The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance agency of the US government, has finalized its commitment to issue a 10-year loan of USD 45 million to the Microbuild Fund, a Habitat for Humanity initiative to provide loans via microfinance institutions for poor people to improve their housing situations and funding for related technical support [1] [2].
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Approves $10m Loan to MicroEnergy Credits (MEC) to Promote Clean Energy Microfinance
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government, has approved a loan of USD 10 million to MicroEnergy Credits (MEC), a US-based, for-profit firm, to assist microfinance institutions (MFIs) in launching clean-energy lending programs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Launches “Global Engagement Call” Offering to Invest in Funds Operating in Emerging Markets
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government, has launched a Global Engagement Call, inviting proposals from qualified fund managers to invest in new, expanding or privatizing companies in any of the 150 emerging markets where OPIC operates [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Panelists at Toronto International Microfinance Summit 2011 Discuss Interest Rate Pricing, Technological Solutions, Commercial and Philanthropic Funding
In a presentation at the recent Toronto International Microfinance Summit, panelists weighed in on a range of current topics in the microfinance sector, including profitability, the effect of commercial investment and advances in technology.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citi, OPIC Loan $20m to Microfinance Program “Danamon Simpan Pinjam” of Indonesia’s Bank Danamon
Citi Indonesia, the Indonesian arm of the global financial services company, and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution of the US government, recently announced a USD 20 million term loan to fund a microfinance program of Bank Danamon of Indonesia named “Danamon Simpan Pinjam”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Habitat for Humanity Receives $45m Loan from Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), to Be On-Lent to Microfinance Institutions Through Housing Finance Programs
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency that supports private sector development, has approved a USD 45 million loan to Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), a nonprofit, US-based Christian organization that builds homes for poor people, to promote and expand housing microfinance lending.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Guarantee $500m in Loans to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) for Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt, Jordan; USAID to Fund Technical Assistance
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency that supports private sector development, has approved USD 250 million in loan guarantee facilities each in Egypt and Jordan for local banks that lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) and “other approved borrowers.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) Announces New Policy Framework for Expansion of Microfinance Industry in Jordan
The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) in Jordan, with assistance from KfW, a German government-owned development bank, recently developed a new policy framework for the microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Private Equity Interest in Indian Microfinance Industry is Prominent Topic at Capital Markets Conference in New Delhi Sponsored by ACCION International, Citi Foundation and EDA Rural Systems
Amid increasing demand for capital in India’s microfinance industry and growing interest of equity investors, concerns exist such as valuation bubbles and whether growth can be sustained were discussed at the recent “Microfinance Cracking the Capital Markets Conference & Investment Marketplace” held in New Delhi.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mimoza Enterprises Finance (Mimo) Receives $1.5m Loan from Unitus Incorporated, US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Citi Microfinance
Mimoza Enterprises Finance (Mimo), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) with a gross loan portfolio of USD 5.1 million, has received a loan of USD 1.5 million from Unitus Incorporated, an international nonprofit organization that provides funding and consulting services to microfinance institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elizabeth Littlefield, Former CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), Confirmed As President and CEO of Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
The United States Senate has confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of former CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Chief Executive Officer, Elizabeth Littlefield, to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government development organization working in 150 countries with a portfolio of USD 13 billion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unitus, US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Citi Microfinance Finalize $15m Credit Facility for Microfinance Institutions
Unitus Inc., an international nonprofit organization that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs); the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency that invests in international development projects; and Citi Microfinance, Citi’s organization that aims to support MFIs, recently finalized a USD 15 million credit facility that aims to help foster growth among MFIs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Provides $25m Loan to ProCredit Holding to Lend to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an “independent U.S. government agency” that provides services to facilitate foreign investment to “less developed countries,” has approved a loan of USD 25 million to ProCredit Holding, “a [German] parent company of 22 development-oriented banks” operating in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa with a gross loan portfolio of EUR 3.3 billion, the equivalent of over USD 4.9 billion, as of the end of 2008 [1,2,3]. This loan will be used by ProCredit to expand their loan provision to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) [1]. MicroCapital reported on a 2005 loan from OPIC to ProCredit worth USD 30 million [4]. OPIC also made a USD 3 million loan to a ProCredit microfinance institution (MFI) in Moldova in 2005, and a USD 5 million loan to ProCredit Bank in Ukraine in the same year [5,6]. OPIC Acting President Dr. Lawrence Spinelli has commented on the importance of the latest loan in terms of allowing ProCredit to “diversify its capital base” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US President Obama Nominates CGAP CEO Elizabeth Littlefield for Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Presidency
President Barack Obama has announced that he will nominate Elizabeth Littlefield to become President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ms Littlefield is currently a Director of the World Bank and the CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a multi-donor organization created to help build a the microfinance industry. Ms. Littlefield previously worked with JP Morgan, where she was the Managing Director of the Emerging Markets Capital Markets Division. She has served on the executive board of Women’s World Banking, Profund, Africa International Financial Holding, the Mastercard Foundation, the Calvert Foundation, and E&Co. Littlefield is a graduate of Brown University and also attended Ecole Nationale de Sciences Politiques in Paris.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: P500 Billion (USD 10.7 Billion) Bank Loans Exposed to Defaults in Philippines After Tropical Storms
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, has estimated that P-500-Billion (USD 10.7 Billion) worth of loans are at risk of default due to financial hardships that have come as a result of the typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” that hit the Philippines in late September [1,2]. This is 24 percent of the total loan portfolio of the banking sector in the Philippines [1]. Because those most vulnerable are individual and retail borrowers, the microfinance industry has been particularly effected by the storms [2]. The typhoons mainly damaged parts of Luzon and the capital, Manila, which accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) [2].
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), BlueOrchard and Other Investors Establish Microenterprise Growth Facility to Loan $250m to Latin America and Caribbean MFIs
In April, MicroCapital reported that President Obama, in response to the global financial crisis, announced the launch of a Microfinance Growth Fund for the Western Hemisphere to provide lending to small businesses in the region [1]. In response to this announcement, the following organizations have signed an agreement establishing the Microenterprise Growth Facility (MIGROF), a public-private partnership intended to provide USD 250 million in lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC): BlueOrchard Finance S.A., a Swiss microfinance investment management company, which has been appointed to exclusively manage the facility; The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a development financial institution; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an independent U.S. government agency which aims to facilitate investment in developing countries; the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), an affiliate of the IDB which supports private sector and capital market development in LAC countries; and the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), a multilateral financial institution which supports sustainable development in LAC countries [2].
PRESS RELEASE: IDB, CAF, OPIC, BlueOrchard, ACCION, FONIDI, FMO Sign on to $250m Latin American Microfinance Fund
Source: Inter-American Development Bank.
PRESS RELEASE: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Approves $250m for Citi Program Offering Local Currency Loans to Microfinance Institutions Worldwide
Source: Citi.