Banco Macro, a private bank in Argentina, recently announced that it has launched “Alumbra,”[1] a lending vehicle for micro- and small enterprises.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canadian Government Donates $309m to African Development Fund (ADF)
The Canadian Minister of International Development, Christian Paradis, recently announced that the Canadian government will provide CAD 309 million (USD 279 million) to the African Development Fund (ADF), a fund that provides loans and grants to its 40 African member countries, to support the 13th replenishment of ADF’S budget funds.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Excluded and Underserved;” Published by MasterCard
“The Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Excluded and Underserved;” Published by MasterCard; May 2014; 18 pages; available at http://newsroom.mastercard.com/asia-pacific/documents/the-road-to-inclusion-a-look-at-the-financially-excluded-and-underserved
This report, published by US-based financial services corporation MasterCard, seeks to shed light on how people manage with limited financial services in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Announces $1m in Advisory Services to Airtel Zambia to Strengthen Financial Inclusion
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will enter into an advisory services agreement with Airtel Zambia, a subsidiary of the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Canada, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Support Small, Medium-sized Agricultural Enterprises in Ukraine
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) recently informed MicroCapital that the government of Canada and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, plan to work together to provide an unspecified level of financial support and technical advice to small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Ukraine.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) Launch $4m Microfinance Challenge Fund to Support Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda (MINECOFIN), the Rwandan government’s authority on finance; Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), a Kigali-based investment company that promotes financial inclusion in Rwanda; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a German development bank, recently have launched the Microfinance Challenge Fund Rwanda (MCFR), which will deploy EUR 3 million (USD 3.98 million) as loans to support microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Econet’s EcoCash, MasterCard to Provide Debit Cards to Mobile Money Users in Zimbabwe
EcoCash, a mobile money service offered by South Africa-based mobile communications company Econet Wireless, and MasterCard Incorporated, a US-based payments and technology company, reportedly have reached an agreement to issue approximately 3 million MasterCard debit cards to EcoCash customers in Zimbabwe over the next five years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Issues $30m in Bonds to MicroCred China; India’s Arohan, Grameen Koota, Annapura Microfinance
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company that focuses on emerging markets, has completed bond transactions worth a total of USD 30 million with MicroCred China, an affiliate of the France-based MicroCred and PlaNet Finance groups; Arohan Financial Services Private Ltd., an Indian financial services company; Grameen Financial Services Private Ltd., a Bangalore-based microfinance institution (MFI) also known as Grameen Koota; and Annapurna Microfinance Private Ltd., an MFI based in the Indian state of Odisha.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank Azerbaijan Receives $15m Loan from Green for Growth Fund for Financing Energy-Efficient Projects
AccessBank Azerbaijan, a microfinance bank (MFB) in Azerbaijan, has borrowed USD 15 million from the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a European public-private partnership that focuses on improving energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy sources in Southeastern Europe, with the aim of increasing AccessBank’s financing of energy-efficient projects.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gemalto, GSM Association to Provide Mobile Services to Support “Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative” for Mothers, Children
Gemalto, a publicly traded digital security firm located in the Netherlands, reportedly has announced its support of the Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative (PAMI), which uses mobile phones to address issues in nutrition and maternal and child health in seven African countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mentors International Implements Mambu’s Cloud Banking Software to Support Lending to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Philippines
Mentors International, a US-based nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) that seeks to help poor people in developing countries become self-sufficient, recently has signed on to use the banking software of Mambu, a Germany-based technology company that offers cloud-based banking solutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Econet Wireless Accused of Monopolistic Practices Regarding Mobile Money Service
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of the South Africa-based telecommunications company Econet Wireless Group, reportedly is being investigated by Zimbabwe’s Competitions and Tariffs Commission (CTC), the authority charged with regulating trade in the country, over allegations of monopolistic business practices [1][2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Commits $15m to Private Equity Fund EuroMena III to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Middle East, North Africa
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has committed USD 15 million to EuroMena III, a 7-year closed-end private equity fund that aims to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Homeless International Purchases T24 MCB Banking Software from Temenos
Homeless International, a UK-based nonprofit housing consultancy and finance agency that focuses on reducing urban poverty in Africa and Asia, has purchased T24 MCB, a cloud-based core banking software platform that was developed for the microfinance and community banking (MCB) segment by Temenos Group AG, a software company based in Switzerland.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $47m to Garanti Bank Romania to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Mostly Those Owned by Women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rebtel Partnership with TransferTo Adds 50 Additional Countries to International Airtime Remittance Mobile App “Sendly”
Swedish telecommunications company Rebtel has partnered with Singapore-based TransferTo, an airtime remittance company that “interconnects mobile operators’ prepaid systems”[1], to expand by 50 the number of countries in which it offers cross-border top-up services to users of its mobile application, Sendly.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation, Centre International de Développement et de Recherche (CIDR) to Expand Health Microinsurance in Senegal
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Centre International de Développement et de Recherche (CIDR), a nongovernmental organization based in France, recently announced an agreement “to expand micro health insurance in Senegal to low-income and informally employed individuals”[1] through Pool Micro Assurance Santé, a health services provider in Senegal.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nettcash of Zimbabwe Launches Mobile Money Service
Nettcash Zimbabwe, which is owned by Nigeria’s Coporeti Services, reportedly has started offering a service in Zimbabwe that allows customers to send and receive funds to and from users of any participating mobile network provider in Zimbabwe through short message service (SMS, also known as text messaging), a web platform and interactive voice response via telephone.