Sekerbank, a Turkish private bank, has borrowed EUR 59.5 million (USD 82 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution; EUR 36.3 million (USD 50 million) from the International Finance Corporation, a member of the US-based World Bank Group; and EUR 10 million (USD 13.7 million) from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based, EU-backed microfinance investment vehicle [1] [2].
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $20m to Bank Republic of Georgia to Support Lending to Micro-, Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based, EU-backed microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently agreed to grant a senior loan facility of USD 20 million to Bank Republic, a Georgian member of the France-based financial group Société Générale [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Liberia Loans $483k to Three Counties in Western Liberia to Promote Financial Inclusion
The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), the country’s central bank, reportedly has granted loans totaling LRD 38 million (USD 483,000) to 106 financial institutions located in the Liberian counties of Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu in an effort to “empower” rural businesses and increase the financial inclusion of rural people [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $1.3m to Microfinance Institution Microinvest of Moldova
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based, government-backed microfinance investor that aims to foster regional development in southeastern Europe and parts of central Asia, recently announced that it has provided a loan of EUR 1 million (USD 1.3 million) to Microinvest, a microfinance institution (MFI) founded by the Soros Foundation in Moldova, to support micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WorldRemit Launches Direct Worldwide Money Transfer Service through Telesom’s Zaad Service
WorldRemit Limited, a UK-based online money transfer service that enables customers to send remittances to family and friends in approximately 100 receiving countries, reportedly has partnered with Somaliland-based communications company Telesom’s Zaad, a mobile banking service that allows customers to use their mobile phones for money transfers and purchases, to launch a mobile money transfer program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loan $4m to Mikrokreditna Fondacija Mi-Bospo of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently notified MicroCapital that it has opened a EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.9 million) credit line for Mikrokreditna Fondacija Mi-Bospo, a microlender in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) that loans exclusively to women [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Ghana, EB Accion, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, USAID to Help Women Become Mobile Money Agents
The Ghanaian branch of Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, which is also known as Tigo and has operations in 15 African and Latin American countries; EB Accion, a Ghana-based microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with Togo-based Ecobank Group and US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Accion; Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a London-based charity focused on technology and access to finance; and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, reportedly have partnered on a mobile money project that is expected to involve hundreds of women in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management Loans $13m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in South America, Eurasia Including FINCA Armenia
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an Austria-based firm that invests in microfinance and other sectors, recently notified MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 13 million during April 2013 through two of the funds that it manages to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, the Philippines, Russia and Tajikistan. Of this amount, USD 7.5 million was issued in local currency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $16m to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank of Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), has notified MicroCapital that it recently disbursed two loans totaling the equivalent of USD 16 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), a microfinance bank partially owned by French bank Credit Agricole.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DemirBank of Azerbaijan Offers Automated Teller Machine Repayment Option
DemirBank, an Azerbaijani commercial bank that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises, recently announced that customers have the opportunity to repay loans at automated teller machines (ATMs) with their bank cards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Launches Mobile Banking Service in Chad to Compete with Airtel
Luxembourg-based telecommunication firm Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, has launched A mobile banking operations in Chad.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Makes $643k Equity Buy into Kreditimi Rural I Kosoves of Kosovo
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a fund that seeks to foster economic development in southeastern Europe and parts of Central Asia, has made an equity investment of EUR 479,000 (USD 643,000) in Kreditimi Rural I Kosoves LLC (KRK), a microfinance institution based in Kosovo.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US-based MoreMagic, Splash Expand Mobile Money Services in Sierra Leone
Splash Mobile Money Limited, a mobile financial service provider based in Sierra Leone, and MoreMagic Solutions, a US-based technology provider that developed Splash’s service platform, have extended the Splash network in Sierra Leone with the addition of DStv, a satellite television network in the country; Access Bank and Ecobank Microfinance, two commercial banks; and a network of 50 rural banks set up by both the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Austrian Development Bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) to Invest $18.75m in European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)
Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Austria’s official development bank, recently pledged an investment of EUR 15.0 million (USD 18.75 million) to the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) based in Luxembourg.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe Loans $8m to MF Banka a.d. Banja Luka, Microcredit Foundation EKI of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) based in Luxembourg, has disbursed loans to Microcredit Foundation EKI (MCF EKI) and MF Banka a.d. Banja Luka, both of which are microfinance institutions located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mobile Money Connected Africa Forum Conference & Expo, May 14-17, 2012, South Africa
Event Name: “Mobile Money Connected Africa Forum Conference & Expo”
Event Date: May 14 – 17, 2012
Event Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DemirBank of Azerbaijan to Borrow $8m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility, Co-Managed by responsAbility
DemirBank, an Azerbaijan-based commercial bank that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises, has signed an agreement with the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a microfinance investment vehicle created by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank, to receive USD 8 million in loans over a three-year period.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxfam International, Symbiotics Launch Small Enterprise Impact Investment Fund for Asia, Africa
UK-based relief agency Oxfam International and Swiss for-profit microfinance investment intermediary Symbiotics have jointly launched the Small Enterprise Impact Investment Fund (SEIIF) that will increase access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia and Africa while offering investors both “measurable social impacts and financial returns” [1].