The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London; the National Bank of Georgia, the Georgian central bank; and the Georgian Ministry of Finance recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch EBRD’s “Local Currency Lending Programme” in Georgia.
Search Results for: poland
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgium’s Incofin Loans $3.5m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Forus Bank of Russia, CIDRE (Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Regional) of Bolivia
Incofin Investment Management, a firm based in Belgium, recently made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 3.5 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Russia and Bolivia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, Joint Stock Company Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture (FFSA) of Kazakhstan Launch “Center for Assistance to Microcredit Organizations” (CAMCO)
The Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, an international microfinance network based in Poland, and the Joint Stock Company Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture (FFSA), a financial services organization headquartered in Kazakhstan, recently launched the Center for Assistance to Microcredit Organizations (CAMCO) to provide technical assistance to small microfinance institutions (MFIs) in rural and urban Kazakhstan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States Announces Launch of Social Performance Start-Up Fund
The Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, an international network of approximately 110 microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced the launch of its Social Performance Start-up Fund, a facility that aims to provide technical and financial assistance to regional- and country- level microfinance networks that are looking to address social performance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Provides $63m Loan to Polish Bank BGZ to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided Bank BGZ, a Polish bank that offers financing primarily to rural entrepreneurs, with a EUR 50 million (USD 63 million) credit line for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in rural areas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: T2 Teaching Tutoring Program Developing Social Performance Management Training for European Microfinance Institutions
The Università Telematica Guglielmo Marconi of Italy is leading a project funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme to offer microfinance institution staff remote training on social performance management in English, French, Italian, Polish and Spanish.
PRESS RELEASE: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Announces Additional Social Performance Reporting Awardees
Source: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: IFC to Raise $300m in Bond Issue in Japan Market for Microfinance Programs
The International Finance Corp (IFC) will aim to raise USD 300 million through a bond issue targeted at Japanese investors to finance microfinance programs. This is the first time that the IFC will issue bonds with the intent to lend to microfinance institutions (MFIs). The bond listing and sale will be arranged by Daiwa Securities. The bond will be listed in Australian dollars and New Zealand dollars and will be restricted to Japanese retail and institutional investors. IFC has obtained ratings of Aaa/AAA (investment grade) from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rating services respectively. It is expected that IFC will invest an amount at least equal to the bond proceeds in supporting microfinance activities. See bibliography sections [7]-[15] for Microcapital.org’s coverage of recent IFC investments. According to Nina Shapiro, IFC treasurer and vice president for finance, the IFC is considering bond issuances in other regions as well, specifically the European bond markets. IFC estimates that financing needed in the microfinance sector will reach USD 1.8 billion in 2010. [3][4]
PRESS RELEASE: ACCION Announces Michael Schlein Will Be New President and CEO
Source: ACCION International.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: EBRD Lends $34.9m to Polish Leasing Companies BZ WBK Leasing and BZ WBK Finance and Leasing
The EBRD has granted a EUR 25 million (USD 34.9 million) loan to each of two leasing subsidaries of Poland´s third largest bank and fourth largest leasing company, Bank Zachodni WBK. The subsidiaries, BZ WBK Leasing and BZ WBK Finance & Leasing, , provide medium- and long term lease financing to Polish small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Lucyna Stanczak, EBRD Director for Poland, commented“The loans will play an important role in keeping up leasing financing to SMEs outside the large cities at a time when funds are needed more than ever.” MicroCapital has also reported on EBRD´s February 2009 loan of USD 3.8 million to Inicjatywa Mikro, a microfinance institutuion (MFI) in Poland. The loan was directed towards micro and small Enterprise (MSE) development. According to the EBRD, only 3 percent of registered micro and small enterprises are financed by mainstream financial institutions. Microleasing, a new area of exploration for the EBRD, can allow business owners to use equipment without investing in its purchase. A list of past EBRD microleasing projects can be found here.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Inclusive Finance: The State of Microfinance Sector in ECA (Europe and Central Asia), 2008 Edition
