MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate Launches Web-Based Impact Investing Platform Luminis

MicroRate, a US-based microfinance rating agency, with funding from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), a non-profit fund certification agency based in Luxembourg, has launched the full version of Luminis, an online analytical platform on microfinance funds.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Lends $23m to Inecobank of Armenia, Megabank of Ukraine, Partner MikroKreditna Fondacija Tuzla of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has reported to MicroCapital that it has made of the following amounts in support of microfinance during April 2012: USD 10 million to Inecobank of Armenia, USD 7 million to Megabank of Ukraine and approximately USD 6.66 million to Partner MikroKreditna Fondacija Tuzla of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Opens Microfinance Institution Advans Cote d’Ivoire, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $1m in Equity

Advans SA, a microfinance investment vehicle managed by Horus Development Finance of France, has announced that it has opened the first branch of its fifth microfinance institution (MFI), Advans Cote d’Ivoire, in Abidjan, the capital of the country.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $1.8m to Cambodian Microfinance Companies Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea, Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) Limited

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made local-curency loans equivalent to USD 1.8 million to Cambodian microfinance companies Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea (AMK) and Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) Limited.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Invests $2m in Jordan’s Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC), Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN)

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG recently reported to MicroCapital that is has lent the local currency equivalent of USD 1.5 million to Jordan’s Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) –with equivalent to USD 1 million from the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF) and equivalent to USD 500,000 from responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds (rAMF).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Partner Microcredit Foundation, European Fund for Southeast Europe Publish 100k Financial Literacy Guides for Microfinance Clients in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Partner Microcredit Foundation (PMCF), a microfinance institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the technical assistance arm of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a development finance investment fund, have collaborated on a financial literacy project for which PMCF created a “guide to smart borrowing” that covers topics including conducting business with financial institutions, obtaining a loan, acting as a guarantor on a loan, management of household budgets and the basics of consumer protection. The guide emphasizes details of the loan application process.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $4.5m to Microfinance Institutions in Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyz Republic

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that funds it manages have disbursed loans totaling USD 4.5 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Kyrgyz Republic.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans, International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Bankengruppe, FMO to Start La Fayette Microfinance Bank in Nigeria with $6.2m in Equity Investments

Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a US-based member of the World Bank Group; KfW Bankengruppe, a German development bank; and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), a Netherlands-based public-private development bank, to create a microfinance bank in Oyo State, Nigeria.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Provides $5.1m to Byblos Bank Armenia to Increase Microfinance Lending

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle that mobilizes capital for microfinance institutions (MFIs), has agreed to issue a loan equivalent to EUR 3.9 million (USD 5.1 million) to Byblos Bank Armenia, an Armenian financial institution with total assets of AMD 36 billion (USD 93.5 million).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Switzerland’s Azure Partners Launches Azure Global Microfinance Fund

Azure Partners, a Swiss company specializing in “socially responsible investments,” has launched Azure Global Microfinance Fund, a microfinance-focused “fund of funds” that will accept investments from both private and institutional investors [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $4m to ACLEDA Bank, Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) of Cambodia

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans amounting to USD 4 million to Cambodian financial institutions ACLEDA Bank and Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $3m to Microfinance Institutions Advans Cameroun, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling the local-currency equivalent of USD 3 million to financial institutions Advans Cameroun and Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $1.85m to Microfinance Institutions AgroInvest Holding of Montenegro, Forus Bank of Russia

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 1.85 million to financial institutions AgroInvest Holding of Montenegro and Forus Bank of Russia.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute’s “Vision Microfinance,” “Vision Microfinance Local Currency” Report Net Returns of 2.51% to 4.55% for 2011

Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH, an Austrian investment company that specializes in microfinance, reports that the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance, a sub-fund of Absolute’s Vision Microfinance, had a total fund volume of EUR 85.8 million (USD 109 million) with loans issued to 65 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 25 emerging markets as of December 2011.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Invests $2.3m in Microfinance Institutions Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan, FINCA Armenia, FinDev of Azerbaijan

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling the equivalent of USD 2.3 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan, FINCA Armenia and Finance for Development LLC (FinDev) of Azerbaijan [1].