MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest Up To $28m in Trustco of Namibia for Higher Education, Insurance in Africa

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced plans to make an investment of ZAR 300 million (USD 28.8 million) in Trustco Group Holdings, a Namibia-based company specializing in microcredit and microinsurance, to increase the number of student loans in Namibia and expand microinsurance into unspecified countries in Sub-Saharan Africa [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $2m to Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves of Kosovo

The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently loaned EUR 1.5 million (USD 2 million) to Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves Limited Liability Company (KRK), a non-bank microfinance institution (MFI) that serves rural areas in Kosovo, for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and residential clients in Kosovo for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Societe de Promotion et de Participation pour la Cooperation Economique SA (PROPARCO) to Loan $10m to Societe Generale Ghana, Part for Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Societe de Promotion et de Participation pour la Cooperation Economique SA (PROPARCO), a French public-private development finance institution, reportedly has signed a seven-year USD 10 million loan agreement with Societe Generale (SG) Ghana, a Ghanaian bank that is a subsidiary of the French-owned Groupe Societe Generale, for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as larger corporations.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Azerbaijan Microfinance Association Considers Credit Bureau for Microlenders

Teymur Heybatov, a representative of the Azerbaijan-Central Asia Financial Markets Infrastructure (ACAFI) advisory services project of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), reportedly has announced that a meeting will be held with the leadership of the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMA) to discuss establishing a credit bureau for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Azerbaijan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Plans to Allocate $15m to EBRD Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP) Framework

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based multilateral financial institution, plans to allocate EUR 12 million (USD 15.4 million) to Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP), an EBRD framework intended to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy investments by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the residential sector.

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: International Finance Corporation Loans $7m to Georgia’s Kor Standard Bank for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan USD 7 million to Kor Standard Bank (KSB), a financial institution in the republic of Georgia, to increase funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LOLC Microcredit Limited of Sri Lanka Receives $55m Syndicated Loan Funds from FMO, OPEC Fund for International Development, PROPARCO, Cordiant Capital

Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) Micro Credit Limited, the microfinance arm of Sri Lankan financial service provider LOLC, has received a five-year syndicated loan of USD 55.5 million.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $4.9m to Banka Respublika of Azerbaijan, $3.2m to ProCredit Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) based in Luxembourg, recently made a loan of USD 4.9 million to Banka Respublika Open Joint Stock Company, a private Azerbaijani bank.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments Disburses $14m to LOLC Micro Credit Limited of Sri Lanka

ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently disbursed USD 14 million in return for a promissory note from LOLC Microcredit Limited (LOMC), a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) that provides individual and group loans to microentrepreneurs in Sri Lanka’s agricultural districts.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Access Bank of Azerbaijan Raises $10m from Symbiotics ‘MSME’ Bonds Impact Investing Platform

Symbiotics Investment Group, a Swiss for-profit microfinance investment intermediary, recently raised USD 10 million in loan funds for Access Bank, a microfinance bank in Azerbaijan, through Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Bonds SA (MSME Bonds), an investing issuance platform founded by Symbiotics.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund II Loans $2.6m to Kenya Women Finance Trust, Incofin Investment Management to Finance Technical Assistance Project for AB Bank Zambia

The Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT), a Kenyan deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI), recently received a EUR 2 million (USD 2.6 million) loan from Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund (RIF) II, a Belgian microfinance investment vehicle (MIV).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $10m to ProCredit Bank of Georgia

European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) investing in 16 countries in Europe and Asia, has reported to MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 10 million to ProCredit Bank of Georgia, a bank serving Georgian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Partner to Support Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Mongolia, Turkey

The European Union (EU) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based multilateral investor, recently partnered to launch a EUR 3.8 million (USD 4.7 million) project in Mongolia geared towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Lends $467k to Microfinance Institution GRAINE of Burkina Faso, $1.2m to Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea of Cambodia and $2.5m to LOLC Micro Credit Limited of Sri Lanka

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), which was founded in Luxembourg by French bank Credit Agricole and Grameen Trust of Bangladesh, has reported to MicroCapital that it has issued its first loan in Burkina Faso to Groupe d’Accompagnement à l’Investissement et à l’Epargne (GRAINE), a microfinance institution (MFI) that serves 40,000 women primarily in remote areas.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Launches $45m Credit Framework to Increase Household Energy Efficiency in Moldova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in England, recently launched a EUR 35 million (USD 44.7 million) program called the Moldovan Residential Energy Efficiency Financing Facility (MoREEFF) to assist Moldovan households in reducing household energy usage and costs.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Lends $23m to Inecobank of Armenia, Megabank of Ukraine, Partner MikroKreditna Fondacija Tuzla of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has reported to MicroCapital that it has made of the following amounts in support of microfinance during April 2012: USD 10 million to Inecobank of Armenia, USD 7 million to Megabank of Ukraine and approximately USD 6.66 million to Partner MikroKreditna Fondacija Tuzla of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, USAID Issue $1m Guarantee to Microfinance Institution Proempresa of Peru

Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization that aims to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) replicate Grameen Bank’s joint-liability lending model, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides economic and humanitarian assistance, have issued a USD 1 million joint guarantee to support Proempresa, a Peru-based MFI.