In addition to its recent $900,000 investment in FINCA Azerbaijan, responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund loaned over $1 million to microfinance institutions in Eastern Europe. responsAbility, established in 2003 under Luxembourg law, is classified as a private investor and open-ended investment fund. In May 2006, it reported a total fund volume of $57 million and microfinance investments of $53 million.
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responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Makes Debt Investment Totaling USD $900,000 in FINCA Azerbaijan
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Azerbajian received 2 separate loans for $500,000 and $400,000 from the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund. FINCA Azerbaijan is part of the FINCA International network, which developed the village banking method of microfinance which emphasizes the formation of community-based credit and savings associations. FINCA was incorporated in 1985 and expanded its activities beyond Latin America to Central Asia with the establishment of FINCA Kyrgyzstan in 1995. FINCA Azerbaijan was established in 1998.
responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Loans USD $750,000 to 2 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Peru, Edpyme Alternativa and Edpyme Crédito de Alcance Regional Tacna
Microfinance Investment in Small and Microenterprise Project of Kenya: $500,000 Loan from responsAbility
A Swiss microfinance investment fund founded in 2003, responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund reported $57 million in total assets at year-end 2005, with $53.7 million allocated to microfinance investments. ResponsAbility recently extended a $500,000 loan to the Small and Microenterprise Project (SMEP) in Kenya.
ResponsAbility Microfinance Investment in Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan
A Swiss microfinance investment fund founded in 2003, ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund reported $57 million in total assets at year-end 2005, with $53.7 million allocated to microfinance investments.
Continue reading “ResponsAbility Microfinance Investment in Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan”
responsAbility’s Forays Outside Microfinance Yield Interesting New Investment Product Co-Sponsored by Bank Vontobel
Swiss group responsAbility has been providing niche services for socially responsible investors for a number of years now. The responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, has consistently performed, growing its net asset value by 6.87% since inception in 2003 and holding assets of over US$53 million as of year-end 2004. However, it is not the Microfinance Fund that is at the center of today’s story. responsAbility has entered into a deal with Bank Vontobel AG and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to offer a new product that will allow investors to support independent media in developing countries.
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responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Grows Book of Business with New Debt Investments in Partneri Shquiptar ne Mikrokredi, Mi-Bospo, Edpyme Proempresa, COAC Pablo Munoz, and MFW
responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, the Swiss microfinance investment fund with US$50,241,143 in assets under management, recently undertook new debt investments in five separate microfinance institutions located around the world. responsAbility typically invests in microfinance institutions, though on occasion it branches out into small and medium enterprises and trade finance for small businesses in developing countries. The fund has increased its net asset value by 6.44% since its inception in 2003.
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Credit Suisse Continues Microfinance Investment As Partner in responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund
Headquartered in
In 2003, Credit Suisse co-founded the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund along with Raiffeisen Banking Group, Baumann & Cie Banquiers, and the Andromeda Fund. This fund provides investors with a combination of moderate financial returns coupled with social benefits. responsAbility loans between $50,000 and $1.5 million to MFIs for a maximum of 5 years at a rate equal to “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk.” As of March 31, 2006 the fund’s total assets reached $50 million with over $45 million allocated to microfinance investments. In addition, investment advisory services to the responsAbility Fund are provided by BlueOrchard, IPC/ProCredit, FINCA International, Symbiotics, Opportunity International, and PlaNet Finance.
Additional Resources
1. ING “A Billion to Gain? A study on global financial institutions and microfinance,” February, 2006
2. ResponsAbility
3. MIX Market: “responsAbility”4. MIcrocapital Blog: “Best in Class Just Keeps Getting Better: Swiss responsAbility Microfinance Investment Fund Lends $1,755,095 to German ProCredit Holding.” February 16, 20065. Microcapital Blog: “Microfinance Investment Funds Ranked by Size and Microcredit Allocation” January 13, 20066. Microcapital Blog: “ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Investing More than $7m in 11 Microfinance Institutions in Jordan, Benin, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Peru” January 6, 2006
7. Credit Suisse
Best in Class Just Keeps Getting Better: Swiss responsAbility Microfinance Investment Fund Lends $1,755,095 to German ProCredit Holding.
The responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, ProCredit’s first private investor, augmented its stake in the holding company with loan of $1,755,095. Information on the duration of the loan is not publicly available.
Swiss-based ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund was founded in 2003 by Swiss financial institutions Credit Suisse, which is also the fund manager, Raiffeisen Banking Group, Baumann & Cie Banquiers, and the Andromeda Fund. Investment advisory services to the ResponsAbility Fund are provided by: Alterfin, BlueOrchard Finance, IPC/ProCredit Holding, FINCA International, Symbiotics, Opportunity International, and PlaNet Finance. ResponsAbility loans between $50,000 and $1.5 million to MFIs for a maximum of 5 years at a rate equal to “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk.” The Fund’s total assets amounted to just over $45 million as of January 2006 with over $43 million allocated to microfinance investments.
