by John Howard-Smith -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investment Manager BlueOrchard Invests $5.5m in Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua, First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL) of Ghana and AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, reported to MicroCapital the details of three debt investments made to microfinance institution (MFI) Nitlapan’s Credit Program Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua (MFI), First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), an MFI in Ghana, and the commercial AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria.

by Jennifer Shevock -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank of Azerbaijan Launches Education Loan Product

AccessBank, a financial institution based in Azerbaijan, recently announced the launch of a new education loan product. The product is intended to finance students’ post-secondary education and offers lower interest rates for students earning high grades.

by Eric McKay -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $2m in AccessBank Tajikistan to Help Expand Microfinance Programs

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the lending arm of the World Bank, recently made a USD 2 million equity investment in AccessBank Tajikistan to help the new bank expand the availability of credit for micro- and small enterprises.

by Christopher Maggio -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank, a Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan, Increases its Share Capital from $27m to $52m

AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan, has increased its share capital from AZN 21.8 million, the equivalent of over USD 27 million, to AZN 41.8 million, the equivalent of over USD 52 million. This increase was achieved by capitalizing retained earnings.

by Christopher Maggio -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank, a Microfinance Institution (MFI) Located in Azerbaijan, Reaches $300m in Loans Disbursed to 100,000 Customers

According to a recent press release, AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) located in Azerbaijan, now has a loan portfolio that is over USD 300 million and over 100,000 customers.

by Christopher Maggio -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank, a Microfinance Institution Based in Azerbaijan, Submits Pricing Data to MFTransparency, Provider of Pricing Data for the Microfinance Industry

AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Azerbaijan, recently submitted pricing data for its loan products to MFTransparency, an organization that provides pricing data for the microfinance industry.

by Jay Kumar -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Development Bank (AfDB) Approves $660k Grant to Access Bank Tanzania (ABT), a Microfinance Bank in Tanzania

The African Development Bank (AfDB), a regional development organization in Africa, has approved a USD 660,000 grant to Access Bank Tanzania (ABT), a newly established commercial bank in Tanzania focusing on microfinance. The initiative was made possible through the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), a subsidiary of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance program, which is a billion-dollar initiative of the government of Japan and the AfDB to promote private sector development in Africa.

by Christopher Maggio -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AB Microfinance Bank, a Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Nigeria, Disburses 3,000 Loans in First Year of Operation

AB Microfinance Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Nigeria, has, in its first year of operation, disbursed a total of 3,000 loans, according to Corinna Heuer, Head of Banking Services for AB Microfinance Bank [1,2].

by Christopher Maggio -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Provide $3m to AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, has announced that it will provide a loan worth NGN 450 million, the equivalent of over USD 3 million, to AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited, a Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI) [1,2,3]. In turn, AB Microfinance Bank will provide loans to “microenterprises and low-income entrepreneurs in Nigeria” [1]. The tenor of the loan is five years, and is denominated in Nigerian Naira [1]. This will eliminate foreign exchange risk for AB Microfinance Bank, thus allowing the MFI “to offer long term Naira products to its customers” [1]. In October of 2008, the IFC provided AB Microfinance Bank with a NGN 150 million loan, the equivalent of over USD 998,000, which was used to help the MFI begin operations [1].  AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited was created in 2008 by Access Microfinance Holding AG, an investor in MFIs, and Impulse Microfinance Investment Fund, a fund managed by Incofin Invesment Management [3,4,5].

by Stefanie Rubin -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Extends $10m Synthetic Local Currency Loan to AccessBank of Azerbaijan

At the Azerbaijan Investment Summit held in London on December 8th, AccessBank, an Azerbaijani microfinance institution (MFI) with total assets of USD 239 million, signed an agreement on the first synthetic AZN loan to be extended by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Under the synthetic local currency loan, EBRD will provide USD 10 million to AccessBank, but the actual loan obligation by AccessBank to the EBRD will be the AZN value of the provided funds, about AZN 8 million.

by Jaclyn Berfond -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: New Microfinance Institution AccessBank Tajikistan Established with Investments Totaling USD 11 million from Access Microfinance Holding, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW)

Several international finance organizations have invested in a new microfinance institution, AccessBank Tajikistan.  Access Microfinance Holding AG (AccessHolding) will hold a majority stake in the new bank, and international investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) will invest a total of USD 11 million for equity stakes.  AccessBank Tajikistan will launch operations in late 2009 in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

by Laura Anderson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: World Bank and Federal Government of Nigeria Approve USD 8.4 million in Grants for Microfinance Institutions ACCION Microfinance Bank (AMfB), Susu Microfinance Bank, LFS, MIC Microfinance Bank, Integrated Microfinance Bank (IMFB) and Micro Credit

The Nigerian Federal Government and the World Bank have approved grants totaling USD 8.4 million for six Nigerian microfinance institutions (MFIs).  The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mr. Mustafa Bello, made the announcement at the Business Development Services (BDS) Fair, organized by the World Bank’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Project (MSME) in Lagos.  The six MFIs are ACCION Microfinance Bank (AMfB), Susu Microfinance Bank, Integrated Microfinance Bank Ltd. (IMFB), MIC Microfinance Bank, LFS, and MicroCredit.  No breakdown of the grant money between the MFI’s or what it was to be used for was available.

by Laura Anderson -

MICROCAPTIAL STORY: Fitch Ratings Confirms Long Term Rating of BB+ for AccessBank in Azerbaijan

Fitch Ratings has confirmed the long-term issuer default rating of ‘BB+’ with a Stable Outlook, short-term issuer default rating of ‘B’, and individual rating of ‘D/E’ for AccessBank of Azerbaijan, a for-profit microfinance institution. 

by Diana Yang -

PRESS RELEASE: AccessBank’s Portfolio sets new records

Source: AccessBank.

Baku, 23 February 2009 – AccessBank continues to set new records in its business lending. Today the business loan portfolio crossed the USD 200 million and 50,000 client thresholds. Almost simultaneously the Micro loan portfolio exceeded USD 100 million demonstrating the bank’s commitment to its corporate mission of providing access to financial services for micro and small entrepreneurs. It is notable that the Micro loan which pushed the portfolio over this new threshold was disbursed by the Khachmaz branch as AccessBank attaches special improtance to increasing access to financial services specifically in the regions of Azerbaijan. AccesssBank is experiencing increased demand for its services and only during the first three week of this month the Bank has disbursed over 4,500 micro business loans for over USD 13 million. These are record figures for the bank for a three-week period. Loans for micro and small enterprises are a specialization of AccessBank. The Bank disburses loans to its customers depending on their needs starting from 100 up to one-million USD / AZN / EUR.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Grants Formal Banking License to Liberia’s First Commercial Microfinance Institution, Access Bank Liberia (ABL); ABL Starts Issuing Loans to the Public

Access Bank Liberia (ABL), the first commercial microfinance institution of Liberia, has become operational and started issuing loans to the public, according to an announcement by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group. ABL, which received a preliminary banking license in July 2008, started operations after it was granted a formal banking license by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) on January 21, 2009. According to the announcement by IFC, since receiving the preliminary license, ABL had hired and trained loan officers, tailored all its savings and credit products to cater to the demands of the Liberian market and ensured compliance of all its banking systems with the Liberian law. ABL will focus on microfinance lending in Liberia in addition to providing short and medium-term lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Liberia. So far, no information on the interest rates to be charged is available yet.