Several microfinance institutions (MFIs) have launched fundraising campaigns to raise donations for the victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.
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WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Compartamos Banco
Compartamos Banco, the largest microfinance bank in Mexico in terms of client base, was founded in Mexico in 1990 as a faith-based non-governmental organization offering microcredit to small businesses.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP – CGAP Due Diligence Guidelines For The Review Of Microcredit Loan Portfolios, by Robert Peck Christen and Mark Flaming
Written by Robert Peck Christen and Mark Flaming of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), published by the World Bank Group in December 2009, 58 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.36521/DueDiligence_TechGuide_ENG.pdf
The purpose of this paper is to provide a method of acquiring an understanding of the underlying quality of the loan portfolio of an microfinance institution (MFI) for banking regulators, donor agencies, and potential investors.
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: Grameen Koota, India-Based Microfinance Institution (MFI), Receives Rs 27.5 Crore ($5.88m) in Equity Capital
Grameen Koota, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI) that is a division of Grameen Financial Services Private Limited, has raised equity capital worth INR 27.5 crore, the equivalent of over USD 5.88 million [1,2].
The funds were raised through investments from four funds: Italy’s MicroVentures SpA, Luxmbourg’s MicroVentures Investments (an affiliate of MicroVentures SpA), Belgium’s Incofin, and Aavishkaar Goodwell, an “Indian-Dutch joint venture” [3,4,5]. This is Grameen Koota’s second round of equity funding, after receiving an equity investment in 2008 of INR 9.2 crore, the equivalent at the time of over USD 2.3 million, from Aavishkaar Goodwell [6]. According to Suresh Krishna, the Managing Director of Grameen Koota, this investment will be used to increase the MFI’s number of borrowers in the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, to expand lending to the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh, and to “invest in technology development” [1,7].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Invests $6.8m in AllLife, a South African HIV and Diabetes Microinsurer
LeapFrog Investments, a for-profit, private equity microinsurance fund, has invested ZAR 50 million (USD 6.8 million) in AllLife, a South African insurer for people with HIV and diabetes. AllLife provides life insurance only to those who follow an appropriate health monitoring and treatment program, enabling it to maintain more competitively priced coverage. Mr. Ross Beerman, Managing Director of AllLife said: “These are potential policyholders, willing to pay for reasonably priced insurance and willing to take steps to manage their disease so that they lead long and productive lives. From a business risk and profitability perspective, of course they’re insurable – we simply had to invent systems to monitor and support them in the right ways.”
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Calvert Foundation
Overview:
The Calvert Foundation provides loans to organizations that provide affordable housing, microfinance, small business loans, and community facilities.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACCION Cleared to Invest in Brazil’s Microfinance Sector
ACCION International has reportedly received approval from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to operate in Brazil. The US-based nonprofit will be allowed to hold 99 percent of the Brazilian operations of its Gateway Fund, which holds shares in microfinance institutions in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG BRIEF: SCOR Invests in LeapFrog Investments to Gain Experience in Microinsurance Sector
According to The Review, an insurance magazine, the Paris-based reinsurer, SCOR Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in LeapFrog Investments, a microinsurance fund with USD 44 million in equity. A statement issued by SCOR stated, “Our investment in LeapFrog is a demonstration of [our] support of a socially-responsible sector such as microinsurance.” SCOR also said that the “strict investment return criteria applied … to all its investments” was also applicable in this instance. Additionally, SCOR’s CFO, Mr. Paolo de Martin, will be joining LeapFrog’s advisory board.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Insights on Regulatory Developments in Russia’s Microfinance Sector
Robin Ratcliffe, Director of the SMART Campaign, reports on her observations from the Eighth National Conference on Microfinance hosted by the Russian Microfinance Center which brings together 400 microfinance players across the country as well as representatives from the Russian ministries. Ms. Ratcliffe notes that the Russian microfinance sector is about ten years old, currently reaches about 600,000 clients and is dominated by small business lending carried out by government development funds. Also, credit cooperatives which have dominate microfinance activities of savings and lending in the rural areas, have been unregulated. As a result, foreign investors have found it difficult to operate in Russia because management, governance, and accounting standards vary widely. However, a state has passed new legislation that would establish standards to regulate credit cooperatives for the first time.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: ACCION Investments in Microfinance SPC
Overview:
The ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC fund (ACCION Investments) is a microfinance investment vehicle which mobilizes funds for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROFINANCE PROFILE: LeapFrog Investments
Name of Organization or Microfinance Investment Vehicle: LeapFrog Investments
Overview: LeapFrog Investments is a for-profit, private equity fund focused on microinsurance and financial inclusion
Description:
LeapFrog Investments was founded in 2007 by Dr. Andrew Kuper. It is a for-profit, private equity fund aimed at earning large returns by investing in and supporting microinsurance initiatives. LeapFrog has raised USD 44 million from a range of public and private investors, including the European Investment Bank, the Omidyar Network, FMO, Triodos-Doen and Hivos-Triodos, ACCION International, Calvert, and Felipe Medina (a senior Goldman Sachs wealth manager). The LeapFrog team has also committed USD 1 million of their own personal money into the fund. The fund focuses on ventures in Africa and Asia, with initial target countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Pakistand and the Philippines.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: ACCION Gateway Fund LLC
Overview:
The ACCION Gateway Fund, LLC invests directly in regulated microfinance institutions or non-profit organizations that are transforming into regulated microfinance institutions.
KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: ACCION Global Bridge Fund (GBF)
Overview:
The Accion Global Bridge Fund (GBF) is a loan guarantee fund for microfinance institutions.
MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Andrew Kuper, President and Founder of LeapFrog Investments Ltd.
Dr. Andrew Kuper is President and Founder of LeapFrog, the world’s first microinsurance fund, which he founded in 2007. He was previously a Managing Director of Ashoka, a support organization for social entrepreneurs. He has worked with microfinance institutions Grameen and BRAC, and is the author of two books on globalization. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Robert Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance (Part One of a Two Part Series)
Bob Annibale is Global Director of Citi Microfinance. He leads the bank’s commercial relationships with microfinance institutions, on a multi-business and product basis, providing financing and product partnerships to institutions that serve the poor and the unbanked.
He joined Citibank in 1982. After a first assignment in Greece, he held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions at Citi in Athens, Bahrain, Kenya, London and New York. Mr. Annibale completed his BA degrees in History and Political Science at Vassar College and his Masters Degree in African Studies (History) at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
Mr. Annibale served on the Board of Advisors for the United Nations High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. He represents Citi on the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange, on the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds and with the Microfinance Network. He also serves on a number of other external boards and councils.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: MFX Solutions Closes First Currency Hedge Transaction; $4 million Currency Swap With MicroVest
MFX Solutions Inc., a company providing currency hedging solutions designed specifically for microfinance, closed its first hedging transaction, a USD 4 million currency swap with MicroVest I, LP. The cross-currency swap transaction allowed MicroVest I, a Washington DC-based microfinance investment fund, to make a USD 4 million, 3-year loan in Columbian pesos to Fundacion Mundo Mujer, a Columbian-based microfinance institution. [3]