Established in 1998 as the leader and main shareholder of the ProCredit Group, which consists of 19 microbanks with microcredit programs in different countries, ProCredit Holding controls its subsidiaries closely, their website stressing investment in training and professional development. The ProCredit group had approximately å¥1.9 billion in total assets and a total loan portfolio of å¥1.3 billion as of October 2005. To date, the 19 microbanks have made about 526,000 loans to microentrepreneurs and small businesses, approximately 90% of which are under å¥10,000 and about 50% of which are below å¥1,000. ProCredit Holding reports its Return on Average Assets as of December 2004 2.4% and its Return on Average Equity as 19.5 %. ProCredit continues to distant itself from the micro-bank pack.
ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Investing More than $7m in 11 Microfinance Institutions in Jordan, Benin, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Peru
Swiss-based ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund was founded in 2003 by Swiss financial institutions Credit Suisse, which is also the fund manager, Raiffeisen Banking Group, Baumann & Cie Banquiers, and the Andromeda Fund. Investment advisory services to the ResponsAbility Fund are provided by: Alterfin, BlueOrchard Finance, IPC/ProCredit Holding, FINCA International, Symbiotics, Opportunity International, and PlaNet Finance. ResponsAbility loans between $50,000 and $1.5 million to MFIs for a maximum of 5 years at a rate equal to “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk.” The Fund’s total assets amounted to just over $40 million as of November 30th 2005 with close to $37 million allocated to microfinance investments. For further information on some of ResponsAbility’s past investments please refer to our November 1st blog.
ResponsAbility made a å¥1.4 million equity investment into German-based international development holding company ProCredit Holding. Established in 1998 as the leader and main shareholder of the ProCredit Group, which consists of 19 microbanks with microcredit programs in different countries, ProCredit Holding controls its subsidiaries closely, their website stressing investment in training and professional development. The ProCredit group had approximately å¥1.9 billion in total assets and a total loan portfolio of å¥1.3 billion as of October 2005. To date, the 19 microbanks have made about 526,000 loans to microentrepreneurs and small businesses, approximately 90% of which are under å¥10,000 and about 50% of which are below å¥1,000. ProCredit Holding reports its Return on Average Assets as of December 2004 2.4% and its Return on Average Equity as 19.5 %.
ResponsAbility also made the following debt investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs):
Continue reading “ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Investing More than $7m in 11 Microfinance Institutions in Jordan, Benin, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Peru”
ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Makes Microfinance Investments Totaling $4.7 Million into Multiple Microfinance Institutions
Recently, the ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund invested: $2 million into ProCredit Georgia, $1.5 million into Ecuadorian Banco Solidario, $500,000 into FINCA Georgia, $500,000 into Sinapi ABA Trust in Ghana, and $200,000 into Fondo de Desarrollo in Nicaragua. (Last week we also reported on another investment by ResponsAbility; please refer to the blog dated October 28, 2005 for more information on the fund).
ProCredit
Banco Solidario
FINCA
The Sinapi ABA Trust (SAT) in
Additional Resources
1) Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP): “Microfinance Capital Markets Update” is the best source for monthly updates on debt and equity deals in microfinance.
2) MicroCapital Blog: “FINCA Kyrgyzstan Receives $500,000 Microfinance Investment from Swiss ResponsAbility Fund.”
3) “ResponsAbility: Welcome to ResponsAbility.”
4) “ProCredit Holding: ProCredit Institutions.”
5) “ProCredit Bank History.”
6) “Balance Sheet (June 2005).”
7) MIX Market: “Banco Solidario: General Information.”
8) “Sinapi ABA Trust.”
9) MIX Market: “FDL: General Information.”
10) MIX Market: “FDL: Financial Data.”
11) “FINCA International: Where We Work.”
12) MicroCapital Blog: “Microfinance Networks (wholesale transnational): Defined and Listed.”
FINCA Kyrgyzstan Receives $500,000 Microfinance Investment from Swiss ResponsAbility Fund
FINCA Microcredit Company in Kyrgyzstan recently received a $500,000 loan from the Swiss based ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund.FINCA Microcredit Company, a microfinance institution (MFI), began its operations in 1995 as a member of the transnational microfinance network FINCA International, which started its first MFI in Bolivia in 1985.FINCA Kyrgyzstan provides loans to small businesses, individuals, and groups.The best information available indicates that there are about 11 Kyrgyz MFIs and FINCA Microcredit Company ranks as one of the top with a total loan portfolio of over $9.8 million for about 24,500 borrowers.
The ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund was founded in 2003 by Swiss financial institutions Credit Suisse, which is also the fund manager, Raiffeisen Banking Group, Baumann & Cie Banquiers, and the Andromeda Fund.PlaNet Finance, an international network of non-government organizations (NGOs), provides investment advisory services to the fund.ResponsAbility loans between $50,000 and $1.5 million to MFIs for a maximum of 5 years at a rate equal to “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk.”The Fund’s total assets are reported as $11.45 million on MIX, the World Bank microfinance information clearinghouse, but are actually over $30 million according to individuals knowledgeable about the Fund.
