The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a self-sustaining agency of the US government, recently agreed to lend USD 20 million to the WaterCredit Investment Fund 3, which will invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other organizations that facilitate the deployment of safe water and sanitation systems. The goal of the fund is to raise USD 50 million to reach 4.6 million people in South and Southeast Asia over
Search Results for: Microfinance Institutions Bill India
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank, Citigroup to Facilitate Up to $100m in Local Currency Loans for MFIs in Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a 67-member development finance institution headquartered in the Philippines, and Citigroup, a financial services corporation based in the US city of New York, recently announced the intention to facilitate up to USD 100 million in local-currency loans for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia under the Microfinance Risk Participation and Guarantee Program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladeshi Farmers to Receive Microloans via Credit Cards Arranged by CARE Bangladesh, DAM, mPower, USAID
The Agricultural Extension Support Activity (AESA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is implemented by the Bangladesh-based nonprofit Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), is piloting an initiative to provide smallholder farmers with loans via bank cards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Developpement international Desjardins (DiD) Supports Lenders of Centre de Traitement Informatise du Senegal in Reaching Clients via SMS Messaging
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a unit of Canada’s cooperative Desjardins Group that promotes financial services in developing countries, launched a pilot program
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Afluenta Raises $8m in Series B Equity Funding from International Finance Corporation, Elevar for Peer-to-Peer Lending in Latin America
Afluenta, an Argentina-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, recently announced it closed a series B funding round totaling USD 8 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, and Elevar Equity, a “development-focused” private equity fund based in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banque Internationale Pour L’Afrique Au Congo (BIAC) Launches Heyano MasterCard Prepaid Card in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Promote Financial Inclusion, Transition to Formal Economy
Banque Internationale Pour L’Afrique Au Congo (BIAC), a commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and MasterCard, a US-based payments and technology company, recently launched a prepaid card called Heyano [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Sells Bonds Worth $11m for South Africa’s SA Taxi
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company that focuses on emerging markets, recently announced that it has completed the second tranche of a bond transaction worth USD 11 million to benefit SA Taxi Development Finance (SA Taxi), a South African leasing company that finances “minibus taxi” operators in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Invests $16.5m in Tajikistan’s Imon International to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently mobilized a loan equivalent to USD 16.5 million to benefit Imon International, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Goldman Sachs Deliver Business Training, $80m in Loan Funds Via Alibaba’s Ant Credit to Support Women Entrepreneurs in China
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, will provide a senior loan of RMB 500 million (USD 80 million) to Ant Credit, the business-lending division of Ant Financial Services Group, which is an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba [1]. The funds will be used to provide credit lines to Chinese women who have online business. Ant Credit will on-lend these funds via the internet after assessing potential borrower’s “transactional and behavioral data” from their online business. The funds will be provided through the Goldman Sachs “10,000 Women” Program, which was launched in 2008 to teach business skills and facilitate access to capital for 10,000 women living in low- and moderate-income countries [2].
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.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Credit Suisse to Fund Opportunity International’s “Empowering Generational Change Through Education” in Africa, Asia, Latin America
Credit Suisse, a Swiss global financial services company with operations in 50 countries, has agreed to donate an undisclosed sum to Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit providing microfinance in 22 countries, to launch a three-year program entitled “Empowering Generational Change Through Education” that focuses on lending for education initiatives.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mozido Raises $185m from MasterCard, Wellington Management, Individual Funders to Expand Operations
Mozido, a US-based mobile payment and marketing software company, recently raised USD 185 million in capital in the first round of its Series B financing to expand its mobile and payment services in Africa, China, Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP, MasterCard Foundation Award $500k for Behavioral Research to Freedom from Hunger, IFMR, Innovations for Poverty, The MicroInsurance Centre
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, and The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets, recently awarded a total of USD 500,000 to the following four organizations: Freedom From Hunger, a US-based NGO operating in developing countries to alleviate poverty and hunger; IFMR Finance Foundation, an arm of India’s Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Trust Group; Innovations for Poverty Action, a US-based nonprofit organization that uses randomized evaluations to research development initiatives; and The MicroInsurance Centre, a US-based, for-profit research, product development and training firm.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hatton National Bank of Sri Lanka to Acquire Majority Stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance
Hatton National Bank (HNB), a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, reportedly has entered a shareholder agreement through which it will acquire a controlling 51-percent stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance, a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Launches $807m Long-Term Rural Credit Fund
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), a development bank in India that formulates certain credit and banking policies, recently announced the launch of the long-term rural credit fund, which will provide INR 5,000 crores (USD 807 million) for refinancing agricultural loans disbursed by cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Innovation Fund (GIF) Receives $200m from Omidyar Network; Governments of Australia, Sweden, UK, US
The Global Innovation Fund (GIF), a UK-based nonprofit, recently announced its launch in the US city of New York.
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.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sodexo, Bluedrop Learning, Global Impact Announce Commitments to Middle East, Women-Owned Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) at 10th Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
The tenth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of US-based nonprofit Clinton Foundation, is being held in the US city of New York from September 21-24, and has entertained new commitments as well as progress reports on earlier commitments to address global challenges [1][2]: