BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, recently made loans totaling USD 3 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance” (PIIF) Created as Separate Work Stream Within United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI); CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Standards Observed
The Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance (PIIF) initiative has been created as a separate work stream housed within the United Nations’ (UN) Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a set of principles devised in 2005 by 20 institutional investors to encourage investors to incorporate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into their internal policies and investment strategies. (As of February 2011, UNPRI has 876 signatory investors). PIIF provides a framework for responsible investment focusing on providing access to finance to poor and vulnerable populations. The seven principles of PIIF and its charter signatories are listed in the February 2011 MicroCapital.org story announcing the launch of the initiative: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-special-report-%E2%80%9Cprinciples-for-investors-in-inclusive-finance%E2%80%9D-launched-at-responsible-finance-forum-in-the-hague-netherlands/ [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Announces Launch of $30m Nepal Economic, Agriculture and Trade (NEAT) Project, Which Will Include Support for Microfinance
In its effort to support private sector development in Nepal, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, recently launched the USD 30 million Nepal Economic, Agriculture and Trade (NEAT) project.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Group Publishes Guide to Reducing Fraud in Mobile Banking Services for Unbanked Clients, “Protecting Mobile Money Against Financial Crimes”
The World Bank Group, a Washington, DC-based group of five institutions with a mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world, has published a book titled “Protecting Mobile Money Against Financial Crimes”. The book was written as a guide to delivering mobile banking services to unbanked customers in rural areas [1]. Based on fieldwork in eight markets including Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines and Zambia and research in more than ten countries, the book suggests approaches to mitigate the risks associated with mobile money [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Receives First $10m Tranche of $20m Loan From Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB)
AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Azerbaijan, has received the first tranche of USD 10 million as part of a USD 20 million syndicated loan from Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote developing economies, and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), the development bank of Austria. The three-year syndicated loan was organized by FMO with participation from OeEB, with each institution contributing USD 10 million. The loan will be directed to financing micro- and small businesses in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investment Vehicle BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund Completes First Distribution to Investors of $7.5m
BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund (BOPE Fund), an investment vehicle of Switzerland-based, commercial microfinance intermediary Blue Orchard, has announced its first distribution to investors. The USD 7.5 million distribution comes three years after the fund’s first close and includes proceeds from a partial exit from indirect shareholding in TenGer Financial Group, the single owner of XacBank, a Mongolian community development bank and microfinance institution (MFI). BOPE Fund remains a direct shareholder of TenGer Financial Group which reported total assets of MNT 322 billion (USD 256 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of Fiji to Take Microfinance “Expos” to Rural Islands
Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF), the nation’s central banking authority, has announced plans to take microfinance expos to the outer rural islands Fiji in an effort to raise awareness of microfinance and promote greater financial inclusion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgium’s Incofin Loans $3.5m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Forus Bank of Russia, CIDRE (Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Regional) of Bolivia
Incofin Investment Management, a firm based in Belgium, recently made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 3.5 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Russia and Bolivia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sacombank of Vietnam Issues 10-Year $150m Subordinated Syndicated Loan Arranged By the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) to Support Banking, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), a Dutch public-private organization that promotes entrepreneurship in developing countries, recently arranged a 10-year subordinated syndicated loan facility worth USD 150 million for Sacombank, a Vietnamese commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Focus Note Reviews Global Regulation of the Use of Banking Agents by Microfinance Institutions
A new Focus Note from CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) examines the “global regulation of the use of banking agents by microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the issues regulators face in censoring the safe and scalable use of agents [1].”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution (MFI) EB-ACCION Microfinance of Cameroon Forecasts Serving 70k Savers in First Five Years
In its first five years of operation, EB-ACCION Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Cameroon, expects to open 71,000 savings accounts, accumulating total deposits of USD 30.8 million while serving 28,400 borrowers with an outstanding loan portfolio of USD 32 million [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pakistan’s National Rural Support Program (NRSP) Microfinance Bank Receives Permission to Operate as Regulated Entity
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central banking authority, has granted a “business commencement certificate” for the nonprofit National Rural Support Program (NRSP), to operate its NRSP Microfinance Bank as a regulated microfinance institution (MFI) in all areas of Pakistan. NRSP has offered microfinance services on a self-regulated basis since 1991. In 2008, NRSP internally approved the transformation of these operations into a regulated microfinance bank, which was registered and licensed as NRSP Microfinance Bank in 2009 [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), High Mark to Launch Credit Bureau in India
Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organization of the Indian microfinance sector, is collaborating with High Mark Credit Information Services Limited, a private credit reporting agency based in India, to establish a tracking system to share client data among MFIN members.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 14th Annual Microfinance Centre (MFC) Conference, “Reorienting Microfinance Towards Balanced Growth”, May 18 – 20, 2011, in Prague, Czech Republic
Event Name: 14th Annual Microfinance Centre (MFC) Conference, “Reorienting Microfinance Towards Balanced Growth”
Event Date: May 18 – May 20, 2011
Event Location: Prague, Czech Republic
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Partnership with BlueOrchard and responsAbility Social Investments AG, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Syndicates $40m to Banco Continental of Paraguay to Support Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral development organization operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently finalized a USD 40 million syndicated loan to Banco Continental, a commercial bank established in Paraguay in 1980, to help fund lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroCred Senegal, Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) of Jordan Borrow $2m From responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made local currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 2 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Senegal and Jordan.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: “Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry” to be Held in London, United Kingdom, May 24-25, 2011
Event Name: Investment and Innovation in Microfinance Europe 2011: Tackling Over-Indebtedness and Embracing Innovative Financial Products to Guarantee a Sustainable Industry
Event Date: May 24 – May 25, 2011
Event Location: London, United Kingdom
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgian Incofin Loans $1.5m to TenGer Financial Group of Mongolia
Incofin cvso, a Belgian cooperative company that invests in microfinance, recently loaned MNT 41 million (USD 1.5 million) to Tenger Financial Group, a Mongolian Company that controls XacBank LLC, XacLeasing LLC, Horus Nomadic Solutions LLC and TenGer Insurance LLC. Founded in 2001, the group was formed following the merger of Goviin Ehlel (renamed XAC-GE Holding) and X.A.C. (renamed XacBank), two non-bank financial institutions that focus on micro-, small and medium enterprises.