AB Microfinance Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Nigeria, has, in its first year of operation, disbursed a total of 3,000 loans, according to Corinna Heuer, Head of Banking Services for AB Microfinance Bank [1,2].
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Provides $5m Loan to Uzbekistan’s HamkorBank for Micro- and Small Enterprises (MSEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has extended a USD 5 million credit line to HamkorBank, an open joint-stock commercial bank in Uzbekistan, to increase the availability of financial services to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Luxembourg Microbanking Intermediary Scheme Appui au Developpement Autonome (Luxmint ADA), Microcred Group, MicroCredit Enterprises, CRS CORDAID Microfinance Alliance Fund
The following funds are detailed in this brief:
Luxembourg Microbanking Intermediary Scheme Appui au Developpement Autonome (Luxmint ADA)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Luxembourg+Microbanking+Intermediary+Scheme+Appui+au+Developpement+Autonome+%28Luxmint+ADA%29
Microcred Group
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=MicroCred
MicroCredit Enterprises
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=MicroCredit+Enterprises
CRS CORDAID Microfinance Alliance Fund
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=CRS+CORDAID+Microfinance+Alliance+Fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank and Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) Present Consumer Protection Plan for Microfinance and Traditional Financial Service Consumers
The World Bank and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) recently presented a plan titled, “The Protection of Rights and Financial Literacy of Financial Service Consumers in Azerbaijan.” According to the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA), which is a trade association representing Azerbaijani non-bank credit organizations, approximately 1,200 consumers provided feedback towards the development of the consumer protection plan. Mr. Alim Guliyev, CBA First Deputy CEO, states that the plan is based on two developments in the financial services sector, i.e., the introduction of financial sector legislation and regulation as well as the rise in the financial literacy of the population. CBA will be the coordinating body between different areas of the financial services sector, including banking, insurance and investment services. In connection with these developments, CBA will create a special unit and hotline dedicated to responding to consumer complaints regarding business practices. Mr. Guliyev comments that the “[P]rotection of the consumers’ rights is especially important in the conditions of financial crisis.”
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Kinnevik, Locfund, Lok Capital LLC, Legatum Ventures
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF), Incofin Rural Impulse Fund (RIF), Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio, ACCION Latin America Bridge Fund (LABF)
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Hivos-Triodos+Fund+%28HTF%29
Incofin Rural Impulse Fund (RIF)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Incofin+Rural+Impulse+Fund+%28RIF%29
Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Incofin+VDK+MFI+Loan+Portfolio
ACCION Latin America Bridge Fund (LABF)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=ACCION+Latin+America+Bridge+Fund+%28LABF%29
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Provides $17.5m Loan Facility to Dominican Commercial Bank ‘Banco BHD’ to Lend to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which provides multilateral financing in Latin America and the Caribbean, has extended a USD 17.5 million loan to Banco BHD, a commercial bank based in the Dominican Republic, in order to “strengthen its capital position and expand its long-term lending to the corporate sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)” [1,2,3]. The facility is made up of a USD 5 million loan with a five-year tenor and a USD 12.5 million loan with an eight-year tenor [1]. The USD 12.5 million loan will be extended in conjunction with an unspecified third party [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bai Tushum and Partners, a Microfinance Institution (MFI) Based in the Kyrgyz Republic, Agrees to Adopt ‘FinnOne’ Banking Software from Nucleus Software Exports Limited
Bai Tushum and Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Kyrgyz Republic, has agreed to a deal with Nucleus Software Exports Limited, a banking software company, to adopt FinnOne, Nucleus’s group of applications that support the business affairs of financial institutions [1,2,3,4].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 2010 Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards Accepting Entries Through February
The Financial Times (FT) newspaper, in partnership with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), has launched the 2010 FT Sustainable Banking Awards, which recognizes banks financial institutions for leadership and innovation in integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into their operations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Provides $6m Line of Credit to Bank Respublika, a Commercial Bank in Azerbaijan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a financial institution “owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions,” is providing a USD 6 million line of credit to Bank Respublika, a private commercial bank in Azerbaijan [1,2,3]. The line of credit will be used by Bank Respublika to provide loans to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Azerbaijan [1]. The loans will be have both medium and long-term tenors [1]. The EBRD has previously provided loans to Bank Respublika totaling USD 27 million [1]. MicroCapital reported another, more recent, EBRD investment in Azerbaijan in December of 2009; a USD 10 million loan to AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) [4]. The repayment, however, is to be in the AZN value of the loan, the equivalent of over AZN 8 million [4].
