Through its Development Credit Authority (DCA), the US Agency for International Development (AID) has agreed to guarantee a portion of agricultural loans totaling USD 15 million to be disbursed
Search Results for: "Grameen Credit Agricole"
SPECIAL REPORT: Scaling Up Implementation of Social Performance Management at European Microfinance Week
On 
the first day of conference sessions at European Microfinance Week, experts in the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) discussed how tools developed over the last ten years have reached a level of maturity warranting their wider rollout.
Cecile Lapenu of France-based Cerise described SPI4, the fourth iteration of a set of Social Performance Indicators intended to simplify reporting and provide a common language for different stakeholders to discuss social performance management (SPM). SPI4 incorporates the Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principles and the Social Performance Task Force’s Universal Standards for SPM. It also includes optional modules on poverty, gender and the environment. To date, 432 SPI4 audits have been completed on institutions in 88 countries.
Jurgen Hammer of the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation explained his organization’s use of the SPI4/ALINUS (Aligning Investors’ Due Diligence to the Universal Standards) framework to evaluate and benchmark the social performance of its partner MFIs. The foundation was meeting or exceeding the benchmark data in all categories except
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Opens: Microfinance and Environment Action Group Celebrates Rollout of Solar Products in Central America, Ethiopia, Philippines; Turns Eye to Scaling Up
On the opening day of European Microfinance Week, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Microfinance and Environment Action Group met to review its successes and make plans for the next two years.
Carla Palomares of ADA, the Luxembourgish nonprofit formerly known as Appui au Développement Autonome, explained her organization’s work with the 60-member Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) and Red Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF), a network of networks serving 139 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Dominican Republic and six Central American countries. ADA helped MCPI develop a team dedicated to supporting its member MFIs in offering loans for clients to buy solar lamps. MCPI is now working with six additional MFIs to roll out solar loans. The program with REDCAMIF is similar, but involves microleasing for agricultural equipment and support regarding environmentally sustainable farming practices as well as
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 38th Midi de la Microfinance et de l’Inclusion Financière; March 8, 2017; Luxembourg
Event Name: 38th Midi de la Microfinance et de l’Inclusion Financière
Event Date: March 8, 2017
Event Location: Banque de Luxembourg, 14 Boulevard Royal, Luxembourg
Summary of Event: This 38th “Midi,” which is titled “Entreprenante Afrique: The Age of SMEs” consists of a one-hour discussion on the role that investors can play in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: e-MFP Survey of Investors in Tier 2/3 Microfinance Institutions; The Business of Doing Good; Benchmarking Inclusive Growth and Development
“Annual Survey 2014, e-MFP Action Group of Investors in Tier 2/3 MFIs;” prepared by Gabriela Erice, Daniel Rozas and e-MFP in collaboration with the e-MFP Action Group of Investors in Tier-2/3 Microfinance Institutions; published by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP); 2015; 22 pages, available at http://www.e-mfp.eu/sites/default/files/resources/2015/01/Annual%20Survey%202014%20-%20final.pdf
The “Investors in Tier 2/3 MFIs Action Group” of the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), a Luxembourg-based network of approximately 130 microfinance organizations and individuals, has released the results of its third annual survey detailing the analysis of investments of the action group members for the year 2013 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Launches Microfinance Operations in Owerri, Nigeria
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a US-based nonprofit microfinance network, has formally launched the operations of FINCA Microfinance Bank (FINCA MfB) in Owerri, Imo, Nigeria, following the issuance of its license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on October 30, 2014.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO, Cordaid, Incofin, KfW Commit $25m to Launch Wholesale Fund for DRC Under Nonprofit Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM)
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), which is owned by the government of Belgium and seeks to support the sustainable development of the private sector; the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid), a Netherlands-based NGO; Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a private Belgian company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned development bank in Germany, jointly have offered a “capital contribution” of USD 25.1 million for Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM), a nonprofit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) of Sri Lanka Pays $20m to Acquire 60% Stake in Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) from Developing World Markets, TPC Employee Association
Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) (TPC), a Cambodia-based microfinance institution (MFI), recently informed MicroCapital that Developing World Markets Asset Management (DWM), a US-based investment fund manager, has sold 55-percent equity stake in TPC to LOLC Micro Investments Limited (LOMI), a subsidiary of Sri-Lankan financial services group Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank Azerbaijan Receives $15m Loan from Green for Growth Fund for Financing Energy-Efficient Projects
AccessBank Azerbaijan, a microfinance bank (MFB) in Azerbaijan, has borrowed USD 15 million from the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a European public-private partnership that focuses on improving energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy sources in Southeastern Europe, with the aim of increasing AccessBank’s financing of energy-efficient projects.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group (WBG) Loans $500m to Government of Indonesia for Financial Sector Reform, Including to Boost Financial Inclusion
The World Bank Group (WBG), a US-based international financial institution, has recently approved a USD 500 million “Financial Sector Reform and Modernization Development Policy Loan”[1] (FSRM DPL) for the government of Indonesia.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION WRAP-UP: “FinDev Azerbaijan: Retaining Key Staff Through a ‘Pay for Performance’ Culture;” by Sevda Huseynova, Jalal Aliyev, Kinga Dabrowska; published by Microfinance Centre
“FinDev Azerbaijan: Retaining Key Staff Through a ‘Pay for Performance’ Culture;” by Sevda Huseynova, Jalal Aliyev and Kinga Dabrowska; published by the Microfinance Centre; March 2014; 7 pages; available at http://www.mfc.org.pl/sites/mfc.org.pl/files/FinDev_SP_Fund_ENG.pdf
The authors of this paper describe Finance for Development Limited Liability Company (LLC) (FinDev), an Azerbaijan-based institution that offers economic opportunities for poor people, particularly the evolution of its “staff performance appraisal system and salary compensation scheme.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Loans $9.6m to Microfinance Institutions Grameen Koota of India, Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida) of Indonesia
Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Dutch Triodos Bank, recently disbursed local currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 9.6 million to Grameen Financial Services Private Limited (Grameen Koota), a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, and Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida), an Indonesian microfinance institution (MFI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxus Democratic Republic of Congo Opens New Branch, Increases Total Capital to $2.7m
Oxus Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a microfinance institution (MFI) that opened in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 2012, recently raised an unspecified amount of funds to bring its total capital to USD 2.7 million.
SPECIAL REPORT: Overcoming Barriers to Agricultural Microfinance
At European Microfinance Week, which is hosted by Luxembourg’s 140-member European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), Daniela Rottger, a consultant to German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), spoke Wednesday about her study of the agricultural lending products offered by several African banks and microlenders.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Makes $3m Equity Investment in Bina Usaha Keluarga (BUK) of Indonesia, Seeking to Triple Female Clients of Microfinance Institution Mitra Bisnis Keluarga Ventura (MBK)
Bina Usaha Keluarga (BUK), the Indonesia-based controlling shareholder of Mitra Bisnis Keluarga Ventura (MBK), a microfinance institution (MFI) in the same country, recently received an equity infusion of IDR 34.3 billion (USD 3 million) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a US-based international financial institution and a member of the US-based World Bank Group, to triple the number of female clients of MBK.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triple Jump Innovation Fund Attracts $22m to Promote Financial Access in Emerging Markets
Achmea, a Netherlands-based insurance provider; KCD Mikrofinanzfonds, a German microfinance fund managed by Bank Im Bistum Essen eG; and Netherlands-based nonprofit organizations Cordaid and Oxfam Novib have invested a total of USD 22 million in Triple Jump, a Netherlands-based microfinance fund manager, for its new Triple Jump Innovation Fund [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microlending Platform Kubaru Partners with Action Grace Divine to Support Entrepreneurs in Burkina Faso
Kubaru, a UK-based nonprofit microfinance lending platform, recently partnered with Action Grace Divine (AGD), a microfinance institution in Burkina Faso, to provide funding for microentrepreneurs in Burkina Faso.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Loans $5.7m to Bank Andara to Support Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), a UK-based financial services company, recently announced that it will disburse a loan of IDR 57 billion (USD 5.74 million) to Bank Andara, an Indonesian commercial institution that provides wholesale services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and savings services to individuals.