The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it is partnering with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending bank of the European Union (EU); Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France’s international development agency; and the European Commission, the legislative body of the EU, via the Neighborhood Investment Facility (NIF), to establish a USD 380 million financing facility for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $10m to KazMicroFinance of Kazakhstan for Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises in Rural Areas
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will loan the local-currency equivalent of USD 10 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a Kazakhstan non-banking financial institution, in an effort to increase access to credit for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas of the country [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Crowdfunding Platform Pi Slice Launches in Dubai to Support Microentrepreneurs in the Middle East
Pi Slice, a start-up crowdfunding platform based in Dubai, reportedly plans to link poor entrepreneurs in the Middle East to microloans raised via social media.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech, American Refugee Committee (ARC), Kaah Express to Offer Microfinance in Somalia
Qatar-based Silatech, a social enterprise that seeks to promote youth entrepreneurship and employment in the Arab world, and the American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance in Haiti, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, are partnering with Kaah Express, a US-based for-profit money transfer company, to introduce a new microfinance program in Somalia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citigroup Launches Citi Mobile Collect in the Dominican Republic
The US-based financial service provider Citigroup reportedly has made its Citi Mobile Collect payment program available in the Dominican Republic.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $2m to Microfinance Institution Palestine for Credit and Development
The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises), an initiative of the German development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank that invests in financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa, recently agreed to disburse a senior loan facility of USD 2 million to Palestine for Credit and Development, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Palestine’s West Bank that is known as Faten in Arabic.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME to Loan $20m to Lebanon’s Bank Audi for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Middle East, North Africa
The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise), an initiative of the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank that provides debt and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announced that it has agreed to loan USD 20 million to Bank Audi, a private bank headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in MENA.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Releases Youth Policy
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a US-based government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, recently released a policy focused on youth in developing nations that recognizes young people “as a driving force in global development.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech of Qatar, Kiva of USA Launch Kiva Arab Youth Website to Raise Funds for Microlending
Kiva, a US-based online microlending fundraiser, has partnered with Silatech, a Qatar-based social enterprise serving youth in the Middle East, to create Kiva Arab Youth, an online platform allowing individuals to makes loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the region that then on-lend the funds to aid young Arab entrepreneurs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Directorate for Development and Cooperation, European Investment Bank, Appui au Développement Autonome Unveil $5.2m Microfinance Project, MicroMED Tunisia
The Directorate for Development and Cooperation (Lux-Development), an agency of the government of Luxembourg, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s lending institution, recently unveiled MicroMED Tunisia, a EUR 4 million (USD 5.2 million), five-year initiative intended to aid the development of the microfinance sector in Tunisia.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sanabel hosts Ninth Annual Conference, Khartoum, Sudan, October 31-November 2, 2012
Event Name: Ninth Annual Conference 2012
Event Date: October 31-November 2, 2012
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance and Witch Hunts in India; Poverty Scorecard for Myanmar; Andhra Pradesh Clients Post-Microfinance Crisis
“Strategic Framing Work(s): How Microcredit Loans Facilitate Anti-Witch-Hunt Movements,” by Soma Chaudhuri and Anuradha Chakravarty; published by Mobilization; June 2012; 19 pages; available at: https://vaw.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/chaudhuri_2012_micro-credit.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanabel Launches “Shafafeya” Transparency Program for Arab Microfinance Institutions
Sanabel, an Egypt-based nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Arab microfinance, recently launched a transparency program called “Shafafeya” that produces comparative analysis, trend analysis and financial highlights of the microfinance sector in the Arab world.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Loans $10m to Rafiki Deposit Taking Microfinance of Kenya, Mibanco of Peru
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss microfinance investment manager, has reached four investment deals with micro banks in Kenya and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Parliament Votes for Tougher Regulation of Microcredit Organizations in Kazakhstan
While details remain sparse, the Majilis, the lower house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, recently passed a new bill regulating microfinance institutions (MFIs) that is intended to protect the rights of the borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Reaches Deals Totaling $1.5m with Advans Cameroun, PRIDE of Tanzania
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss microfinance investment manager, has reached investment deals with Advans Cameroun, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Cameroon, and Promotion of Rural Initiative and Development Enterprises Limited (PRIDE), an MFI based in Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citigroup Wins 2012 Business in the Community International Award for Excellence, for Microfinance Partnership with Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Citigroup, a US-based bank, has won the International Award of the fifteenth edition of the Awards for Excellence, the corporate responsibility awards offered by the Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $3.3m to Microfinance Institutions D-Miro of Ecuador, Fielco of Paraguay, Nueva Vision of Peru
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently completed three investment deals with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.