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: FRONTIERS, Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund, Goodwell, Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Fund
The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:
FRONTIERS
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=FRONTIERS
Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund
Goodwell
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Goodwell
Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Taliban Threatened by Microfinance in Afghanistan
Shah Mohammad Mir is the director of the Helmand Islamic Investment and Finance Corporation (HIIFC), an Islamic credit union, which makes microloans to farmers and other microentrepreneurs. Some farmers that previously grew poppies with Taliban-provided inputs have used loans to buy their own seeds and other supplies to grow wheat and other food crops. To comply with Shariah, Islamic law, loans do not bear interest but instead are repaid with a 2 percent administrative fee. Mr Mir says that the loans, normally for no more than USD 2,000 each, have enabled over 30 people to leave the Taliban. As a result, Mr Mir has received threatening phone calls and had guns fired outside his home. He left town for a short while, but has returned to operate HIIFC’s three branches, which have lent USD 1 million to 1,441 people since late 2007. Regarding the unrest in his country, Mr Mir says: “If we can get rid of the unemployment that should bring security.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Extends $10m Synthetic Local Currency Loan to AccessBank of Azerbaijan
At the Azerbaijan Investment Summit held in London on December 8th, AccessBank, an Azerbaijani microfinance institution (MFI) with total assets of USD 239 million, signed an agreement on the first synthetic AZN loan to be extended by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Under the synthetic local currency loan, EBRD will provide USD 10 million to AccessBank, but the actual loan obligation by AccessBank to the EBRD will be the AZN value of the provided funds, about AZN 8 million.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)
Overview:
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) mobilizes capital for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
KNOW A MICROFINANCE INSTITUTION: Belstar Investment and Finance Limited, A Division of Hand in Hand
About:
Belstar Investment and Finance Limited
Description
Belstar Investment and Finance Limited is a non-bank finance company based in Bangalore, India. It is the “microfinance delivery arm” of Hand in Hand, a nongovernmental charitable organization that “aims to reduce poverty through creating jobs in microfinance, education, health, and information.” Hand in Hand acquired Belstar in 2008. Its primary products are loans used for creating microenterprises.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG BRIEF: Faulu Advisory Services of Kenya has Acquired Trustmark Insurance to Diversify Services, Provide Microinsurance
Faulu Advisory Services (FAS), a fully owned subsidiary of Faulu Kenya, has acquired Trustmark Insurance Brokers in an effort to include microinsurance among its microfinance services. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed. Faulu Kenya is a deposit taking microfinance company, which, until now, has offered credit and savings products for low-income Kenyans. FAS provides business advisory services for the microfinance industry. Mr. George Maina, CEO of FAS, commented, “It’s a strategic move on our side to venture into insurance brokerage. For now, we shall continue offering services that the brokerage used to have,” which include life and health insurance. According to the Business Daily, less than a million Kenyans currently have life insurance coverage, representing a 2.5 percent penetration rate.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BASIX Group Providing Technical Assistance to Microfinance Institutions in South Africa, Ethiopia and Rwanda
BASIX Group, which consists of several companies based in India that participate in microfinance and business services to the poor, has begun to provide technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in various African nations such as South Africa, Ethiopia, and Rwanda [1,2]. This comes after BASIX has already provided technical services to MFIs in Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka [1]. MicroCapital reported on Basix’s role as a “technical partner” for a USD 1 million equity investment by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, in the MFI ‘Papua New Guinea (PNG) Microfinance’ [3]. BL Parthasarathy, the Senior Group Vice-President of BASIX, has stated that “To meet the needs of global customers, it is necessary to foray into the least developed countries and emerging [markets]” [1]. He also says that BASIX will begin to “interact with MFIs” in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia this month [1]. In the following three years, BASIX “[hopes] to reach out to over 10 countries” [1].
‘Advans SA’ of Luxembourg Creates Subsidiary ‘Advans Côte d’Ivoire’ to Provide Microfinance Services in the West African Country
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based “international venture capital company specialised in microfinance” has announced the creation of a new subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire called “Advans Côte d’Ivoire” [1,2]. This will be Advans SA’s fifth subsidiary after Advans Banque Congo, Advans Ghana, Advans Cameroun, and Amret, an microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia [1,2]. Advans Côte d’Ivoire will be tasked with providing access to formal financial services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Côte d’Ivoire in an effort to “foster growth” [1]. It will provide loans as well as savings [1]. Its operations will begin in Abidjan, the largest city in the country [1]. Eventually, Advans Côte d’Ivoire will extend its services to other major cities and rural areas [1]. Advans SA, as of March 31 2008, has assets worth EUR 7.4 million [2].