Kiva, a US-based nonprofit crowdfunding organization that raises money for microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Limited, a Cyprus-based nonprofit joint venture of the US-based Grameen Foundation and Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, have reportedly entered into a partnership to launch the “Change is in Your Hands” campaign, an initiative which uses the website http://www.kiva.org/middleeast to support lending initiatives that will provide financing to entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Lends $9m to Tunisie Leasing to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Tunisia
The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises), a Germany-based fund providing loans in the Middle East and North Africa, has agreed to loan EUR 7 million (USD 9.4 million) to Tunisie Leasing, a Tunisian leasing company that focuses on serving MSMEs in Tunisia and Algeria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US-based Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Appoints Jeffrey Binstock as CEO
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based nonprofit that provides performance data and analysis on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their funders, networks and service providers, recently announced the appointment of Mr Jeffrey Binstock as the organization’s new CEO.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kaah Express, Silatech, American Refugee Committee (ARC) to Launch Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services in Somalia
Kaah Express, a US-based international remittances company, reportedly has partnered with Silatech, a Qatar-based enterprise focused on increasing employment and entrepreneurship among youth in the Middle East and North Africa, and the American Refugee Committee (ARC), a US-based nonprofit that offers humanitarian aid across the globe, to create Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS), a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Somalia.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: “Technical Guide: Performance and Social Indicators for Microfinance Institutions;” by Sebastian von Stauffenberg, Damian von Stauffenberg, Maritza Rodriguez, Rebecca Spradlin, Antonio Bryant; Published by MicroRate
“Technical Guide: Performance and Social Indicators for Microfinance Institutions;” by Sebastian von Stauffenberg, Damian von Stauffenberg, Maritza Rodriguez, Rebecca Spradlin and Antonio Bryant; Published by MicroRate; 2014; 64 pages; available at http://www.microrate.com/media/downloads/2014/05/MicroRate_-Technical-Guide-20142.pdf
Published by MicroRate, a US-based rating agency that evaluates risk and performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs), this guide provides an outline on how to assess the quality of an MFI.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), IFC Capitalization Fund Invest $15m in Subordinated Debt in Nicaragua-based Banco de Finanzas (BDF)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced a USD 15 million subordinated bond investment in Banco de Finanzas, a Nicaragua-based commercial bank that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panama-based bank holding company Grupo Banco de Finanzas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KfW, Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), Developpement International Desjardins, Lundin Foundation Commit $41m to AfricInvest Financial Sector Fund
AfricInvest-TunInvest Group, a Tunisia-based private equity firm, recently announced the closing of a third round of capital-raising for its AfricInvest Financial Sector Fund, a vehicle that invests in financial institutions that lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in North and Sub-Saharan Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Applications Open for 2014 Seed Awards for Entrepreneurs in Sustainable Development Until April 8
The Seed Initiative, a Germany-based nonprofit institution that supports small-scale social and environmental enterprises in emerging economies, recently announced that it is accepting applications for the “2014 Seed Awards for Entrepreneurs in Sustainable Development,” a set of annual awards presented to entrepreneurs in developing countries that Seed deems to be the “…most promising, innovative and locally led…[and that have the] potential to contribute significantly to sustainable development…”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgazprombank (BGPB) of Belarus to Receive $41m Syndicated Loan from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)
Belgazprombank (BGPB), a Belarus-based commercial bank owned by Gazprom of Russia, Gazprombank of Russia, Beltransgaz of Belarus and the Belorussian government, recently entered into an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle, to accept a five-year, syndicated loan of EUR 30 million (USD 41.4 million).
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Using Subsidies for Inclusive Insurance: Lessons from Agriculture and Health;” by Ruth Vargas Hill, Gissele Gajate-Garrido, Caroline Phily, and Aparna Dalal; Published by International Labour Organization
“Using Subsidies for Inclusive Insurance: Lessons from Agriculture and Health;” by Ruth Vargas Hill, Gissele Gajate-Garrido, Caroline Phily, and Aparna Dalal; published by International Labour Organization; January 2014; 55 pages; available at http://www.microinsurancefacility.org/publications/mp29
This report was published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, a nonprofit research institution housed within the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) that promotes the development of insurance products and risk-mitigation markets in developing economies.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech, PlaNet Finance to Support Youth Entrepreneurship in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine
Silatech, a Qatar-based social enterprise that serves young people in the Middle East and North Africa, has signed on to support the Youth Entrepreneurship Project (YEP), an initiative founded by French non-governmental organization (NGO) PlaNet Finance and funded by the European Union that seeks to empower young people by supporting three microfinance institutions (MFIs): Alexandria Businessmen’s Association of Egypt, Lebanese Association for Development (Al Majmoua) and Palestine’s Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan of India Borrows $26m From International Finance Corporation (IFC), Seeks $16m From Swiss Investor
Bandhan Financial Services, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI) that offers loans for health emergencies and microenterprise, reportedly has raised INR 1.6 billion (USD 26 million) in debt financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the US-based World Bank Group’s private investment arm, and is seeking to raise another INR 1 billion (USD 16 million) from an unnamed Swiss multinational investor.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Inclusix Index of Financial Inclusion in India; Obstacles to Access in Microinsurance; Microfinance in Kenya
“CRISIL Inclusix: An index to measure India’s progress on Financial Inclusion;” published by Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL); June 2013; 101 pages; available at http://crisil.com/pdf/corporate/CRISIL-Inclusix.pdf
Based on data from 2009 through 2011, this report gives an overview of the findings of the CRISIL Inclusix index, an analytical tool designed by Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) to measure progress in financial inclusion in India at the national, regional, state and district levels.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Index Insurance Facility to Donate $4m to Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the US-based World Bank Group’s private investment arm, has approved two grants totaling USD 3.9 million to Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, a Swiss nonprofit organization, to provide index-based weather insurance to rural farmers in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Capitalization Fund Loans $65m to Bank of Georgia
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Capitalization Fund, which is managed by US-based IFC Asset Management Company, has disbursed a subordinated loan facility of USD 65 million to the Bank of Georgia, a commercial bank, to expand lending operations in Georgia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Commits $9m to Sanad Fund to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, a Swiss government agency that works in developing countries and is known by the acronym SECO, reportedly has invested EUR 5.5 million (USD 7.4 million) in the Sanad Fund for Micro-, Small and Medium-Enterprise (MSME), a Luxembourg-based entity that funds financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microcredit Interest Rate Determinants; Mobile Phones and Microinsurance; Health Financing Through Gifts and Remittances in Kenya
“Microcredit Interest Rates and Their Determinants 2004-2011;” by Richard Rosenberg, Scott Gaul, William Ford and Olga Tomilova; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); June 2013; 32 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Forum-Microcredit-Interest-Rates-and-Their-Determinants-June-2013_1.pdf
This study explores the factors affecting the determination of interest rates that microfinance institutions (MFIs) charge their customers by analyzing financial data reported from 2004 to 2011 by MFIs to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a US-based nonprofit data provider.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $500k to Reef Finance in Palestinian Territories for On-Lending to Rural Clients
The Sanad Fund for Micro-, Small and Medium-Enterprise (MSME), a Luxembourg-based investment company that funds financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa, has agreed to issue a senior loan facility worth USD 500,000 to Reef Finance, a nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI) that operates in the Palestinian Territories of West Bank and Gaza.