The State Bank of India (SBI) reportedly plans to grow its microfinance portfolio by 50 percent during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA International Launches For-Profit Subsidiary: FINCA Microfinance Holding LLC
The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) International received approximately USD 200 million to launch its new subsidiary, FINCA Microfinance Holding LLC (FMH).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO of the Netherlands to Loan $10m to Microfinance Institution Vision Banco of Paraguay for On-Lending to Micro- and Small Enterprises
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, has signed an agreement to loan the equivalent of USD 10 million to Vision Banco, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Paraguay [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions Allowed to Raise $10m Each in External Commercial Borrowings
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Mr H R Khan has announced that Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) will now be allowed to execute external commercial borrowings (ECB)–those that are raised from outside India–of up to USD 10 million per financial year, twice as much as was previously allowed [1]. Such funds must be “utilised for lending to self-help groups or for micro-credit or for bonafide micro finance activity including capacity building.” [2] The change is intended to address liquidity issues in the industry [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Private Equity Investors Wary As Return on Equity for Indian Microfinance Institutions Drops from Over 45% to Under 20%
The steep decline in microloan repayments that began in 2010 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is continuing to keep private investors away from microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TBC Capital Asset Management Looking to Raise $75m for “TBC Capital Impact Investing Fund-I” to Invest in Microfinance, Sustainable Agriculture, and Clean and Base-of-Pyramid Infrastructure
TBC Capital Asset Management Incorporated, a Canada-based investment management firm with a special focus on impact investments, is launching its TBC Capital Impact Investing Fund-I (TBCCIIF-I), which is a pooled fund established to invest in organizations that operate in the areas of: (a) microfinance – mainly tier-2 microfinance institutions and service providers to them – which will account for approximately 65 percent of the fund; (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “with high positive impact,” especially those involved in sustainable agriculture, which will receive approximately 20 percent of fund investments; and (c) clean and “base-of-pyramid” infrastructure, accounting for approximately 15 percent of the fund [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Krung Thai Bank of Thailand Downscaling to Offer Microfinance
The Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited (KTB), a government-owned commercial bank in Thailand, recently announced that it has initiated microfinance operations by providing loans to lower-income people that do not have regular salaries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microfinance Institutions Have Received $158m from Spain Since 1998
Since 1998, Peru has received a total of around EUR 121 million (USD 158 million) from the Spanish government’s Microcredit Fund (FCM in Spanish).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 34 Microfinance Institutions Now Operating Under Uzbekistan Microcredit Law
As of October, 34 microfinance institutions (MFIs) reportedly operate in Uzbekistan under the country’s law “On Microcredit Institutions” with microloans to individuals amounting to UZS 22.5 billion (USD 12.6 million) and microloans to organizations amounting to UZS 2.8 billion (USD 1.6 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to Expand Financial Services in Colombia with $2.5m Program
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based membership organization representing 41 country-level credit union trade groups, will expand financial services in remote areas of Colombia with a USD 2.5 million program that will employ mobile technology in an effort to bring financial services to 100,000 previously unbanked people in rural and low-income communities throughout the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Panama, Fundación BBVA Microfinanzas and Autoridad de la Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (AMPYME) Promote Microfinance
Fundación BBVA Microfinanzas (BBVA Microfinance Foundation), a Spanish nonprofit with operations in six western hemisphere countries, and Autoridad de la Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (AMPYME), an institution of the Republic of Panama, have signed a public-private alliance to jointly manage microfinance in Panama.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Launches $60m Cleantech Innovation Facility to Support Green Businesses in Developing Countries
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has launched the Cleantech Innovation Facility, a USD 60 million equity financing mechanism that will provide capital and technical assistance to small, start-up companies that have products or services that mitigate carbon emissions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroSave Launches Capital Structuring and Equity Valuation Toolkit for Microfinance
MicroSave, an India-based technical assistance, training and resource center for microfinance practitioners, has launched its Capital Structuring and Equity Valuation Toolkit for microfinance professionals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jeffrey Sachs: Use of Mobile Phone Services by 30% of Africans Will Lead to Poverty Reduction
Jeffrey Sachs, director of the United Nations Millennium Villages Project, was recently interviewed by the US-based CNN news provider regarding the rise of mobile phone ownership in impoverished areas throughout Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Georgia’s Crystal Receives $2m in Equity from Unnamed Microfinance Investment Vehicle Managed by Developing World Markets
An unnamed microfinance vehicle managed by Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based asset manager and investment bank, has made an equity investment of USD 2 million in Joint Stock Company Microfinance Organization Crystal (JSC MFO Crystal), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Georgia that aims to reduce poverty by providing financial services to low-income people [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Spandana Sphoorty Financial, Share Microfin, Asmitha Microfin Call Off Merger After Restructuring Plans Approved
Three Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), Spandana Sphoorty Financial, Share Microfin and Asmitha Microfin, have reportedly cancelled a potential merger on which MicroCapital had reported in August.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial and Credit Counseling of Bosnia Offers Debt Mediation, Financial Education to Microfinance Clients
The Center for Financial and Credit Counseling (CFKS), a nonprofit established in 2010 in the Bosnian city of Tuzla, has been set up to counter the negative impact of over-indebtedness through financial education, counseling, mediation and debt resolution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Chartered Indonesia Loans $3m to Bank Andara to Finance Lending, Technology Services for Microfinance Institutions
Standard Chartered Indonesia, a branch of the London-based bank Standard Chartered PLC, has announced that it will loan IDR 30 billion (USD 3.3 million) to Bank Andara, an Indonesian wholesale lender to microfinance institutions (MFIs), to expand its services to MFIs in Indonesia [1].