (USD 5.48 million) under a senior credit agreement from Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a Luxembourg-based organization focusing on the use of renewable energy sources and enhancing energy efficiency.

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Michael Chu: “Disrupt this Old Model to Unlock the Potential of Microfinance”

At today’s opening plenary of European Microfinance Week, which is hosted by Luxembourg’s 140-member European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), Michael Chu of the US-based Harvard Business School and the Mexico-based venture capital fund Ignia, argued that microfinance is generally implemented using a 20-year-old model that is inefficient and “ripe for disruption” through technology.

by Jennifer Young -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Union Commit $25m to Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (KyrSEFF)

The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently launched the Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (KyrSEFF), a USD 20 million credit line supporting energy efficiency projects for households and private enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic.

by Jennifer Young -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: U’yo’olché, Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (FMCN) Look to Carbon Credits to Finance Improved Cook Stoves to Reduce Emissions, Improve Living Standards, Promote Women’s Rights in Rural Mexico

U’yo’olché, a Mexican environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), and Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, A.C. (FMCN), a nonprofit funder of environmental efforts, are leading an initiative to provide improved cook stoves to families in rural areas of southern Mexico with the aim of reducing wood consumption, eliminating hazardous household smoke, decreasing the risk of accidents, minimizing household expenses and promoting women’s empowerment.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Karnataka State Government Launches Mysore City Street Vendors Multipurpose Cooperative Society to Provide Loans to Indian Street Vendors

The government of the Indian state Karnataka recently launched the Mysore City Street Vendors Multipurpose Cooperative Society to provide microloans to street vendors unable to qualify for traditional bank loans.

by Sarah Benali -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $5m to Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO) of Nigeria

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank Group, recently extended a NGN 800 million (USD 5 million) loan to Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI) Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO).

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and Social Insurance to Provide Free Health Insurance to Poor People

The Ministry of Health of Vietnam and Vietnam Social Insurance, a government-funded organization that offers insurance to workers, reportedly will issue health insurance cards free of charge to families living close to or below the poverty line.

by Jaime Fellers -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ugandan Agribusiness Initiative (aBi) Trust Grants $60k to Masaka Microfinance Development Cooperative (MAMIDECOT) to Open Branch in Rakai

The Agribusiness Initiative (aBi) Trust, a nonprofit in Uganda that supports private-sector agriculture, has contributed UGX 149 million (USD 60,000) to Masaka Microfinance Development Cooperative (MAMIDECOT), a Ugandan microfinance institution (MFI), for the establishment of a new branch in the Bukunda trading centre in Rakai, the district that neighbors Masaka to the west.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bamboo Finance, ZS Associates Co-Founder Invest $4m in Equity in Greenlight Planet to Boost Research, Distribution Network of LED Lamps in Rural India

Bamboo Finance, a Switzerland-based investment firm, and Dr PK Sinha, co-founder of US-based consulting firm ZS Associates, recently invested a total of INR 206 million (USD 4 million) in equity in Greenlight Planet, an Indian company that aims to provide “low-cost” energy products to low-income households in emerging markets.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Emerging Markets; Impact of Insurance Literacy on Health Microinsurance in Senegal; State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities

“Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Emerging Markets: How Banks Can Grasp a $350 Billion Opportunity,” by Mutsa Chironga, et al; published by McKinsey & Company; 2012; 58 pages; available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Financial_Services/Knowledge_Highlights/Recent_Reports/MSME%20Emerging%20Banking.aspx

by Ariana Malushi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Approves $10m Loan to MicroEnergy Credits (MEC) to Promote Clean Energy Microfinance

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government, has approved a loan of USD 10 million to MicroEnergy Credits (MEC), a US-based, for-profit firm, to assist microfinance institutions (MFIs) in launching clean-energy lending programs.

by Cameron Milani -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sustainable Enterprise Fund, Oikocredit, Grace Foundation Invest in Barefoot Power to Support Renewable Energy in Remote Indian Communities

The Sustainable Enterprise Fund, an Austrian impact venture fund managed by Ennovent, along with Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, and Grace Foundation, a Christian organization in Australia that invests in social enterprise-based solutions to poverty, have made an investment in Barefoot Power, an Australian for-profit enterprise that manufactures and sells lighting products, solar phone chargers and business development services for low-income populations.

by Cameron Milani -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Weather-Index Microinsurance Program Kilimo Salama Distributes $9k to Kenyan Farmers After Crop Failure

Roughly 1,400 farmers recently received USD 9,230 each after drought caused crop failure in Kenya, as part of the microinsurance program Kilimo Salama.