Additional Resources
1) Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP): “Microfinance Capital Markets Update” is the best source for monthly updates on debt and equity deals in microfinance.
2) “FINCA International: History.”
3) MicroCapital Blog: “Microfinance Networks (wholesale transnational): Defined and Listed.”
4) “FINCA International: Where We Work”
5) MicroCapital Blog: “Big European Development Bank Makes $2 Million Microfinance Investment in Kyrgyzstan.”
6) “MicroFinance Network: FINCA Microcredit Company, Kyrgyzstan.”
7) “Founding Institutions: Credit Suisse Group.”
8) “Founding Institutions: Swiss Raiffeisen Group.”
9) “Founding Institutions: Baumann & Cie, Basel Private Bankers.”
10) “Founding Institutions: Andromeda Fund.”
11) MIX Market: “ResponsAbility Fund: Fund Description.”
12) MIX Market: “ResponsAbility Fund: Fund Instruments.”
12) PlaNet Finance: “ACTIVITIES/Financing.”
13) “Overview of the Microfinance Industry in the ECA Region in 2003.”
The Swiss ResponsAbility Fund, Oikocredit, and MicroVest Make $5.8 Million Microfinance Investment in Fund Opportunity Russia
Fund Opportunity Russia (FORA), “the largest non-bank microfinance organization in Russia,” recently received a $2 million loan from the Swiss ResponsAbility Fund, $1.8 million from Netherlands based Oikocredit, and $2 million from U.S. MicroVest. FORA’s total assets were $16.39 million as of December 2004 and it was founded by Opportunity International Network, a US non-profit “network.”
FORA’s second investor, Oikocredit, is an investment fund seeking “social investment opportunities in the South”. Oikocredit’s assets were at $304.66 million at the beginning of 2005, and it provides loans at a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $5 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) for a maximum of ten years. Its “near market rates are equal to LIBOR plus partial cost plus partial risk.”
The third investor into FORA, MicroVest, is an investment firm that provides debt and equity capital to MFIs. With total fund assets at $14.4 million as of July 2005, MicroVest’s loans go from $500,000 to $3 million for a maximum of 30 years. No guarantees are required and its rate terms are “LIBOR plus partial cost plus partial risk, or LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk.”
Additional Resources
1) Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP): “Microfinance Capital Markets Update” is the best source for monthly updates on debt and equity deals in microfinance.
2) MIX Market: “FORA: Financial Data.”
3) MIX Market: “FORA: General Information.”
4) MIX Market: “ResponsAbility Fund: Fund Description.”
5) MIX Market: “ResponsAbility Fund: Fund Instruments.”
6) “Oikocredit: About Us.”
7) MIX Market: “Oikocredit: Fund Instruments.”
8) MIX Market: “Oikocredit: Fund Description.”
9) MIX Market: “MicroVest I: Fund Description.”
10) MIX Market: “MicroVest I: Fund Instruments.”
11) MicroCapital Blog: “Microfinance Networks (wholesale transnational): Defined and Listed.”
12) “Opportunity International Network: What We Do.”
13) “2004 Annual Report: Opportunity International.”
14) “ResponsAbility: Founding Institutions.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lends Credo Bank $10m for MSMEs in Georgia
The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) recently agreed to loan Credo Bank, a commercial bank in Georgia, GEL 28.8 million (USD 10 million) to expand its financing of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The floating-rate loan is synthetic, meaning it is denominated in euros but
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADA Microfinance Launching 10-year “Smallholder Safety Net” Program Targeting Agricultural Value Chains, 3m Households; Partnering with 5 Impact Investors
ADA Microfinance, a Luxembourg-based NGO, recently announced a new program called the Smallholder Safety Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) to assist: (1) smallholder farmers in accessing insurance and implementing agricultural practices that increase productivity in a “climate-smart” manner; (2) actors in agricultural value chains in adopting “more sustainable environmental and social business practices;” and (3) boosting investment in agricultural value chains. The investors Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, Incofin, Oikocredit, responsAbility and Symbiotics have agreed to participate by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Greenlight Planet Secures $90m in Debt, Equity for Pay-as-you-go Solar in Africa, South Asia
Greenlight Planet, a for-profit social business with offices in Kenya, India and the US, recently secured USD 90 million in debt and equity to expand its sales of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar products. The investors are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans Inecobank of Armenia $6m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Offset Effects of COVID-19 via Mobile Banking
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (IM) recently disbursed a loan of USD 6 million to Inecobank, an Armenia-based institution, from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a fund launched by the German government’s KfW Entwicklungsbank and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. The proceeds will enable Inecobank to increase its lending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, due to the pandemic, the bank moved all of its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lends $12m to Credo Bank for Microfinance in Rural Georgia to Offset Effects of COVID-19 on Food Production
Credo Bank, a microfinance institution in Georgia, recently accepted a local-currency loan in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 11.8 million from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Credo will use the funds to on-lend primarily as working capital for people living in rural areas,