Written by Justyna Pytkowska, Anne-Sophie Houyet, and Aneta Mach for the Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, 105 pages, available at: http://www.mfc.org.pl/index.php?section=NET&page=Other
This report covers several aspects of finance in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and New Independent States (NIS) region including access to and use of financial services, the potential for micro-insurance, the supply of microfinance services, and the social performance of NGOs and non-bank financial institutions.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: European Development Finance Institutions Part 1: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Invests Over USD 1 Billion in Microfinance Initiatives Since 2007
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development institution that fosters private sector investment in 27 countries in Central Europe and Central Asia, has supported the microfinance sector through its Micro, Small and Medium Business Program since its establishment in 1991. In the last two years alone, EBRD has provided over USD 1 billion – through debt, equity facilities and technical assistance – to microfinance programs throughout the region.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Belgrade to Host Twelfth Annual MFC Conference of Microfinance Institutions Jointly Organized with Microfinance Development Fund Serbia, Co-Sponsored by responsAbility and Blue Orchard
12th MFC Conference of Microfinance Institutions – Global Crisis: Threat or Opportunity for Microfinance?
MAY 25-27, 2009, The Continental Hotel, Belgrade, Serbia
PRESS RELEASE: EBRD provides €3m loan to Inicjatywa Mikro
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Uniglobal Research’s 2nd Annual Microfinance Forum
MARCH 19 TO MARCH 20, 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Uniglobal Research, a business events firm for various industries in the financial sector, will host its second Annual Microfinance Forum in Spring of 2009 in Vienna, Austria. The conference will touch upon all of the following topics: how global trends and imbalances affect the microfinance industry; successful business models in low-income markets; including the world’s poor as investors, producers, sellers, and buyers; common standards for the microfinance industry; mobile banking for the poor; retail microfinance; and micro (life) insurance. The event has been billed to various groups, including: microfinance institutions (MFIs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), commercial banks, research institutions, technology providers, and other public sector organizations. Uniglobal Research hopes participants will learn about the current activities and future plans of international commercial banks with respect to microfinance, capture lessons from relevant project experiences, and gain unique perspectives on how to align social issues with corporate strategy.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: USAID and Netherlands-based Oikocredit Partner to Guarantee $36.2 million for Microfinance Over 10 Years
Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a partnership which will leverage USD 36.2 million in private financing to support microfinance. USAID will provide a 50 percent guarantee on loans made by Oikocredit for ten years, and this guarantee is intended to increase private-sector financing to microenterprises and small-scale farmers, according to a press release by USAID. USAID has guaranteed loans for Oikocredit in the past, beginning in 2003 but this is the largest guarantee to date. Oikocredit’s loans are channelled through a network of regional offices worldwide and managed by local professionals.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Citigroup Opens Two Micro-Credit Firms in China Following Recent Rural Banking Initiatives by HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered in the Region
In early October, Citigroup Inc, a New York-based multinational financial services firm, announced that the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), a Chinese government agency responsible for regulating the banking sector, approved Citigroup’s plan to open two micro-credit firms in Hubei, a rural province in China. The two institutions will be established in Gong’an county and Chibi city sometime in the next few months. China Daily implied that Citigroup’s move is meant to compete with the Chinese rural banking outlets of two London-based international banks, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered, in China’s financially underdeveloped regions.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: HSBC Turkey Allocates USD 5 million to Microfinance Loans in Turkey
HSBC Turkey, the Turkish arm of the global bank HSBC, announced the allocation of USD 5 million toward microcredit loans until 2010 in Turkey. According to Piraye Antika, the CEO of HSBC Turkey, the microcredit loans will be evenly split between urban areas, rural areas and young university-graduate entrepreneurs. In disbursing the loans, HSBC will work with three non-government organizations: the Turkish Waste Prevention Foundation, the Community Volunteers, and the Female Labor Assessment Foundation.