Banco de la Producción SA (Produbanco), a bank in Ecuador, recently agreed to borrow USD 150 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed development finance institution. One half of the funding is for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support
Search Results for: covid
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Fintech and Financial Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean,” by Dmitry Gershenson et al, Published by International Monetary Fund
This 
paper examines financial technology (fintech) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), particularly: (1) whether fintech can increase financial inclusion; and (2) best practices for governments seeking to use fintech to do so. Among the challenges is that
SPECIAL REPORT: CRECER, Dreamlopments, Fonkoze in Finals for European Microfinance Award 2021 on Inclusive Finance & Health Care
From 
the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 22nd and 23rd September 2021, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2021 (EMA 2021) on “Inclusive Finance & Health Care” chose the three finalists who will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 117,000) prize: CRECER IFD from Bolivia, Dreamlopments Limited from Thailand and Fonkoze from Haiti.
Access to quality health care underpins everything else: it allows education to play its role in opening new opportunities; it allows people to earn, invest and employ others; it lets groups and societies prosper. But paying for health care is the single biggest
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance); October 18-22, 2021; Kigali, Rwanda
This year’s SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) includes five days of conference sessions, an investors’ fair, an “Innovators’ Village,” research presentations, training sessions and workshops under the theme “Resilience of the African Inclusive Finance Sector.” The two-day conference portion of SAM includes sessions on topics such as how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, financing agricultural value chains, risk management, serving youth, digital infrastructure and post-crisis reconstruction. The other days of SAM include workshops on topics such as social performance,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triple Jump via ASN Microkredietpool, NMI, Incofin Place $9.4m in Equity in Light Microfinance for Financial Inclusion of Women in Rural India
Light Microfinance, a non-banking finance institution in India, recently raised equity from three European organizations: USD 4 million from Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a Norway-based public-private partnership active in Africa and Asia; USD 3 million from ASN Microkredietpool, a microfinance fund managed by Netherlands-based Triple Jump; and EUR 2 million (USD 2.4 million) from
SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience for Microfinance Clients – the SAM 2021 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22
MicroCapital: How will the theme resilience be addressed during the SAM 2021?
Yombo Odanou: The EU has defined resilience as “the capacity of an individual, household, community, country or region to resist, adapt and recover quickly from crises and shocks.” The dual climate and COVID-19 crises and their effects on the global economy are forcing institutions to find new ways to take advantage of this austere environment.
Christophe Hebting: We believe the discussions at the SAM can build the resilience capacity of all actors in the inclusive finance sector. This includes addressing questions such as: How can resilience be increased through structural change? In the face of climate change? Through technological innovations?
MC: How are you addressing concerns attendees may have regarding the potential transmission of COVID-19 during the event?
YO: Since the beginning of this pandemic, MAIN has initiated actions to enable its members to minimise the risk of infection, allowing them to continue
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Leadership as a Driver of Innovative Financial Services for Women;” by Jaclyn Berfond, Jennifer Iwueze; Published by WWB
This paper offers an analysis of data collected from alumni of the Women’s World Banking Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program (LDIP), which engages “senior executives and high-potential women leaders to enable them to successfully serve low-income women” customers of financial service providers (FSPs). The authors focus on “the strategic business initiatives of LDIP participants” and
SPECIAL REPORT: Non-performing Loan Management and Investment – a New Executive Education Offering from Frankfurt School
This year, Europe is emerging from the deepest recession in a generation. But this has not been a normal recession. The number of insolvencies has come down over the last year, and non-performing loans (NPLs) are close to a historic low. Numerous government support measures, such as tax rebates, furlough schemes, moratoria and the suspension of insolvency proceedings were highly effective in temporarily bridging enterprises’ liquidity shortfalls.
However, most of these support measures have come to an end, and many firms’ liquidity buffers are depleted. Meanwhile, a range of sectors will need to confront
a fundamental reshaping of their business models. The European Systemic Risk Board, tasked with the big financial stability issues in Europe, speaks of a coming tsunami of insolvencies.
In developing countries, the COVID-19 crisis will be more protracted, and a full recovery is less certain. Many mid-sized companies entered the crisis with significant leverage levels, and the more numerous microenterprises are poorly
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, FMO Loaning $50m to I&M Bank to Support SMEs in Kenya
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, along with Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership, recently announced a loan package of USD 50 million for I&M Bank Limited, which is owned by the Kenya-based I&M Group. The funds are intended to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in Cambodia Restructured $1.7b in Loans During Early 2021, Requests for Restructuring Peaked in 2nd Quarter
Kaing Tongngy, the director of communications for the 114-member Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), reportedly has stated that CMA members restructured approximately USD 1.7 billion in loans during the first six months of 2021. At the beginning of 2021, around
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CDC Group, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Agree to $50m Risk-sharing Facility to Boost Trade, Supply Chains in South Asia, Africa
CDC Group, a development finance institution backed by the UK government, recently announced a risk-sharing facility valued at USD 50 million in partnership with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) UK, a subsidiary of Pakistan-based HBL. The facility aims to boost HBL UK’s ability to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Lends $12m to Garanti BBVA Leasing Romania for Microenterprises, SMEs, Including Women-owned Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently loaned EUR 10 million (USD 12 million) to Garanti BBVA Leasing Romania, which is controlled by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). The investment is intended to support microenterprises as well as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Dinie of Brazil Raises $24m in Equity, Debt to Boost In-house API, Capacity, Securitization
Dinie, a financial technology (fintech) lender in Brazil, recently raised USD 3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Accion Venture Lab – a unit of US-based nonprofit Accion – and US-based investment firm K50 Ventures. The other participants were
SPECIAL REPORT: How Do We Build the Right Skills for a Sustainable Future?
There is no doubt that sustainability considerations recently have found their way into many areas of our lives. The global Fridays for Future movement is just one of several calls to action to significantly reduce carbon emissions and make the world more climate-resilient and socially equitable – and thus a better place to live. The adoption of the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are driving demand for low-carbon goods and services around the world. Thus, the sustainability wave has spilled over into the real economy and the financial sector, forcing stakeholders to rethink legacy business models and practices. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, being the main pillars for sustainability, have become key drivers for investment and other business decisions, as sustainability-related risks (e.g. climate change) have started to gain wide recognition.
The COVID-19 pandemic: A (final) push for sustainability?
The fragility of unsustainable business models and lack of practices for a resilient and robust economy – as well as survivability – became
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “SME Finance Loans for Growth,” Published by Symbiotics
This paper offers an analysis of the impact of the SME Finance Loans For Growth (LFG) fund from its launch in 2016 through 2020. LFG is a collaboration of three Swiss organizations, the Symbiotics Group, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Private Sector Financing Programme to Support Rural Businesses, Launching with $5m Loan to Babban Gona, Facilitator of Agriculture in Nigeria
The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently launched the Private Sector Financing Programme (PSFP) to support rural businesses; combat hunger, poverty and climate change; and promote the inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable groups in poor countries. The program will issue
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Loans $2m to FINCA Tajikistan for Microfinance
German investment research firm Agents for Impact recently advised Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) on its disbursement of a loan in the amount of USD 2 million to FINCA Tajikistan, a microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with the US-based for-profit
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Boosts Loan Ceiling of Quds Bank to Support Cross-border Trade, MSMEs in West Bank, Gaza
Recently, the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) agreed to increase the credit line it has open for Quds Bank, a commercial bank operating in the West Bank and Gaza, by USD 10 million. Half of the new increment is for Quds Bank to use for