by Sharanya Madhavan -

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Role of Impact Investing in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals; Microfinance Investment Vehicle Survey; Lessons from Tanzania’s Digitization Efforts

“Achieving The Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Impact Investing;” published by The Global Impact Investing Network; September 12, 2016; 9 pages; available at https://thegiin.org/knowledge/publication/sdgs-impinv

This report profiles impact investors that have leveraged the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the following purposes: (1) as a framework to communicate their social impact goals; (2) to develop new or realign existing investment strategies and; (3) to attract capital from private investors that are new to impact investing.

by Imke Herholdt -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IntelleGrow Raises $20m in Debt, Equity to Fund Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises in India

IntelleGrow Private Limited, an India-based nonbanking financial company specializing in venture debt that was founded by India’s Intellecap Capital Advisory Services, recently announced that it has raised INR 134 billion (approximately USD 20 million) in equity and debt.

by Jared Deveau -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, FMO, Triodos to Invest Debt in Promerica of Nicaragua

Two microfinance investment vehicles, Triodos Microfinance Fund and Triodos Fair Share Fund, recently made a debt investment of unspecified amount in Promerica Financial Corporation (Promerica Group), a commercial bank based in Nicaragua. Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Triodos Bank of the Netherlands, manages both funds. Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Dutch development bank; and Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a German development bank, also participated in the investment with unspecified amounts of debt finance.

by Makai McClintock -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, Triodos Loan $35m to Khan Bank of Mongolia for On-Lending to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, and Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, have announced plans to invest a total of USD 35 million in Khan Bank, a commercial bank based in Mongolia, for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in that country. 

by Makai McClintock -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), Triodos to Acquire Myanmar’s Dawn Microfinance for $7m

Accion, a US-based microfinance NGO; Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies; and Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, have announced plans to invest a total of USD 6.85 million in Dawn Microfinance, a Myanmar-based microfinance institution (MFI).

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund Loans $800k to Organic Sesame Exporter Bioexport of Paraguay

The Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund, an investment vehicle managed by a unit of the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently announced that it has invested in Bioexport, a Paraguayan firm that purchases sesame and other crops directly from farmers and cooperatives for export.

by Nisha Koul -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Investment Management Disburses Loans to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Lenders in Cambodia, Colombia, India, Jordan, Uzbekistan

Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently disbursed loans of undisclosed amounts to Annapurna Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI); Asociacion Fondo de Desarrollo (FDL), an MFI in Nicaragua; Crezcamos, a Columbian MFI; Hamkorbank, a commercial bank in Uzbekistan; Intean Poalroath Rongroeurng (IPR), an MFI in Cambodia; Intellegrow, a nonbanking financial company (NBFC) serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India; and Vitas Jordan, an Amman-based MFI [1].

by Simon Pfanner -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Investment Management Invests in Tunisia’s Enda Inter-Arabe, Uganda’s Entrepreneur Financial Centre

Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently disbursed loans of unspecified sizes to Enda Inter-Arabe, a Tunisian financial services provider that is part of Senegal-based non-governmental organization Enda Third-World, and Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) Uganda, a microfinance institution that provides financial services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). 

by Julia Marín -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund Opens $2m Credit Line for Thai Organic Rice Company Urmatt, Cocoa Producer ICAM Uganda

The Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund, which provides trade finance loans to co-operatives and private companies operating in “sustainable” agricultural value chains, recently opened a credit line for Urmatt Limited, a Thai company producing and processing certified organic rice, and ICAM Chocolate Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of the Italian firm Industria Cioccolato e Affini Morbegno (ICAM) that sources organically grown green cocoa beans directly from local farmers in Uganda. The funding, which is capped at USD 2 million [3], is intended to enable these two companies to pay “fair” prices to farmers and improve their cash flow management [1].

by Simon Pfanner -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Sells 14.5% Equity Stake in K-rep Bank of Kenya to Existing Shareholders Centum Investment, K-rep Group

The Triodos Sustainable Finance Foundation, a unit of the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently sold its entire 14.5-percent equity stake in K-rep Bank of Kenya, a commercial bank founded in 1999 that provides services to low-income people.

by Ananya Tiwari -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF) Loans $3.1m to India’s IntelleGrow for Loans to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises

The Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF), a Netherlands-based microfinance investment vehicle, recently loaned EUR 2.5 million (USD 3.1 million) to IntelleGrow, an Indian nonbank financial company that specializes in making loans to small and medium-sized “social enterprises” in the agriculture, clean energy, education, financial, healthcare, sanitation and water sectors.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $15m to Eskhata Bank of Tajikistan to Fund Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will loan the equivalent of USD 15 million to Eskhata Bank, a commercial bank in Tajikistan.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund Loans $750k to Bimputh Finance of Sri Lanka for Microfinance

Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM), a private company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and directly invests in companies in developing countries, recently disbursed a loan of USD 750,000, via its Rural Impulse Fund (RIF I), to Bimputh Finance, a Sri Lankan non-banking finance company.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO, Cordaid, Incofin, KfW Commit $25m to Launch Wholesale Fund for DRC Under Nonprofit Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM)

The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), which is owned by the government of Belgium and seeks to support the sustainable development of the private sector; the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid), a Netherlands-based NGO; Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a private Belgian company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned development bank in Germany, jointly have offered a “capital contribution” of USD 25.1 million for Fonds pour l’inclusion financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM), a nonprofit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

by Aliz Crowley -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Announces Finalists for Fifth European Microfinance Award for Environmental Products: ESAF Investments of India, Kompanion of Kyrgyzstan, XacBank of Mongolia

The European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), a Luxembourg-based network of approximately 130 microfinance organizations and individuals, has announced that there are three finalists for the Fifth European Microfinance Award, which is themed “Microfinance and the Environment” for 2014[1].

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin, Triodos Invest in Microfinance Institution (MFI) Arvand of Tajikistan

Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a private company that manages funds investing in microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Netherlands-based Triodos Investment Management (Triodos), the subsidiary of Triodos Bank that manages funds in “energy and climate, emerging markets, arts and culture and sustainable real estate”[2], jointly acquired a 36-percent equity stake in Microcredit Deposit-Taking Organization Arvand (Arvand), an MFI that operates in and around Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan as well as in the country’s Sughd region.

by Nisha Koul -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s ESAF Microfinance and Investment Issues $7.8m In Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to Triodos

Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) Microfinance and Investment Private Limited (EMFIL), a non-banking financial institution (NBFC) based in the Indian state of Kerala, reportedly has raised INR 475 million (USD 7.8 million) by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based for-profit Triodos Bank [1].

by Juan Blanco Ramos -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVentures Invests $13.5m in Equity in Microfinance Institution Grameen Koota of India

Indian non-banking financial company Grameen Financial Services Private Limited, which is also known as Grameen Koota, reportedly has received an equity investment of USD 13.5 million from Italy-based private equity firm MicroVentures.