MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s ActivEdge, SAP Africa to Launch Mobile Money Service

ActivEdge Technologies, a Nigeria-based company, and SAP Africa, the South Africa-based branch of German software provider Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (SAP), reportedly have partnered to offer a mobile money-transfer service to customers in Nigeria.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Signs Deals with AB Bank Rwanda, IHS Holding of Nigeria, Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda to Expand Microfinance, Telecommunications

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has signed deals with AB Bank Rwanda (ABR), a microfinance bank (MFB) affiliated with Access Microfinance Holding of Germany; IHS Holding Limited, a mobile services infrastructure company based in Nigeria that operates in five African countries; and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a foreign-owned Rwandan MFB, in an effort to increase access to telecommunications and financial opportunities in Rwanda.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, EFSE to Loan $16m to FINCA Azerbaijan to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Agricultural Lending

Through two unrelated transactions, the Azerbaijan-based subsidiary of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a US-based microfinance network, received local-currency loans totaling USD 16 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a government-backed microfinance investment vehicle based in Luxembourg.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Raiffeisen Bank Arranges $60m Loan to Microfinance Institution Access Bank of Azerbaijan

Raiffeisen Bank International, an Austria-based parent organization of financial service providers in 15 countries, has arranged a syndicated loan of USD 60 million with participation from 16 banks to AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Commits Support Worth $300k to Back Newly Licensed AB Bank Rwanda, 8th Member of Access Microfinance Holding

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced a deal worth USD 300,000 to support AB Bank Rwanda Limited, which was licensed in December 2013 to operate as a microfinance bank (MFB)[1][2].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Approves $600k for Microfinance Development in Azerbaijan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance institution based in the Philippines, has agreed to commit USD 600,000, including USD 300,000 from ADB’s Financial Sector Development Partnership Fund, to provide technical assistance for the development of Azerbaijan’s microfinance sector.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $6.8m to Intesa Leasing Belgrade of Serbia to Support Micro-, Small Enterprises

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) backed by the European Union, recently has announced a new partnership agreement with Intesa Leasing Belgrade (ILB) of Serbia, the lease financing arm of Banca Intesa Belgrade, a Serbian commercial bank that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $4m to Komercijalna Banka Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), has disbursed a senior loan of EUR 3 million (USD 4.1 million) to Komercijalna Banka Banja Luka, a financial institution that is owned by Serbia-based commercial bank Komercijalna Banka Beograd.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $25m to Belvnesheconombank (BelVEB) of Belarus to Support On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, recently announced that it will extend a 5-year loan of USD 25 million to Belvnesheconombank (BelVEB), a Belarus-based commercial bank owned by Russia’s Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank), the Belarusian development ministry, and the Minsk City Territorial Fund of State Property, the Belarusian municipal development fund.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $34.3m to European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) for On-lending to 4k Micro- and Small Enterprises (MSEs) via Retail Lenders

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development bank, recently announced that it will extend a loan of EUR 25 million (USD 34.3 million) to the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) that was initiated by German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) with the financial support of the German development ministry Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) and the European Commission.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Loan $1.5m to FINCA MDO for Microlending in Tajikistan

IFC, a US-based international financial institution and a member of the US-based World Bank Group, plans to loan USD 1.5 million to Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Microcredit Deposit Organization (MDO), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Tajikistan that is a part of the US-based, nonprofit FINCA International microfinance network.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $3.4m to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA) Leasing in Armenia, Makes $106k Equity Investment in Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves of Kosovo

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) backed by multiple governments, has disbursed two loans totaling USD 3.4 million in Armenia to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA) Leasing, the leasing subsidiary of ACBA [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda Receives $514k from Development Bank of Austria, “Partnership for Financial Inclusion” of International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation

The Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Rwanda, will receive a donation of USD 514,000 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Austria’s development bank, to support the provision of financial services – including mobile services – particularly to women and small-scale enterprises [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) Issues $675m in Bonds to Fund Inclusive Finance, Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Other Projects

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, recently issued five-year  “Sustainability Bonds” in the amount of EUR 500 million (USD 675 million) to finance environmentally friendly and socially responsible initiatives related to renewable energy, agriculture, food processing, forestry, transportation, access to water and microfinance [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Inclusive Business Models Group Publishes Case Studies

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), through “Inclusive Business Models Group,” has presented eight new case-studies of initiatives that operate within inclusive business principles [1, 2].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: JP Morgan Chase “Catalyst for Growth” Reports Improved Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa

JP Morgan Chase, a US-based investment and banking firm, recently announced that the 20 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are participating in its two-year pilot programme Catalyst for Growth (C4G), have reported increases of: 43 percent in overall average revenue; 19 percent in permanent employees; and 13 percent in accessing capital for their businesses [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Issues $12.5m in Local Currency Loans to Armenia’s Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA) to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Energy Efficient Investments

The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution that finances development projects, has provided two local-currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 12.5 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), a microfinance bank partially owned by French bank Credit Agricole [1].