by Iyanna Holmes -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Rural Impulse Fund of Belgium’s Incofin Invests in Asomi, an Indian MFI

Incofin, a Belgian private social investment company that invests in MFIs, has signed an agreement with Asomi, an MFI operating in Assam, India.  Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund, which makes debt and equity investments in rural MFIs, acquired 25% of the capital of Asomi for an undisclosed amount.  The investment represents Incofin’s first entry into India. 

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Push and Pull of China’s Microfinance Expansion

A series of key events over the past three months in China have indicated that microfinance is making steady, but slow, progress in its expansion. These events include the Microfinance Investor Conference, held in Beijing in December 11 and 12, 2008, which brought together Chinese MFIs, international investors and other stakeholders and provided an overview of the Chinese microfinance landscape; Citigroup Inc., one of the world’s largest financial conglomerates, opening up in China’s rural areas; and finally the Chinese government’s relaxation of financial constraints intended to increase capital flows. In a brief analysis of these events over the last three months, the following provides a brief examination of China’s microfinance industry.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Azerdemiryolbank of Azerbaijan Receives $3m Loan from ING Bank to Support Microfinance Business

Azerdemiryolbank of Azerbaijan received a 12-month loan worth USD 3 million from the ING Bank of the Netherlands. According to a press release on Trend Capital, the loan would support microfinance businesses in Azerbaijan. The release quoted Mr. Yusif Jabbarov, the Vice-Chairman of the Bank, as saying the stated loan was the first cooperation in micro-crediting between a Dutch bank and an Azerbaijani lending agency.

by Bharathi Ram -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: ACLEDA Bank Receives $850k in Funding From German Development Bank to Build Microfinance Training Center in Cambodia

The Association of Cambodian Local Economic Development Agencies (ACLEDA Bank), a Cambodian based Microfinance organization has received grant worth USD 850 thousand from the German Development Bank Kreditanstaltfür Wiederaufbau (KfW) to build a new Microfinance Training Center in Cambodia. In a press release found on the Phnom Penh Post, Mr. In Channay, the president of ACLEDA Bank said the funds would be used to meet operational costs of the training center and to provide short-term scholarships and fellowships to its students for a three year period. Active in all 24 provinces/towns of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the ACLEDA Bank has 220 branch offices with an asset base of USD 473 million, total loan portfolio of USD 315 million and 185, 492 active borrowers.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Uniglobal Research’s 2nd Annual Microfinance Forum

MARCH 19 TO MARCH 20, 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Uniglobal Research, a business events firm for various industries in the financial sector, will host its second Annual Microfinance Forum in Spring of 2009 in Vienna, Austria. The conference will touch upon all of the following topics: how global trends and imbalances affect the microfinance industry; successful business models in low-income markets; including the world’s poor as investors, producers, sellers, and buyers; common standards for the microfinance industry; mobile banking for the poor; retail microfinance; and micro (life) insurance. The event has been billed to various groups, including: microfinance institutions (MFIs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), commercial banks, research institutions, technology providers, and other public sector organizations. Uniglobal Research hopes participants will learn about the current activities and future plans of international commercial banks with respect to microfinance, capture lessons from relevant project experiences, and gain unique perspectives on how to align social issues with corporate strategy.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen-Jameel and Blue Orchard’s Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium Concludes that Microfinance in Arab World Totals US $5.5 billion

The Arab microfinance industry, with an estimated total market of USD 5.5 billion in the Arab world, remains a largely untapped area, it was reported in multiple Arab-based newspapers following the 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium held on November 30, 2008. The Symposium had a total of fifteen speakers, including speakers from Grameen-Jameel, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Blue Orchard Finance, and a variety of other organizations involved in microfinance, although the majority of the press focused on the presentation by Heather Henyon, the General Manager of Grameen-Jameel. The microfinance institutions (MFIs) on the MFI Panel included Jordan’s Tamweelcom, Egypt’s DBACD, Tunisia’s enda inter-arabe, and Pakistan’s Kashf Foundation. Additionally, more than 150 delegates from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia and Pakistan discussed the potential of the microfinance industry in the Arab region. The 2008 Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium was co-hosted by Grameen-Jameel, a social-oriented business based in Dubai, and BlueOrchard, a microfinance investment manager located in Geneva, Switzerland and was covered in this MicroCapital Event.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Botswana’s Letshego Holdings to Raise US$ 43.26 million in Shareholder Preference Scheme

Letshego Holdings, the Botswana-based microfinance institution (MFI), is planning to raise P 350 million (USD 43.26 million) through a share preference scheme that is anticipated to be put before shareholders at a special annual general meeting (AGM) in January 2009. The share preference scheme is intended to ensure that the existing shareholders increase their shareholding in Letshego and is open to all existing shareholders. According to the plan, after the January Special AGM, existing shareholders will be able to buy shares at a discounted price, and the offer will be open for a period of up to three weeks provided that the meeting approves it. This plan is in addition to the P 1 billion (USD 123.6 million) it plans to raise to fund its expansion, which was covered in this MicroCapital story.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Fransabank SAL and Ameen Launch New Microfinance Partnership to Provide Microfinance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon’s Jbeil Region

On November 7, Fransabank SAL, an international commercial bank active primarily in the Middle East, and Ameen, a Lebanese microfinance institution (MFI), created a new microfinance partnership to help small businesses in the Jbeil region of Lebanon.  The program will enable owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand their businesses by providing them with loans that range from USD 337 (LBP 500,000) to USD 2,023 (LBP 3,000,000) with credit facilities ranging from six months to 18 months.  Loan applicants can also avail of technical and administrative support services.

by Jeffrey Erfe -

PIONEERS IN MICROFINANCE: Six Pioneers in Latin America: Álvaro Dávila of Colombia, Joseph Blatchford of the USA, Theodore C. Ning, Jr. of the USA, Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico of the Dominican Republic, Clara Serra de Akerman of Colombia, and José Ignacio Avalos Hernánde of Mexico

Microcapital has identified the following six microfinance “pioneers,” individuals who have made long-standing contributions to the evolution and promotion of microfinance practices and/or technology. While not all of these pioneers hail from Latin America, all have been instrumental to the development of microfinance in that region. These pioneers are: Álvaro Dávila of Colombia, Joseph Blatchford of the USA, Theodore C. Ning, Jr. of the USA, Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico of the Dominican Republic, Clara Serra de Akerman of Colombia, and José Ignacio Avalos Hernánde of Mexico. Below are short descriptons of the contributions of each:

by Iyanna Holmes -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: First MicroFinanceBank Afghanistan Signs €4m Agreement with Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

Under an agreement between the governments of Germany and Afghanistan, Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) signed an agreement with Afghanistan’s First MicroFinanceBank (FMFB-A).  Under the agreement, KfW will lend EUR 4 million to Afghanistan’s Finance Ministry, which will then lend the funds to FMFB-A in a 15 year long term credit facility in local currency.  Proceeds will be used to fund the growth of FMFB’s loan portfolio which was USD 19.8 million in loans to over 101,000 borrowers at the end of 2007.

by Scott Everett -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: FINO Reaches Two-million Unbanked Populations in India and Releases Micro-Loan Management Software

Financial Information Network and Operations Ltd. (FINO), a technology organization that produces biometric smartcards and micro-loan management software, has completed 2 million enrollments of customers in India. The number of enrollments increased from 1 million to 2 million in less than 4 months with an average of 20,000 customers being enrolled per day. FINO’s rapid growth is in part due to the extensive network of banks and other financial and government institutions utilizing their technology. That network includes Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, DGB, ICICI Bank, ING Vysya, OBC, PNB, and UBI.