by Jolene Khor -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance Barometer 2019,” Published by Convergences

Published by Convergences in partnership with the Advans Group, BNP Paribas, the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation; October 2019; 16 pages; available at http://www.convergences.org/en/104906-2/

This tenth edition of the “Microfinance Barometer” offers insights into the microfinance sector garnered through interviews, case studies and a review of data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). The publication explores trends in the sector over

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Microfinance Institutions Find Success in Agricultural Lending by Sharing Risk with Input Suppliers, Produce Buyers in Africa

At SAM 2019last week’s SAM conference, Giorgi Samadashvili described a risk-sharing framework that Advans Ghana, a member of the France-based Advans Group, has been using to fund small-scale farmers. Since 2017, the institution has lent a total of EUR 534,000 (USD 600,000) to 5,400 farmers in partnership with the farmers’ suppliers and aggregators. The arrangement depends on very strong relationships with suppliers, which, of course, gain direct benefits from the farmers’ loans. The suppliers take initial loan applications from

by Tiannah Steele -

SPECIAL REPORT: “Conference Report: European Microfinance Week 2018,” published by European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP)

This is a summary of a report presented by Laura Hemrika and Christoph Pausch; published by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP); March 2019; 92 pages available at:
http://www.european-microfinance-week.eu/_dbfiles/lacentrale_files/1000/1085/e-MFPrapport-2018-web.pdf

European Microfinance Week 2018 featured 450 attendees from 69 countries discussing a wide range of topics, focusing on “digital inclusive finance.” This included how to expand and improve

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week; November 20 – 22, 2019: Save the Date

The European Microfinance PlatformEuropean Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) will hold the next European Microfinance Week from November 20 through November 22, 2019, at the Abbaye de Neumunster in Luxembourg. This will include the presentation of the European Microfinance Award. Details on how to participate

by Ben Krupp -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad, Attijari Leasing Partner to Increase Financing for Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Tunisia

The Sanad Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership that provides medium- and long-term debt and equity financing in the Middle East and North Africa, and Attijari Leasing, a Tunisia-based subsidiary of Attijari Bank that provides leasing services, signed a senior loan agreement for USD 5 million to support micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tunisia.

by Ben Krupp -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Seeks Partners for Customer-Centric Financial Services Project

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit policy and research center devoted to worldwide growth of financial access, is searching for financial service providers with whom to partner to increase customer centricity within the providers’ systems.

by Jeffrey Pierce -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Acquires 19.9% Equity Stake in Cambodian Microfinance Institution Amret for $15m

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, recently acquired a 19.9-percent share of Amret, a microfinance institution in Cambodia, at a price of USD 15 million [1].

by Julia Marín -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Amret Microfinance, Econet Wireless, myAgro, Urwego Opportunity Bank to Engage Human-Centered Design Firms to Improve Digital Financial Services for Smallholder Farmers in Cambodia, Africa

CGAP (The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, recently selected the following financial service providers to receive an unspecified level of support from human-centered design firms to improve their digital financial services for small-scale farmers: (1) Amret Microfinance, a Cambodian microfinance institution; (2) the Zimbabwean arm of South African mobile network operator Econet Wireless and US-based relief and development nonprofit Mercy Corps; (3) myAgro, a nonprofit organization in Mali that sells agricultural inputs via mobile technology; and (4) Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a microfinance institution that was created as a result of a merger between Urwego Community Banking and Opportunity International Bank of Rwanda [1]. While the Econet-Mercy partnership will engage human-centered design firm Ideo.org, the other three programs have not yet released the names of the organizations with which they will work. 

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 Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Syndicates Loans Totaling $60m to BBVA Paraguay to Fund Small, Medium-sized Enterprises

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, has announced that it will loan a total of USD 60 million to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Paraguay (BBVA Paraguay), a subsidiary of the Spanish financial services group BBVA.

by Aliz Crowley -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Likely to Loan $150m in Jordan Including to Bank Al Etihad, Cairo Amman Bank for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, is considering setting up a senior unsecured credit facility in the amount of USD 150 million for banks in Jordan for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

by Ben Krupp -

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.

by Juan Blanco Ramos -

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.

by Juan Blanco Ramos -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Seven International Lending Institutions Launch Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF)

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF), an alliance focused on creating a sustainable financial market for small agricultural businesses, recently was launched by seven international lending institutions at the 11th Skoll World Forum on social entrepreneurship in Oxford, United Kingdom.

by Chikondano Faith Chisala -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Investments Lends $4m to Opportunity International Bank of Malawi

ResponsAbility Investments AG, a Swiss-based investor in microfinance and other sectors, recently announced the disbursement of a loan of USD 4 million to Opportunity International Bank of Malawi Limited (Opportunity Malawi), a member of the US-based Opportunity International network.

by Anesa Kratovac -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Money Lenders Association of Ghana Signs Memorandum of Understanding to Provide Members with Microinsurance Products

The Money Lenders Association of Ghana (MLAG), an umbrella organization for 350 money-lending organizations in the country, and Star Microinsurance Services Limited, a company that provides microinsurance products to low-income households in Ghana, reportedly have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide MLAG’s clients with microinsurance products, including a funeral policy, micro-healthcare policy and a child education policy [1].