Tomas Miller of the US-based Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) was quoted recently by the Bahamian newspaper The Nassau Gaurdian as saying that, “Based on our definition of a microfinance institution, The Bahamas doesn’t really have that yet.” The interview was precipitated by the Third Caribbean Microfinance Forum, which was held recently in the Bahamas by the Caribbean Microfinance Capacity-building project, which is funded by MIF, the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank and the EU’s European Commission.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sustainable Enterprise Fund, Oikocredit, Grace Foundation Invest in Barefoot Power to Support Renewable Energy in Remote Indian Communities
The Sustainable Enterprise Fund, an Austrian impact venture fund managed by Ennovent, along with Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, and Grace Foundation, a Christian organization in Australia that invests in social enterprise-based solutions to poverty, have made an investment in Barefoot Power, an Australian for-profit enterprise that manufactures and sells lighting products, solar phone chargers and business development services for low-income populations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Scotia Group Regroups In Jamaica: New Microfinance Provider CreditScotia to Take Over Offices of Micro Enterprise Finance Limited (MEFL)
The Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited (Scotiabank Jamaica), a subsidiary of Canada-based The Bank of Nova Scotia, has created Scotia Jamaica Microfinance Company Limited to provide microloans on the Jamaican island.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), Nordic Development Fund (NDF) Launch $7m Green Microfinance Program in Latin America, Caribbean
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, has partnered with the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), a Finland-based international finance institution, to launch a USD 7 million “green microfinance” program known as Ecomicro.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL) Looks to Convert $40m in Loans to Preference Shares
Indian microfinance institution Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL) reportedly has requested permission from its creditors to convert loans amounting to INR 2 billion (USD 40.6 million) into preference shares to secure an immediate line of credit.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships Lends $2.5m to Colombian Microfinance Institutions Fundación Amanecer, Corporación Nariño Empresa y Futuro
Nonprofit social investor Global Partnerships (GP), which has offices in USA and Nicaragua, has made its first two loans in Colombia to the following microfinance institutions: USD 1 million to Fundación Amanecer and USD 1.5 million to Corporación Nariño Empresa y Futuro (Contactar).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Second International Conference on Inclusive Islamic Financial Sector Development, Khartoum, Sudan, October 9 – October 11, 2011
Event Name: Second International Conference on Inclusive Islamic Financial Sector Development: Enhancing Financial Services for Regional Micro-enterprises
Event Date: October 9 – October 11, 2011
Event Location: Sudan Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences (SABFS), Khartoum, Sudan
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank Approves Loan Worth $30m to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise in El Salvador
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, recently approved a loan of USD 30 million to the “Program to Support Production Development for International Integration,” which will be carried out by El Salvador’s Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the export promotion agency, National Investment Promotion Agency (PROESA) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Ujjivan Looking to Raise $138m from Private, Public Sector Banks
Ujjivan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly plans to raise up to INR 6.2 billion (USD 138 million) from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a government-owned financial institution, along with other unspecified private and public-sector banks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vijay Mahajan of Microfinance Firm BASIX Says Firm to Explore Foreign Investors if Domestic Banks Refuse to Lend
Mr Vijay Mahajan, chairman of BASIX Group, an Indian company whose holdings include two microfinance institutions (MFIs), has reportedly announced that if the company does not get a capital infusion of INR 450 crores (USD 98 million) by end of September from domestic sources, it will have to explore partnering with foreign investors [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to Host Seminar, “Government Payments and Savings: A Last Mile Approach”, Washington, DC, USA, August 25, 2011, Available in Person and Online on Microenterprise Learning Information and Knowledge Sharing (microLINKS), Knowledge-Driven International Development (KDID) Portal
Event Name: microLINKS After Hours Seminar #54: Government Payments and Savings: A Last Mile Approach
Event Date: August 25, 2011, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Event Location: Online or at QED Group LLC, 1250 Eye Street NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Government Publishes Draft of Microfinance Institutions Bill, Would Make Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Sole Regulator, Establish Microfinance Development Council, Microfinance Development Fund
After months of deliberations and input from academics, policymakers and practitioners, the Indian government has published a draft of its “Microfinance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill,” as the first version of a future authoritative policy to govern the domestic microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL) Raises $150m from Institutional Investors, Commercial Banks
Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) and member of the BASIX Group of companies, has reportedly raised INR 7 billion (USD 150 million) in debt and equity commitments from institutional investors and commercial banks, in what has been described as a “lifeline” by BASIX chairman Vijay Mahajan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), FMO of The Netherlands to Loan $30m to Costa Rica’s National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae) for Housing Finance, Support to Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, will each provide local currency loans of CRC 7.8 billion (USD 15 million) to Costa Rica’s National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae), a finance company that provides credit, savings and insurance products in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank, Deutsche Bank, Calvert Foundation, Monarch Community Fund Loan $3.6m to “Fund for Small Rural Producers in Latin America” or “Fondo para los Pequeños Productores Rurales en América Latina” (FOPEPRO)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, has arranged a USD 3.6 million syndicated loan to the “Fund for Small Rural Producers in Latin America” or “Fondo para los Pequeños Productores Rurales en América Latina” (FOPEPRO), to provide access to finance for associations of small-scale farmers and other producers in nine Latin American countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) Approves $15m Loan to Peru’s Mibanco for Lending to Micro- and Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, has approved a USD 15 million loan to Mibanco Banco de la Microempresa SA, a private Peruvian bank that provides a range of financial services to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: XIV FOROMIC 2011: Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise, October 10 to 12, 2011, San Jose, Costa Rica, Organized by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Multilateral Investment Fund
Event Name: XIV FOROMIC 2011: Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise
Event Date: October 10 to October 12, 2011
Event Location: San Jose, Costa Rica
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BASIX Group of India Looks to Boost Fee-Based Income by Offering Commercial Banks Access to Its 3.5m Microfinance Customers
BASIX Group, an Indian company whose holdings include two microfinance institutions (MFIs), reportedly intends to rework its business plan to diversify away from direct microlending and generate more income from allowing commercial banks access to its 3.5 million customers.