MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA) of Singapore Invests $1m in Convertible Debt into Cambodian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Chamroeun

Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has disbursed USD 1 million in subordinated, convertible debt to Cambodian MFI Chamroeun Microfinance Limited.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Credit Fund of Kazakhstan Raises Equity from Employee-Owned Karavella, Base of the Pyramid Asia (BOPA)

Asian Credit Fund (ACF), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kazakhstan, recently informed MicroCapital that it has raised an undisclosed amount of cash through a second round of equity financing.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Japan’s Orix Corporation Acquires Additional 6% Equity in Cambodia’s Acleda Bank

Orix Corporation, a financial services provider based in Tokyo, Japan, recently announced that it has acquired a 6.25-percent equity stake in Acleda Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that provides deposits and microcredit in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Buys 25% Equity Stake in Microfinance Institution Elet-Capital of Kyrgyzstan

For an undisclosed price, Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA), a Singapore-based equity investor in small, Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently purchased a 25-percent stake in Elet-Capital, a Kyrgyzstan-based MFI.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program to Loan $110m to Cambodia’s Acleda for Agricultural Lending

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a multilateral mechanism established by the G20 group of 20 large economies; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a Tokyo-based subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group; and the IFC Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program, a platform that allows institutional investors to participate in IFC’s senior-loan portfolio, recently announced that they will be loaning a total of 110 million to Acleda Bank (Acleda), a Cambodian commercial bank.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Announces Purchase of $110m Equity Stake in Cambodian Acleda Bank from International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a Japanese financial services company, reportedly announced plans to purchase a 12.25-percent equity stake consisting of approximately 27.6 million shares in Acleda Bank (Acleda), a Cambodian commercial bank, for a total cost of USD 110 million.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Invests $500k in Equity to Acquire 8% of Kenyan Microinsurer Agriculture and Risk Enterprise (ACRE), Loans $334k to Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) for Technical Assistance

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), which is based in Luxembourg and invests in “social businesses,” recently informed MicroCapital that it has made an investment of USD 500,000 in Nairobi-based Agriculture and Risk Enterprise Limited (ACRE), a microinsurance provider that aims to launch products in East and West Africa in exchange for an 8-percent stake in the company.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aavishkaar to Raise $75m for “Frontier Fund” to Invest in South, Southeast Asia

Aavishkaar, an Indian manager of impact-oriented venture capital investments, reportedly plans to raise USD 75 million for its newly launched Aavishkaar Frontier Fund, an international social venture capital fund that aims to place investments in 300 start-ups in various countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), MobiPay to Launch “MTC Money” in Namibia

Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), a Namibia-based mobile network operator controlled by the government-owned Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings and privately-owned Portugal Telecom, reportedly has partnered with the Bank of Namibia’s mobile payment service MobiPay to launch MTC Money.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Orange, Banco Popular Dominicano Launch M-Peso Mobile Payment Service in the Dominican Republic

Orange Dominicana, subsidiary of Orange of France that offers prepaid mobile services in the Dominican Republic, and Banco Popular Dominicano, a commercial bank in the Dominican Republic, reportedly have launched the M-Peso mobile wallet and payment service in the Dominican Republic. 

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Revealed as Source of Shares of Cambodia’s Acleda Bank Purchased by Orix

Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, has announced that it is the source of a six-percent equity stake in Cambodian commercial bank Acleda that was purchased by Orix Corporation, a Japan-based financial services group.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: People’s Bank of China (PBC) Reports Growth of Microcredit Sector in Country

The People’s Bank of China (PBC), the central bank of the People’s Republic of China, has reported significant growth in the country’s microcredit sector over the past three years, with the number of microcredit companies reaching approximately 7,000 and the total outstanding loans reaching CNY 700 billion (USD 115 billion) at the end of June 2013 in China [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Government Commits $183m Each to Women-Only Bank, Nirbhaya Fund for Women’s Empowerment

The government of India reportedly has plans to create a bank that will exclusively serve women, lending mostly to women-run businesses as well as self-help groups of a dozen or a few dozen women.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microlenders Affiliated with India’s Microfinance Institutions Network Boost Loan Disbursals by 22%, Gross Loan Portfolio by 9.2% from Previous Quarter

According to the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), an association of Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), 41 of its 47 member MFIs disbursed loans totaling INR 61.9 billion (USD 1.1 billion) in the October-December quarter of 2012, an increase of approximately 22 percent from the INR 50.9 billion (USD 926 million) during the previous quarter.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microloans up 38%, Microdeposits Up 144% in Cambodia

According to data attributed to the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), a nongovernment organization established in 2004 to promote Cambodia’s microfinance sector, the value of microloans disbursed by its 32 members increased approximately 38 percent to USD 890 million and total deposits increased 144 percent to USD 280 million from 2011 to 2012.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACLEDA Bank of Cambodia Borrows $40m From IFC Capitalization Fund

The IFC Capitalization Fund, a global equity and subordinated-debt fund founded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, recently issued a subordinated loan in the amount of USD 40 million to ACLEDA Bank Plc, a retail bank based in Cambodia, to augment the bank’s financing of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance Microscope 2012; Impact of Financial Access in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Economic Opportunities and Financial Outcomes of Microfinance

Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2012;” by the Economist Intelligence Unit; published by The Economist; 72 pages; available at: http://www5.iadb.org/mif/en-us/home/knowledge.aspx?idPublication=64206