The World Bank Group (WBG), a group of five multilateral organizations that invest in developing countries, recently approved plans to disburse a total of USD 42 million to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the hydropower and mining sectors of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).
Search Results for: Microfinance Institutions Bill India
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Canada, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Support Small, Medium-sized Agricultural Enterprises in Ukraine
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) recently informed MicroCapital that the government of Canada and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, plan to work together to provide an unspecified level of financial support and technical advice to small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Ukraine.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group Donating $22m to, Investing $2m in Agriculture Commercialization in Tajikistan
The International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank Group (WBG) that offers interest-free credits and grants to the world’s 82 poorest countries, is planning to disburse a grant of USD 22 million to support the “Tajikistan Agriculture Commercialization Project”[1] of the government of Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hatton National Bank (HNB) of Sri Lanka to Acquire 51% Stake in Sri Lankan Prime Grameen Micro Finance for $5m
Hatton National Bank (HNB), a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, reportedly is planning to acquire a 51-percent stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance, a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI), for LKR 660 million (USD 5 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion’s Frontier Investments Invests Equity in Britain’s Eseye, Provider of Machine-to-Machine “M2M” Services That Can Facilitate Utility Service to Low-Income Households
Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, a venture-equity initiative that seeks to invest in companies serving financially excluded populations, has invested an undisclosed amount in Eseye Limited, a UK-based machine-to-machine (M2M) technology provider, during Eseye’s series-B financing round, which raised a total of USD 9 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group (WBG) Loans $12m, Donates $12m to Government of Mozambique for Financial Sector Reform, Including to Boost Financial Inclusion
The World Bank Group (WBG), a US-based multilateral financial institution recently approved a USD 25 million financing package consisting of a loan of USD 12.5 million and a grant of USD 12.5 million to support the “First Programmatic Financial Sector Development Policy Operation (DPO)”[1] of the government of Mozambique.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group (WBG) Loans $500m to Government of Indonesia for Financial Sector Reform, Including to Boost Financial Inclusion
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.
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: Kenyan Mobile Money Service Providers Finserve Africa, Zioncell, Tangaza Acquire Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licenses, will Access Airtel’s Wireless Network
The Communications Authority of Kenya, the regulatory body for the country’s telecommunications sector, reportedly has granted mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licenses to three mobile money transfer service providers based in Kenya: Finserve Africa Limited, Zioncell Kenya Limited, and Tangaza Mobile Pay Limited.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KfW, Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), Developpement International Desjardins, Lundin Foundation Commit $41m to AfricInvest Financial Sector Fund
AfricInvest-TunInvest Group, a Tunisia-based private equity firm, recently announced the closing of a third round of capital-raising for its AfricInvest Financial Sector Fund, a vehicle that invests in financial institutions that lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in North and Sub-Saharan Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Disburses Syndicated Loan of $125m to Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank (NDB)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently disbursed a four-year syndicated loan of USD 125 million to National Development Bank (NDB), which is owned by the government of Sri Lanka, in an effort to improve access to funds for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Sri Lanka.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: First Access Purchases Data for Risk-Scoring Service from Cellular Network Provider Vodacom Tanzania
US-based data analytics company First Access reportedly has signed a deal to purchase user data from cellular network provider Vodacom Tanzania, a subsidiary of UK-based telecommunications company Vodafone Group, for their risk-scoring service for financial institutions serving poor individuals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goldman Sachs, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Announce $600m Fund for Women-owned Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, and US-based investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS) recently announced the establishment of the “Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility,” a USD 600 million credit fund aimed at supporting women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $64.8m to Banque Tuniso-Kowetienne of Tunisia for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Trade Financing
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, recently announced that it will extend a loan of EUR 40 million (USD 54.8 million) to Banque Tuniso-Kowetienne (BTK), a Tunisia-based commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UK’s CDC Group Makes $16m Equity Investment as Part of $36m Package for Equitas
The CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development, has made an equity investment of USD 16 million in Equitas Holdings Private Limited (Equitas), a microfinance company based in Chennai, India [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Bank Loans $5m to Cambodia’s Prasac for Microlending
The Indian unit of UK-based commercial institution Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a loan of USD 5 million to Cambodia’s Prasac, a microlender that seeks to support agricultural development.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Prudential Purchases Controlling Stake in Ghana’s Express Life Insurance From LeapFrog Investments
UK-based life insurance firm Prudential plc has purchased a majority stake in Ghanaian microinsurance provider Express Life Insurance Company from LeapFrog Investments, a private equity fund based in Mauritius.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gates Foundation, International Finance Corporation (IFC), MicroSave, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Partner to Create Helix Institute of Digital Finance
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that provides grants to organizations; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank; MicroSave, an India-based for-profit consulting center; and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the global development network of the United Nations, have partnered to create the Helix Institute of Digital Finance, an online platform that will train mobile network operators, financial institutions and third-party providers in an effort to increase the efficiency and impact of their digital and financial services [1].