Commercial banks including Thailand’s Kiatnakin Bank and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB); India’s Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB); and the Netherlands’ ING Bank, recently announced the disbursement of a syndicated loan of USD 65 million to Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) Prasac Microfinance Limited.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SIDBI Sets up $154m Fund to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The government-backed Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) recently announced that it has set up a fund with INR 10 billion (USD 154 million) to provide concessional financing to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector. As per a statement released by SIDBI, the objective of the fund is to transform the Indian MSME sector into a “world class manufacturing hub” in line with the Indian government’s “make in India” program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeannette Kagame; NGO New Faces New Voices Launch $20m Initiative to Financially Empower Women
Jeannette Kagame, the wife of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, recently launched a campaign that aims to financially empower women in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania’s FINCA Microfinance Bank, Bharti Airtel to Provide Mobile Banking Services
FINCA Microfinance Bank (formerly FINCA Tanzania), an affiliate of nonprofit microfinance network FINCA International, has announced a partnership with Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecommunications company, aiming to provide mobile banking microfinance services to FINCA’s clients in Tanzania.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Mobile Finance Implementation; Alternative Delivery Channels and Technology; “Market Insights for Innovations and Design” (MI4ID) Behavioral Research
“Expanding Access to Finance Through Mobile Payments;” published by the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) International and The MasterCard Foundation; June 2015; 12 pages; available at http://www.finca.org/files/2015/06/FINCA-MasterCard-Case-study-2015.pdf
This case study offers suggestions for microfinance institutions (MFIs) implementing mobile technology.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA Tanzania Converts from Microfinance Institution (MFI) to Commercial Bank; Accepts Deposits
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Tanzania, an affiliate of the US-based microfinance network FINCA International, has converted into a commercial bank that will be able to accept deposits from the public using the name FINCA Microfinance Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Black Sea Trade and Development Bank to Loan $7m to FINCA Georgia for On-lending to Micro- and Small Enterprises
FINCA Bank Georgia (FINCA Georgia), the Georgia-based subsidiary of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International), a US-based nonprofit microfinance organization, recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with the Greece-based international financial institution Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), to receive a loan of USD 7 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Bandhan Financial Services Receives Banking License Permitting it to Accept Deposits; Plans to Begin Banking Operations in August 2015
The Indian microfinance institution, Bandhan Financial Services, which received a provisional banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2014, recently announced that it has received final approval from RBI that allows it to accept deposits. The organization intends to start offering banking services beginning August 23, 2015.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Morocco’s Microfinance Market; Trends in Funding Financial Inclusion; Growth Projections in Islamic Microfinance
“Ending the Microfinance Crisis in Morocco: Acting early, acting right;” published by the International Finance Corporation in partnership with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development; the Danish International Development Agency; Japan; Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs; and UKaid; October 2014; available at http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/5e1e5a0047850bdba0d4f5299ede9589/IFC+Morocco+MicroFinance+Crisis+report.English.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Parinaam Foundation of India Launches Financial Literacy Program in Tribal Communities of Garo, Jaintia, Khasi
The Parinaam Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides social services to women in India, has partnered with the World Bank Group, a group of five multilateral organizations that invest in developing countries, and the government of the Indian state of Meghalaya to offer a financial literacy training program to individuals in three tribal communities: Garo, Jaintia, and Khasi.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Easing Regulations to Allow Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to Loan up to $1,600 to Borrowers Earning up to $2,500
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central banking authority of the country, recently announced that it raised the limit on the total of all loans disbursed by microfinance institutions (MFIs) to a single borrower from INR 50,000 (USD 790) to INR 100,000 (USD 1,600).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Greta Bull Appointed CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor)
Greta Bull, the former manager of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Advisory Services, has been appointed CEO of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Grants Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Status to Indian Microfinance Network Sa-Dhan
Sa-Dhan, a microfinance network in India with 251 member organizations, reportedly has been granted status as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central banking authority.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CelsiusPro Partners with BlueOrchard to Manage KfW’s Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), World Bank Group to Improve Agricultural Insurance in Ukraine
Swiss microfinance investment manager BlueOrchard and Swiss weather index insurance service provider CelsiusPro recently were appointed as co-managers of the Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), an initiative created by German development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) that aims to reduce the vulnerability of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households to climate change by improving access to and use of insurance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Purchases 8.4% of Shares of Cambodian MFI Amret, Becomes Majority Shareholder; FMO Increases Stake to 19.9%
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based venture capital company, has become the majority shareholder of Amret, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), upon approval by The National Bank of Cambodia of its purchase of 8.4 percent of the shares of Amret.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Bank to Host Global Forum on Remittances, June 16-19, 2015, Milan, Italy
Event Name: Global Forum on Remittances 2015
Event Date: June 16-19, 2015
Event Location: Centro Congressi Stella Polare Conference Centre, Milan, Italy
Summary of Event: This event is intended to promote awareness of remittances sent by migrants to their home countries. Session topics will include trends in remittances sent from Europe, best practices in regulation, opportunities for financial inclusion, competition and transaction costs, new technologies, opportunities for public-private partnerships and strategies for developing public-private partnerships to further financial inclusion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $9m – Part in Local Currency – to FINCA, AccessBank for MSMEs in Tajikistan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral financial institution that operates in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North Africa, has expanded its support for on-lending for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tajikistan with multi-currency loans to FINCA Tajikistan (FINCA TJK) and AccessBank Tajikistan (AccessBank) in amounts equivalent to USD 4 million and USD 5 million, respectively.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, EBRD Loan $10m – Part in Local Currency – to Bai Tushum of Kyrgyz Republic for On-lending to Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG), a German development finance institution offering long-term project and company financing, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, have announced that the two institutions will collectively loan the equivalent of USD 10 million to Bai Tushum Bank (BTB), a provider of microfinance services in the Kyrgyz Republic.