The World Bank’s Board of Directors recently approved a 19-year loan of USD 750 million, with a 5-year grace period, to create an emergency response program for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India that “have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.” The program is meant to provide “immediate liquidity” to
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: J.P. Morgan, EBRD Deliver Advisory, Training Services to MSMEs Led by Women in Turkey
US-based financial services firm J.P. Morgan recently agreed to co-fund the Turkish operations of the Women in Business Programme of the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD). Women in Business, which expanded to Turkey in 2014, supports micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operated by women in 18 countries. In Turkey, the support from J.P. Morgan will fund:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Loans $2m to Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) of South Africa from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF)
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management recently disbursed a loan of USD 2 million to the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), a microlender in South Africa, from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF). According to Kevin Kamemba, Incofin’s Regional Director for Africa, “SEF has enabled thousands of vulnerable women in South Africa to sustainably
SPECIAL REPORT: Expanding Rural Finance with Public-private Partnerships in East Africa, Retraining Loan Officers in West Africa
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the session on “Enabling Rural Finance: Multisectoral Collaboration” during last week’s SAM conference, Hedwig Siewertsen of the Africa-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) discussed her work helping the government of Kenya experiment with mechanisms to extend the reach of its limited funding for agriculture. In 2016, the government had USD 7 million to invest in agriculture and was considering acting as a lender to disburse that money to the agricultural sector. Recognizing that the government may be better at market facilitation than managing money, AGRA worked with officials to bring in Barclays Bank of Kenya and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) as partners. As a result, the government was able to leverage its USD 7 million to guarantee USD 23 million in lending from Barclays. This enabled 150,000 farmers as well as 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – including producer organizations – to access funding and non-financial assistance, such as help with business planning.
At the same session, Ousmane Thiongane of the Senegalese microfinance institution network U-IMCEC, described his organization’s struggles entering the agriculture sector. Despite agriculture being a risky proposition, the organization’s mission demanded that it serve rural areas. At first, he explained, “our rural agents weren’t well trained” in agriculture and thus the entry into rural areas “was a complete failure.” With agents lacking basic
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global SME Finance Forum: The Convergence of the Real and Financial Sectors in SME Finance; October 7 – 9, 2019; Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Global SME Finance Forum offers opportunities to learn about how the “real sector,” including technology companies and consumer product distributors, have been participating in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The forum will also cover how traditional financial institutions are responding to this increased competition within SME finance, which the organizers deem vital to the “economic and social development of emerging markets.”
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Investor Forum: “Responsible Finance for Digital Inclusion: Investing for Impact;” April 3 – 4, 2019; Washington DC, USA
This forum is intended to bring together a wide range of investors to share insights on “social performance and impact management,” particularly as related to digital financial services (DFS). This will include discussions of the Guidelines for Investing in Responsible Digital Financial Services, which were established in 2018. These 10 guidelines cover
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin; Microfinance Institutions Fundenuse, Fundeser, MiCrédito Operate Satellite-based Weather-index Microinsurance for Coffee, Grain Farmers in Nicaragua
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently launched an insurance plan with Nicaraguan microfinance institutions (MFIs) Fundacion para el Desarrollo de Nueva Segovia (Fundenuse), Financiera Fundeser and MiCrédito to help 6,000 coffee and grain farmers be better prepared for climate change. The program utilizes “satellite imagery to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Capria Investing $61m in Adobe Capital of Mexico, Fen Ventures of Chile After Raising $100m to Provide Finance, Networking Support to SME Funds
Capria Ventures, a US-based provider of financial and non-financial support to funders of “small and mid-sized social ventures,” recently completed its second funding round, raising USD 100 million. Capria also recently invested in Mexico-based
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: First Bond Issue Ever on Cambodian Securities Exchange Is by Microfinance Institution Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) to Benefit Farmers, Other Rural Entrepreneurs
With encouragement from the Cambodian government, microfinance institution Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) recently issued the first corporate bonds ever on the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). The issue raised the USD equivalent of 30 million
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Arab #FinTex Symposium; December 12-13, 2018; Abu Dhabi, UAE
The Arab #FinTex Symposium 2018 will address how financial technology (fintech) solutions such as blockchain mechanisms can increase financial inclusion and economic development in the Arab region. This event, presented by the Financial Inclusion for the Arab Region Initiative (FIARI), is co-hosted by the Central Bank of the UAE, the UAE-based Arab Monetary Fund, Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Malaysia-based Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the World Bank. The plenary topics include (1) Blockchain & Crypto-assets Benchmarking – Opportunities & Challenges for Financial Inclusion; (2) Digital Identity; (3) The Blockchain – Hype vs. Reality for Digital Financial Transformation?; and (4) RegTech & SupTech Opportunities to
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investing Summit; December 6 – 7, 2018; London, United Kingdom
This Impact Investing Summit aims to create dialogue among current and potential impact investors regarding the future of international impact investing. The term refers to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, agRIF, Daiwa Enter $9m Equity Agreement to Support Rent2Own, a Transportation Company in Myanmar
Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a subsidiary of German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW); agRIF, a fund of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management; and Japan-based asset manager Daiwa Partners recently signed an agreement to make an equity investment totaling USD 9 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: South Africa’s MFS Africa Lands $14m in Equity from Equator Capital’s ShoreCap III Fund, FSD Africa, Goodwell Investments, Lun Partners to Boost Mobile Financial Services in Rural Areas
South Africa-based financial technology (fintech) company MFS Africa recently raised equity totaling USD 14 million to expand its mobile financial services (MFS) into additional rural areas in Africa. The investors, which are participating in undisclosed portions, are US-based impact fund manager Equator
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Arranges $20m Loan from Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), BOMF to FINCA Impact Finance
FINCA Impact Finance, a network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 20 countries, recently agreed to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO Loans XacLeasing $5m for Leasing Vehicles, Equipment to SMEs in Mongolia
The Brussels-based Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) recently disbursed a loan to XacLeasing, a subsidiary of Mongolia-based
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Investing in Responsible Finance and Innovation for Africa’s Digital Economies; October 2, 2018; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Summary of Event: The Ninth Annual Responsible Finance Forum brings together investors, policymakers, practitioners, and innovators to discuss opportunities for growth as well as risks of abuse relating to digital financial services in Africa. Participants will learn about technology solutions and business models for accelerating
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $20m in Local-currency to BNB-Bank, MTBank for SMEs in Belarus
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently signed its first transactions providing local-currency funding in Belarus. EBRD extended lines of credit equivalent to USD 10 million each to Belarusky Narodny Bank (BNB-Bank) and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Syngenta PartnerGrow Academy Trains Retailers to Train Farmers in Indonesia
The local unit of Switzerland-based agriculture firm Syngenta International and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently announced they will scale up a pilot project through which they train sellers of agricultural inputs in Indonesia to give technical assistance to farmers. The program, known as the Syngenta PartnerGrow Academy, trains agricultural retailers on financial management, sales, customer service, and problem solving as well skills for advising their customers. Ernest E. Bethe III, Principal Operations Officer of IFC, described a key component as helping retailers dispense “advice by using a consultative selling