The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a self-sustaining agency of the US government, recently agreed to lend USD 20 million to the WaterCredit Investment Fund 3, which will invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other organizations that facilitate the deployment of safe water and sanitation systems. The goal of the fund is to raise USD 50 million to reach 4.6 million people in South and Southeast Asia over
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $12.5 to MFIs in Latin America, Southeast Asia
An arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, C-Quadrat Asset Management, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds lent a total approximately equivalent to USD 12.5 million to unidentified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in four Latin American countries – Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru – as well as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acleda Bank of Cambodia Launches Unity ToanChet Digital Wallet
Acleda Bank, a commercial bank in Cambodia, recently launched a digital wallet app called Acleda Unity ToanChet
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFU, Finnfund, Danish Family Office Invest $8m in BOPA for Asian Microfinance
Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a microfinance investment company in Singapore, recently informed MicroCapital that it has raised a total of USD 8 million in equity funding from the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), which is owned by the Danish government; the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund), which is backed by the Finnish government; and a Danish family office.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Lending $49m to Mongolia’s XacBank in Partnership with Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, IFC
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently agreed to loan USD 49 million to XacBank, a microfinance institution in Mongolia, to support lending to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Invests $1.5m in Equity in India’s M-CRIL to Expand Ratings in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Nepal
Micro-Credit Ratings International Limited (M-CRIL), an India-based provider of rating and advisory services to the microfinance industry, recently sold an unspecified portion of its equity to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance institution with 67 member countries. One goal of the funding is to help M-CRIL expand in Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Nepal. ADB Principal Investment Specialist Anshukant Taneja said the investment will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand’s Group Lease Acquires 30% Equity Stake in Sri Lanka’s Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF) for $70m
Group Lease Public Company Limited, which is listed on the Thailand Stock Exchange, recently acquired a 29.99-percent stake in Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF), which is traded on Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange, for LKR 10.6 billion (USD 70 million).
SPECIAL REPORT: Recommendations from the Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum
At
the 2016 Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum, Ms. Claire Van der Vaeren, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Cambodia, said that financial inclusion is a vital enabler that can help unlock the potential of the poor and underserved, enhance women’s economic empowerment and catalyse a range of national development objectives. Its importance is shown in references to six of the seventeen UN sustainable development goals.
Ms. Van der Vaeren also was impressed by level of private and public engagement in
SPECIAL REPORT: The Place of MFIs in the Financial Inclusion Ecosystem of the Mekong Region
The roles of MFIs in financial systems vary significantly from country to country, even within the Mekong region. Somphone Sisenglath, Managing Director of Ekphatthana Microfinance Institution, described the Lao industry as “very young,” with the median MFI just three years old. Most MFIs operate in the capital, Vientiane, while 80 percent of the population is rural. Since it often takes an hour to travel between villages, it is very expensive
SPECIAL REPORT: Policy and Regulation in the Mekong: Developing Strategic Frameworks for Financial Inclusion
The assembled regulators and trade group leaders offered a litany of current and soon-to-be-released strategies to create a nurturing environment for pro-client financial services. It is critically important to
SPECIAL REPORT: Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum: Overview of the Region
In anticipation of the recently announced Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Forum, which will be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, on March 21 and March 22, 2017, MicroCapital is launching a series of stories from the Banking with the Poor Network‘s Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum, which was held in July 2016. The Foundation for Development Cooperation engaged MicroCapital to assist in documenting the event.
Ms. Nina Nayar, Associate of the Foundation for Development Cooperation, opened the session reviewing microfinance products and market segments in the region. She described the evolution from “credit and basic savings” years ago to today’s array of credit, savings, insurance, money transfer and other services for individuals as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). These include “a whole slew of innovations” such as payment cards and automated teller machines. She argued that new products are in demand by many segments of often-excluded people: farmers, people in conflict areas, minorities, youth, urban informal workers, migrants and single mothers. At the same time, fear and lack of confidence often
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) Acquires Cambodian Microfinance Institution Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL)
The Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), a Thailand-based subsidiary of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, recently acquired 100-percent interest in Hattha Kaksekar Limited (KHL), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Launches $120m Japan ASEAN Women Empowerment Fund to Invest in Southeast Asian Microfinance Institutions
BlueOrchard Finance, a Switzerland-based commercial manager of “impact” investments, recently announced the launch of its Japan Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Women Empowerment Fund, which plans to invest USD 120 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) focused on lending to female micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs in ASEAN countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank, Rabobank Foundation Seek to Replicate Consolidation of Agricultural Cooperatives in Albania
The World Bank, member of US-based multilateral World Bank Group, and the Rabobank Foundation, the “social fund” of the Dutch bank Rabobank, recently teamed up to consolidate agricultural cooperative financial institutions (CFIs), organizations set up by farmers to gain access to financing.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: BWTP, FDC, ADA, UNCDF, ADB to Co-host “Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum”, July 11-14, 2016, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Event Name: Mekong Financial Inclusion Forum
Event Dates: July 11-14, 2016
Event Location: Intercontinental Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell Investments Acquires Minority Stake in Microfinance Software Firm Musoni
Goodwell Investments, a for-profit social investment company based in the Netherlands, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a “significant minority stake” in Musoni Services, a Dutch microfinance software company with operations in Myanmar and nine African countries [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Directorate for Development and Cooperation (LuxDev) Donates $219k to Support Microfinance Institution (MFI) Asusu Of Niger to Train 550 Young Entrepreneurs
The Luxembourg Directorate for Development and Cooperation (LuxDev), a government-owned institution encouraging international development, has awarded a donation of EUR 200,000 (USD 218,000) to ADA, a Luxembourg-based nonprofit organization formerly known as Appui au Developpement Autonome. The donation is intended to assist Asusu, a Niger-based microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Buys 20% Equity Stake in Microfinance Deposit Organization Matin of Tajikistan
For an undisclosed price, Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small, Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently purchased a 20-percent stake in Matin, a Tajikistan-based microfinance deposit organization (MDO).