The Norway-based Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) recently announced a subordinated loan of USD 7 million to Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) Cambodia, a member of the Sri Lanka-based LOLC Group, to expand lending and leasing services for individuals with low incomes who live in rural areas. The deal follows
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance Borrows $4m from Crédit Agricole CIB for Group Lending to Rural, Women-owned Businesses in India, Guaranteed by GCA Foundation
Fusion Microfinance, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI), recently borrowed local currency approximately equivalent to USD 4.4 million from Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) India, a unit of France-based Crédit Agricole. The loan, which is guaranteed by the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, is for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CreditAccess Grameen Seeking $50m in Debt from IFC for Financial Inclusion of Women in India
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently moved to lend as much as USD 50 million in the form of a three-year senior loan to CreditAccess Grameen, a unit of CreditAccess India. The objective of the loan is to boost enterprise lending to women who live in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BII Investing $75m in MSME Funders via Symbiotics to Enable “Green” Projects in Africa, Asia
British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, recently subscribed to a bond issuance arranged by Switzerland-based Symbiotics in the amount of USD 75 million to be invested in 10 to 15 funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia to boost “small-scale green projects and businesses.” To support the investments, BII has committed USD 520,000 in technical assistance for the retail lenders to help their clients invest in assets such as “rooftop solar panels, sustainable agriculture, energy-efficient appliances” and others. The program spans
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Quizrr, Ulula, Wagely Supporting Financial, Digital Literacy for Garment Workers in Bangladesh
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently committed approximately USD 556,000 to support pilot training programs for workers in the Bangladeshi garment industry. The funding will pay for technical assistance and performance-based grants for three firms seeking to promote financial and digital literacy skills and hence financial and digital inclusion for 135,000 individuals working in the sector, mostly women. UNCDF’s implementing partners for the project are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sherpa Company Pays $65m for 25% Equity Stake in Trusting Social to Harness Big Data for Consumer Finance in Vietnam
Singapore-based Trusting Social recently closed its Series C funding round, selling 25 percent of its equity for USD 65 million to Sherpa Company, a subsidiary of the Vietnam-based Masan Group, which operates across the financial, food, materials, retail and technology sectors. Trusting Social offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Disburses $15m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions in 7 Countries
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans totaling USD 15 million from the Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and three other countries. Neither the names of the MFIs nor
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Louis Dreyfus Company Borrowing $100m from ADB to On-lend to Small-scale Farmers to Boost Climate Resilience, COVID-19 Recovery
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral institution based in the Philippines, recently agreed to lend USD 100 million to Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a Netherlands-based firm active in agriculture, food processing and shipping. LDC plans to use the funds to finance “coffee, cotton and rice inventories” for 50,000 smallholder farmers who supply the firm’s operations in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. Among the goals of the project are to
SPECIAL REPORT: Measuring Impact with Agents for Impact’s AFISAR Tool
Agents for Impact: Driving Positive Impact… Together!
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the UN in 2015 provide a blueprint for a just and sustainable world. While actors across a range of professional arenas are rushing to catch up with the SDGs, the term “impact” is being thrown around loosely to give the impression that the desired goals have been reached. It is tempting to assume certain businesses have a positive impact on the SDGs, simply based on intuition. However, some might negatively impact the SDGs or elicit both positive and negative outcomes in the long run. Without proper tools for impact measurement and assessment, we can only get so far!
Agents for Impact (AFI) understands how essential it is to improve the practice of impact measurement through stable and coherent frameworks. To deliver on this promise, we have designed a specialized investment approach to support microfinance institutions (MFIs) that exhibit strong commitment to and proven track records of progress toward the SDGs. To evaluate an MFI’s performance, AFI peels back the surface to deploy a strong assortment of cohesive and rigorous assessment tools, including financial analysis and addressing social performance indicators; sustainability factors; and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp Africa Summit; March 1-4, 2022; Nairobi, Kenya
In parallel with its sibling Sankalp events that have a global or Southeast Asian focus, this forum is intended to “leverage the knowledge and networks from entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and policymakers” to promote “development through entrepreneurship and innovation.” The theme for the ninth Sankalp Africa Summit is “mainstreaming impact” to create
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
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxus MFIs in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan Borrow $2.1m from Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation for On-Lending, Mostly in Rural Areas
The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently announced it is disbursing loans in local currency to two members of the US-based Oxus Group, both for on-lending to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDH Farmfit Fund Acquires Equity Stake in LendXS, Provider of Fintech for Microfinance Institutions Serving Smallholder Farmers
The IDH Farmfit Fund, which is facilitated by the Sustainable Trade Initiative, a Netherlands-based NGO known by its Dutch acronym IDH, recently acquired a 21-percent stake in LendXS, a Netherlands-based financial technology (fintech) platform for rural financial institutions. The pricing of the transaction remains
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Madagascar, IFC, Local Insurers Partner on Agricultural Insurance, Seeking to Lower Risk of Lending to Farmers
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced a partnership with the government of Madagascar to boost farmers’ access to insurance that protects their crops from climate-related disasters. The project will engage Malagasy insurance companies to create
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Invests $24m in Evolving Europe Principal Investments Fund (EEPIF) to Boost SME Finance
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently invested EUR 20 million (USD 24.2 million) in the Evolving Europe Principal Investments Fund (EEPIF), which is managed by UK-based private equity firm Integral Venture Partners, with the goal of improving the financial inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 14 countries. Among the countries to receive investment are
SPECIAL REPORT: Danone, Incofin, Water.org: WASH Sector is Already Investible
During 
one of the Friday sessions of European Microfinance Week 2020, Dina Pons of Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management explained a partnership with France-based food company Danone through which the organizations are building a 10-year equity fund to invest in expanding access to clean water in developing countries. Since 2007, the Danone Communities arm of Danone – mostly funded by its employees – has invested in access to drinking water on a proof-of-concept basis. Now Danone believes the sector has matured from the incubation stage to the investible stage. The company selected Incofin to help it invest in proven models, with a technical assistance component and monitoring of factors such as affordability, limiting plastic usage and
SPECIAL REPORT: Minimizing Setbacks for Women, Girls Under COVID-19; Taking Advantage of the Pandemic to Liberalize Regulation, Boost Access to Digital Financial Services
Mary Ellen Iskenderian of the US-based NGO Women’s World Banking (WWB) spoke today, the closing day of European Microfinance Week, about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls. Of the challenges they face, she said “COVID didn’t create these gaps, but it shines a bright light on the fissures, and we don’t want to see these grow larger.” As an example, she cited the strides made in recent years in terms of enrolling girls in primary education. She called this the single most powerful tool for creating development impact. However, one of the first things she has seen families in developing countries doing in response to COVID-19 is taking their daughters out of school.
On the positive side, Ms Iskenderian noted “a silver lining, that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Business Correspondent Sub-K Impact Launching Digital Platform for Insurance, Investing, Microfinance Referrals with Support from Accion, Mastercard
Sub-K Impact Solutions, a subsidiary of India-based BASIX Social Enterprise Group, is releasing a digital platform called SARTHI (Seamless Advanced Resourceful Tech-driven Hybrid Interface) to facilitate access to insurance, microloans and investment services. SARTHI will place users in contact with financial services providers