The World Bank Group (WBG), a US-based international financial institution, has recently approved a USD 500 million “Financial Sector Reform and Modernization Development Policy Loan”[1] (FSRM DPL) for the government of Indonesia.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Seeks Responses to “Global Pulse Survey on Responsible Digital Finance” by August 8, 2014
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based, nonprofit policy and research center that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, has launched its “Global Pulse Survey on Responsible Digital Finance”[1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Department for International Development (DFID) to Donate $2m to 12 Pakistani Financial Institutions to Support Innovation in Rural Agricultural Finance
The Department for International Development (DFID), a development agency of the British government, reportedly has pledged to donate a total of PKR 240 million (USD 2.4 million) to 12 Pakistani financial institutions to support the implementation of proposed innovations in rural and agricultural financing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Woori Bank of South Korea to Acquire Cambodian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Malis Finance for $5m
Woori Bank, a South Korea-based bank, reportedly has agreed to buy Malis Finance, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), for KRW 5 billion (USD 4.95 million) with the aim of furthering its goal of international expansion.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION WRAP-UP: “The Microfinance Sector in Morocco: Investment Opportunities After the Crisis;” Published by MicroFinanza Rating
“The Microfinance Sector in Morocco: Investment Opportunities After the Crisis,” published as part of the Insight series by MicroFinanza Rating, May 2014, 4 pages, available at http://www.microfinanzarating.com/images/Insight_Morocco_March_2014.pdf
Performed by Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating in May 2014, this “country screening” analyzes the political, economic and legal frameworks in which microfinance institutions (MFIs) function in Morocco.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $3m to Indonesia’s Mitra Bisnis Keluarga Ventura (MBK), $1m to Azerbaijan’s Finance for Development (FinDev)
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), which provides financial services to “social businesses,” recently informed MicroCapital that it has provided a three-year local-currency loan equivalent in value to EUR 2.1 million (USD 2.9 million) to Mitra Bisnis Keluarga Ventura (MBK), a microfinance institution (MFI) located in Indonesia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $25m to Bank of Georgia for On-lending to Micro, Small Enterprises (MSEs)
Bank of Georgia, a Tbilisi-based commercial bank that offers corporate and retail banking, wealth management, brokerage and insurance services in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, recently borrowed EUR 18.5 million (USD 25.2 million) under a senior loan agreement from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based, government-backed microfinance investment vehicle.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Harry Potter” Cinema Actress Emma Watson to Serve as Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations (UN) Women
United Nations (UN) Women, the UN organization “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women,” has announced Emma Watson, a British actress, will serve as Goodwill Ambassador for the organization.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION WRAP-UP: “The Promise of Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment; What Does the Evidence Say?;” by Dina Pomeranz; published by EY (Ernst & Young)
“The Promise of Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment; What Does the Evidence Say?;” by Dina Pomeranz; published by EY (Ernst & Young Global Limited), February 2014; 24 pages; available at http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-_Microfinance_and_womens_empowerment/$FILE/EY-The%20promise-of-microfinance-and-womens-empowerment.pdf
In this paper, Dr Pomeranz gives a brief overview of the history of microfinance as well as is discussing the “size, magnitude and geographical reach” of the sector, citing that approximately 3,600 microfinance institutions (MFIs) served 200 million customers globally as of 2010.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Invest. Catalyze. Mainstream. The Indian Impact Investing Story;” by Nisha Dutt, Usha Ganesh, Prashant Chandrasekaran, Payal Agarwal, Samved Patil, Ankit Gupta; Published by Intellecap
“Invest. Catalyze. Mainstream. The Indian Impact Investing Story;” by Nisha Dutt, Usha Ganesh, Prashant Chandrasekaran, Payal Agarwal, Samved Patil and Ankit Gupta; published by Intellecap, April 2014, 70 pages, available at http://intellecap.com/publications/invest-catalyze-mainstream-india-impact-investing-story
India is a major hub for impact investing – an investment approach that pursues financial returns while seeking social and environmental improvements in low-income communities.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA International Raises $30m in Debt in Nine Local Currencies to Support Financial Inclusion of Microentrepreneuers
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International), a US-based nonprofit microfinance network, has announced that it has raised debt funding equivalent to USD 30 million in nine local currencies to support the financial inclusion of low-income microentrepreneurs through its Local Currency Microfinance Note III [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNP Paribas, Orange to Allow Money Transfers Between Bank Accounts, Mobile Money Accounts in Cote D’Ivoire
BNP Paribas, a France-based financial services provider with operations in 84 countries, and Orange, a French telephone and Internet service provider, have announced that their customers in Cote D’Ivoire will now be able to transfer money between their bank accounts and their accounts with Orange Money, Orange’s mobile money service.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group’s Global Consumption Database Suggests 4.5b Low-income People Spend $5t Per Year in Developing World
The Global Consumption Database recently released by the World Bank Group (WBG) suggests that the total annual spending of approximately 4.5 billion people with low incomes in the developing world exceeded USD 5 trillion in 2010, more than the combined spending of the middle- and high-income groups in the same 92 developing countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan Financial Services of India Plans Public Offering (IPO) Within Three Years
Bandhan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution that recently received a provisional banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reportedly is planning to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) sometime within the next three years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure Raises $10m in Equity from International Finance Corporation, Omidyar Network, Opportunity International, Telenor Group; First-Time Investors AXA, Sanlam Emerging Markets
MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International, has announced that it has raised a total of USD 10.4 million from six investors including some of the company’s past investors: Opportunity International; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm; and Telenor Group, a telecommunications company based in Norway.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity Bank Serbia; MDO Arvand of Tajikistan; Bai Tushum, Kompanion of Kyrgyzstan Receive Smart Campaign Client Protection Certification
The Smart Campaign, a consumer-protection initiative launched in 2010 by the US-based nonprofit Accion, recently granted its “Smart Certification” to four microfinance institutions (MFIs): Opportunity Bank Serbia, which is controlled by US-based NGO Opportunity International; Microcredit Deposit-Taking Organizaition (MDO) Arvand, an MFI in Tajikistan that provides financial services to entrepreneurs; Bai Tushum Bank, a microfinance institution serving entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan; and Kompanion, an MFI that offers “development products and services”[1] to entrepreneurs and individuals in Kyrgyzstan.
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: Lok Capital, Creation Investments Invest Total of $13m in Indian Microfinance Institution Equitas Holdings
Two institutional investors, Lok Capital LLC (Lok Capital), a Mauritius-based investment vehicle, and Creation Investments Capital Management Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) (Creation Investments), a US-based alternative investment management company, reportedly have invested a cumulative sum of INR 800 million (USD 13.7 million) in Equitas Holdings Private Limited (Equitas), a Chennai-based microfinance institution (MFI).