MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Finance Platform Fundamo, Bank Andara Aim to Extend Access to Financial Services to 40m in Indonesia

Mobile finance platform vendor Fundamo is aspiring to extend financial services to 40 million Indonesians in poor regions as part of a new partnership with Indonesia’s Bank Andara, a wholesale lender to microfinance institutions (MFIs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Expands in Rural Kyrgyzstan as Lending Shifts to Agriculture

Kyrgyzstan’s microcredit sector reportedly has been growing in recent years and extending to outlying regions. The growth of microcredit in rural regions has corresponded to an increase in agricultural business following the June 2010 ethnic riots in the country.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Invests in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) KixiCrédito of Angola, Advans Ghana, Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan, Belarusian Bank for Small Business, Kompanion of Kyrgyzstan

Triodos Investment Management, a Netherlands-based manager of four microfinance investment funds, recently reported to MicroCapital that its funds have added five microfinance institutions (MFIs) to their portfolios; KixiCrédito of Angola; Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited of Ghana; Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan; Belarusian Bank for Small Business (BBSB) of Belarus; and Kompanion Financial Group Microfinance Closed Joint Stock Company of Kyrgyzstan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Invests in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) COMIXMUL of Honduras, CACMU of Ecuador, Sembrar Sartawi of Bolivia

Triodos Investment Management, a Netherlands-based manager of four microfinance investment funds, recently reported to MicroCapital that its funds have added three Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs) to their portfolios; Cooperativa Mixta Mujeres Unidas Limitada (COMIXMUL) of Honduras; Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Mujeres Unidas (CACMU) of Ecuador; and Institución Financiera de Desarrollo (IFD) Sembrar Sartawi of Bolivia.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans Ghana Receives Investment of $4.52m from Société Générale, IFC, Triodos; Advans Cameroun Receives Loans of $2.45m from MicroVest, REGMIFA

Advans SA, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) registered in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that two of its holdings have received local-currency refinancing loans.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LuxFLAG Renews Label for MIVs From Absolute, BlueOrchard, EFSE, Finethic, Horus, KCD, ResponsAbility, Triodos, Wallberg

LuxFLAG, an organization established in 2006 to certify that microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) actually invest in the sector, has renewed its annual label for 13 MIVs: Advans SA, BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund for US Investors, Dexia Micro-Credit Fund – BlueOrchard Debt Sub-Fund, Dual Return Fund – Vision Microfinance, European Fund for Southeast Europe, Finethic Microfinance,  KCD Mikrofinanzfonds I, KCD Mikrofinanzfonds II, responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, responsAbility (Lux) Microfinance Leaders Fund, responsAbility (Lux) Mikrofinanz-Fonds, Triodos Microfinance Fund and Wallberg Global Microfinance Fund.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance in Cambodia Grows 10%, Described as “Trap”

Mr Simon Marks from the Asia Sentinel, a website based in Hong Kong, recently cited data collected by the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA), a network of microfinance industry officials in Cambodia, indicating that as of the end of the first quarter of 2011, total loans outstanding from its members amounted to approximately USD 712 million, which represents an increase of nearly 10 percent over the last quarter of 2010 [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Investor in Microfinance, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Matrix Partners India Raises $300m

Matrix Partners India, the Indian subsidiary of US-based private equity firm Matrix Partners, recently announced that it raised USD 300 million for its second fund. With the closing of this fund, Matrix Partners India currently has approximately USD 677 million in assets under management.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Expands Beyond Microfinance to Include SME Finance, Health, Renewable Energy

Goodwell Investments, a business development company based in the Netherlands, has announced that it will expand the scope of its impact investing services from a focus on microfinance to include small and medium-sized enterprise finance, water & sanitation, health care and renewable energy [1].

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).

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Social Capital Marketplace (SOCAP) and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Company (PYMWYMIC) Present SOCAP Europe Conference in Amsterdam, May 30 – June 1, 2011, to Address Impact Investing

Event Name: SOCAP Europe

Event Date: May 30 – June 1, 2011

Event Location: Beurs Van Berlage, Amsterdam, Netherlands

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Explores Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance Through New Blog Series

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank, recently launched a series of entries on its microfinance blog to facilitate discussions on over-indebtedness. The series aims to offer weekly articles posted by experts involved in research and practice.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments AG of Switzerland Launches responsAbility Ventures I, a Venture Capital Fund That Invests in Companies Aiming for Development Impact

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently launched responsAbility Ventures I, a venture capital fund that invests in companies that provide basic services in the areas of energy, agriculture and information and communication technology (ICT) to the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). The BOP refers to approximately 3 billion people in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe who do not have adequate access to these services.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG) Releases Study Analyzing Microfinance Industry, Performance of Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs)

The Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), an organization that certifies whether investment vehicles actually invest in the microfinance sector, has released a study analyzing 2009 and early-2010 trends in the microfinance industry as well as the performance of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) that were carrying the LuxFLAG certification label during the period covered in the study.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Grants Transparency Certificates to Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) That Adhere to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Standards

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a policy and research center dedicated to enhancing financial access for the world’s poor, has announced its granting of Transparency Certificates to several microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) that are in compliance with its environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidelines for MIVs.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), LuxFLAG, United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), Eurosif Partner to Award Three Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center dedicated to providing financial access for the world’s poor, has teamed up with the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), a network of international investors created under the auspices of the UN to promote the practice of responsible investing; LuxFLAG, an organization that certifies that microfinance vehicles (MIVs) actually invest in the microfinance sector; and the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif), a pan-European network aiming to foster sustainable development through European financial markets, to create the CGAP Microfinance Investment Vehicle (MIV) Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awards.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund and responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds Invest $1.4m in Microfinance Institutions OXUS Tajikistan and Enterprise Bank Inc of the Philippines

responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF) and responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds, microfinance investment vehicles managed by responsAbility Social Investments AG, recently reported to MicroCapital the details of four debt investments made during the month of July 2010, totaling the equivalent of USD 1.4 million, in microfinance institutions OXUS Tajikistan and the Enterprise Bank, Inc of the Philippines.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Announce Winners of 2010 Sustainable Banking Awards – Recipients Include Co-operative Financial Services, Itau Unibanco, One Acre Fund, Financial Information Network and Operations (FINO) and Global Environment Fund

The Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the winners of the 2010 Sustainable Banking Awards. Co-operative Financial Services, a British financial group with GBP 1.1 billion (USD 1.6 billion) in total revenue in 2009, was named as the Sustainable Bank of the Year, while Itau Unibanco, a publicly quoted bank in Brazil with USD 356.3 billion in total assets in 2009, was named the Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year.