The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has committed USD 15 million to EuroMena III, a 7-year closed-end private equity fund that aims to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $47m to Garanti Bank Romania to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Mostly Those Owned by Women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kaah Express, Silatech, American Refugee Committee (ARC) to Launch Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services in Somalia
Kaah Express, a US-based international remittances company, reportedly has partnered with Silatech, a Qatar-based enterprise focused on increasing employment and entrepreneurship among youth in the Middle East and North Africa, and the American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that offers humanitarian aid across the globe, to create Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS), a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Somalia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation, Tigo to Expand Mobile Financial Services in Ghana
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; the MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit founded by US-based global payment processing company MasterCard that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets; and Tigo Ghana, a unit of Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, recently announced that they have signed an agreement worth USD 2 million to provide advisory services to support Tigo Ghana “to develop and expand mobile financial services in support of wider financial inclusion”[1] in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure Raises $10m in Equity from International Finance Corporation, Omidyar Network, Opportunity International, Telenor Group; First-Time Investors AXA, Sanlam Emerging Markets
MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International, has announced that it has raised a total of USD 10.4 million from six investors including some of the company’s past investors: Opportunity International; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm; and Telenor Group, a telecommunications company based in Norway.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo, Airtel, Zantel Link Mobile Money Systems in Tanzania
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications company also known as Tigo; Airtel Tanzania, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel; and Zantel Tanzania, a telecommunications company owned by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates, recently announced an agreement to allow customers of the three firms’ mobile money services to send and receive money to and from users of all three systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation, Centre International de Développement et de Recherche (CIDR) to Expand Health Microinsurance in Senegal
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Centre International de Développement et de Recherche (CIDR), a nongovernmental organization based in France, recently announced an agreement “to expand micro health insurance in Senegal to low-income and informally employed individuals”[1] through Pool Micro Assurance Santé, a health services provider in Senegal.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen Fund, Adolf H Lundin Charitable Foundation Invest $1.5m in Farmer Information Service Esoko Networks of Ghana to Expand into East Africa
The Acumen Fund, a New York-based nonprofit venture fund, and the Adolf H Lundin Charitable Foundation, a Liechtenstein-based nonprofit organization, have invested an aggregate sum of USD 1.5 million in an unspecified combination of equity and debt in Esoko Networks Limited (Esoko) of Ghana, a technology platform that aims to strengthen the connection between farmers and markets in Africa with the use of mobile phones.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans Pakistan Microfinance Bank, MicroEnsure, EFU Life to Cover Loan Payments in Case of Sickness, Disability, Death, Death of Spouse
Advans Pakistan Microfinance Bank, a member of the Advans SA group that offers financial services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Pakistan, has joined with MicroEnsure Pakistan, a subsidiary of the UK-based MicroEnsure insurance agency, and Eastern Federal Union Life, a private-sector life insurance company in Pakistan, to introduce “Enhanced Credit Cover” for its borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gulf African Bank of Kenya to Receive Advisory Services Under International Finance Corporation’s Africa Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Finance Program
The International Finance Corporation, the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, has announced that the Gulf African Bank (GAB), which offers Shariah-compliant products and services in Kenya, has become a member of its Africa Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Finance Program.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mobile Money and Digital Payments Africa Conference and Workshop, May 20-22, 2014, Johannesburg, South Africa
Event Name: Mobile Money and Digital Payments Africa
Event Date: May 20-22, 2014
Event Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Facebook Seeks Regulatory Approval from Central Bank of Ireland to Provide Remittances, Mobile Money Throughout European Union
Facebook, a US-based social networking company, reportedly is waiting for approval of its application to the Central Bank of Ireland to become an “e-money” institution, which would allow it to provide remittances and mobile money services throughout Europe through a structure known as “passporting”[2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB) of Tanzania, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Sign $75m Agreement to Support Small, Medium-Sized Businesses Including Those Owned by Women, Involved in Agriculture
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Cooperative Rural Development Bank (CRDB), a commercial bank in Tanzania, recently signed an agreement worth USD 75 million to support financing to small businesses in the country, particularly agribusinesses and companies owned by women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: American Refugee Committee (ARC) Sells Liberia-based Liberty Finance to DCRB Investments
The American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance in Africa, Asia, Haiti, and the Middle East, recently announced that it has sold its Liberia-based microfinance institution, Liberty Finance, to DCRB Investments (DCRB), a private investment company based in Liberia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Offers $5m Credit Line to FINCA for Lending in Kyrgyz Republic
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, England, recently announced that it will extend a credit line of USD 5 million to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, a unit of US-based microfinance nonprofit FINCA International.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Government Efforts to Achieve Financial Inclusion in India; Index-based Insurance in South, Southeast Asia; Microinsurance Claims Management
“Report of the Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households;” published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); December 31, 2013; 247 pages; available at http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/CFS070114RFL.pdf
This report was authored by the Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households, which was appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September 2013 to propose measures for increasing access to financial services in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation Donates $23m to Opportunity International for Agricultural Financing in Sub-Saharan Africa
The MasterCard Foundation, which was founded by US-based global payment processing company MasterCard and aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets, has donated USD 22.7 million to Opportunity International, a US-based non-profit microfinance organization, to launch the “Africa Growth and Innovation Initiative” to deliver agricultural financial services to 7 million low-income people in the Sub-Saharan African countries Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) to Sponsor Worldwide Events for “Global Money Week 2014”, March 10 – 17, 2014
Event Name: Global Money Week 2014
Event Date: March 10 – March 17, 2014
Event Location: Separate events will be held in approximately 80 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific.