Triodos Investment Management, a Netherlands-based manager of four microfinance investment funds, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested an undisclosed amount of funds in four microfinance institutions (MFIs): Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited, KixiCrédito of Angola, TYM Fund of Vietnam and Belarusian Bank for Small Business (BBSB) [1].
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investor Developing World Markets (DWM) Aligns Social Scorecard with Impact and Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS); Announces Staff Changes
US-based asset manager and investment bank Developing World Markets (DWM) has recently announced that it has expanded and redesigned its proprietary social scorecard to align it with the Impact and Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS), an initiative of the US-based nonprofit Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) to create a common framework for defining, tracking and reporting the performance of for-profit investment intended to solve social and environmental problems [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in India’s Andhra Pradesh State Seek Government, Commercial Bank Assistance in Restructuring Loans
The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), an association of 39 Indian microlenders, has reportedly approached the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with a proposal to ease repayment terms for distressed borrowers in return for simplifying government-mandated underwriting procedures.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LuxFLAG Grants Microfinance Label to Microfinance Enhancement Facility, Selectum, Etimos Fund, Dual Return Fund Vision Microfinance Local Currency; Renews Label for Six Other Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs)
The Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), a microfinance institution vehicle (MIV) certification organization, has recently granted the LuxFLAG Microfinance Label, which reassures investors that MIVs actually invest in the sector, to four MIVs for the first time: Microfinance Enhancement Facility SA SICAV-SIF, Selectum SICAV-SIF, Etimos Fund SICAV-SIF and Dual Return Fund SICAV-SIF Vision Microfinance Local Currency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Botswana to Stop Facilitating Repayment of Microfinance Loans by Civil Servants
The government of Botswana has announced that it will cease acting as an intermediary between microfinance institutions (MFIs) and civil servants for the collection of microloans through the provision of “deduction-at-source” from public servants’ wages [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) to Invest $10m in Inecobank to Develop Small and Medium Enterprises in Armenia
Armenian microfinance bank Inecobank is set to receive a loan of USD 10 million through a joint agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and Austrian development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) in an effort to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Utkarsh Raises $5m in Equity from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative, Aavishkaar Goodwell, International Finance Corporation
Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited (Utkarsh), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has raised equity commitments of INR 15.8 crores (USD 3.2 million) from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) Frontier Fund, a public-private partnership (PPP) that provides technical and financial support to “emerging” microfinance institutions; INR 6 crores (USD 1.2 million) from Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company (AG), an Indo-Dutch for-profit private investor in Indian MFIs; and INR 3.2 crores (USD 650,000) from International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Sector Expected to Decline by 20 to 40 Percent During Fiscal Year Ending March 2012
Data from India’s 39-member Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) for the first five months of fiscal year 2011-2012 indicate a decline in the industry’s loan portfolio.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microinsurance Company Protecta Predicts First Profit in 2012, Expanding Distribution Network
Protecta, the microinsurance provider of Peru-based microfinance holding company Grupo ACP, reportedly is predicting that it will turn its first annual profit in the year 2012 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Move to Recover “Pre-Crisis” Loans Worth $1.4b in Andhra Pradesh, India
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh, India, have started talks to recover outstanding loans amounting to INR 7,000 crore (approximately USD 1.4 billion), which they have been unable to collect since the repayment dropoff in the state started in 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Bandhan Financial Services to Apply for Banking License
Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited (Bandhan) reportedly plans to apply for a banking license after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finalizes its new guidelines for establishing new banks [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA Case Studies Explore Relationship Between Food Security and Microfinance, Analyze Client Data Using World Bank’s Human Opportunity Index
FINCA International, a US-based network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 21 countries, recently published two case studies: “Exploring the Linkages between Food Security and Microfinance: A Study by FINCA in Zambia and Guatemala” and “FINCA Client Data Viewed through World Bank’s Human Opportunity Index.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Housing Microfinance Not a Viable Solution for Slums, Opines Ruban Selvanayagam
Mr Ruban Selvanayagam, a Brazil-based real estate and land consultant with EXITUS Construction Brazil, recently laid out a series of arguments against housing microfinance being the best solution to deal with the “wide and growing presence of slums, shanty towns and other forms of substandard housing” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Ujjivan Looking to Raise $138m from Private, Public Sector Banks
Ujjivan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly plans to raise up to INR 6.2 billion (USD 138 million) from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a government-owned financial institution, along with other unspecified private and public-sector banks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tuninvest-Africinvest Announces Close of Maghreb Private Equity Fund III, Investing in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt
The Tuninvest-Africinvest Group, a Tunisia-based private equity company that invests in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently announced the closing of its Maghreb Private Equity Fund III (MPEF III) with approximately EUR 96 million (USD 134 million) in capital commitments.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Labour Organization (ILO) Backs Crop, Life, Property Microinsurance Scheme in Bolivia
The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, is reportedly supporting a pilot microinsurance scheme in the Tarija region of southern Bolivia with unnamed local partners to provide insurance against loss of food crops, life and property.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU’) “2010 Statistical Report” Announces 12% Increase in Credit Union Deposit Holdings, 10% Increase in Reserves
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based membership organization representing 41 national-level credit union member trade groups, recently released its “2010 Statistical Report,” which is based on data from credit unions from 100 countries and reports a 12-percent increase in aggregate credit union savings from USD 1.1 trillion in 2009 to USD 1.23 trillion in 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), German’s Bank im Bistum Essen Co-finance $13m Loan for Russia’s Transcapitalbank
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced that Bank im Bistum Essen, a German cooperative bank committed to socially responsible lending, has funded a 3-year USD 3 million B loan as part of a USD 13 million loan package for Russia’s Transcapitalbank (TCB).