Symbiotics Group, a Swiss for-profit provider of investment and business services, recently issued bonds totaling USD 9.3 million to Prasac, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), and AccessBank Azerbaijan, a microfinance bank (MFB) in Azerbaijan.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, Microcredit Summit Campaign, Freedom from Hunger Partner to Launch “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies” in Effort to Reach 600k Filipino Women
The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of organizations in the Philippines that includes CARD Bank; the Microcredit Summit Campaign, a US-based advocacy organization; and Freedom from Hunger, a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that offers financial and health protection services in 23 countries, launched the program “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies,” which is expected to provide maternal health services to 600,000 Filipino women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $1.5m to Microfinance Institution in Ecuador
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an arm of Austria-based asset management group C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed credits worth approximately USD 1.5 million to an unspecified microfinance institution (MFI) in Ecuador from its Vision Microfinance funds – the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance and the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance Local Currency [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Selling Georgian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Credo to Impact Investors AccessHolding, responsAbility, Triodos
VisionFund International, a subsidiary of US-based, Christian NGO World Vision International, recently received approval from the National Bank of Georgia to sell its stake in Microfinance Organization Credo, LLC (Credo), to “a consortium of social impact investors” including Access Microfinance Holding AG (AccessHolding), a holding company based in Germany that specializes in microfinance investments; responsAbility Investments AG (responsAbility), a company based in Zurich that primarily invests in developing economies; and Triodos Investment Management BV (Triodos), a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: The Broadband Effect: Enhancing Market-based Solutions for the Base of the Pyramid, Strengthening Regulated SACCO Societies in Kenya, Microfinance Barometer
“The Broadband Effect: Enhancing Market-based Solutions for the Base of the Pyramid;” by Olivier Kayser, Lucie Klarsfeld and Simon Brossard; published by the Inter-American Development Bank; September 2014; available at http://www.iadb.org/en/publications/publication-detail,7101.html?id=75634
This report examines how private companies are using broadband, a high-capacity internet connection, to improve the efficiency and reach of their operations that are geared towards the “base of the pyramid (BOP) markets” [1].
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion;” by Dean Karlan; Published by Stanford Social Innovation Review
“The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion;” by D. Karlan; published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review; fall 2014; 9 pages; available at: http://www.ssireview.org/pdf/Fall_2014_The_Next_Stage_of_Financial_Inclusion_1.pdf
This paper investigates the evolving role of nonprofit organizations in providing microcredit to people with low incomes.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP, MasterCard Foundation Award $500k for Behavioral Research to Freedom from Hunger, IFMR, Innovations for Poverty, The MicroInsurance Centre
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit that aims to facilitate the expansion of financial access, and The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote youth learning and financial inclusion in emerging markets, recently awarded a total of USD 500,000 to the following four organizations: Freedom From Hunger, a US-based NGO operating in developing countries to alleviate poverty and hunger; IFMR Finance Foundation, an arm of India’s Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Trust Group; Innovations for Poverty Action, a US-based nonprofit organization that uses randomized evaluations to research development initiatives; and The MicroInsurance Centre, a US-based, for-profit research, product development and training firm.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Regulators Approve Equity Bank Mobile Money Services Despite Security Objections from Safaricom
The Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya, the government body that regulates the communication industry in the country, and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the country’s central banking authority, have given their approval to Equity Bank, a private Kenyan microfinance bank, to roll out a one-year pilot of its mobile money services using “Thin Sim technology” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Call for Applicants for $227k Ashden International Sustainable Energy Awards Open until November 4, 2014
Ashden, a UK-based nonprofit established in 2001 that promotes the use of sustainable energy, has issued a call for applicants for the 2015 Ashden International Awards, which will recognize development programs with a focus on reducing carbon emissions and increasing access to sustainable energy.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Project Concern International (PCI) to Target 250,000 Additional Women Through Women Empowered (WE) Initiative
Project Concern International (PCI), a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO), recently announced that it plans to scale up the operations of its Women Empowered (WE) initiative by providing approximately 250,000 women, in addition to the 230,000 women it currently serves, with tools and training for their businesses.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hatton National Bank of Sri Lanka to Acquire Majority Stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance
Hatton National Bank (HNB), a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, reportedly has entered a shareholder agreement through which it will acquire a controlling 51-percent stake in Prime Grameen Micro Finance, a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Morgan Stanley Offers Balanced, Equity “Investing with Impact” Portfolios
Morgan Stanley, a US-based international financial services corporation, recently created two “Investing with Impact” portfolios as part of its goal to draw USD 10 billion in client assets towards “sustainable” investing products.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Launches $807m Long-Term Rural Credit Fund
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), a development bank in India that formulates certain credit and banking policies, recently announced the launch of the long-term rural credit fund, which will provide INR 5,000 crores (USD 807 million) for refinancing agricultural loans disbursed by cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxus Raises $4.2m in Equity from Investors including Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) for Expansion in Asia, Africa
The Oxus Group, a French microfinance organization with subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and three Asian countries, recently raised EUR 3.3 million (USD 4.2 million) in equity through its unit Oxus Holding by selling equity shares to the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), which remains its majority shareholder, and three unnamed retail investors.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United Nations Global Compact, Gate Global Impact Launch Gateway 2.0 to Fund Socially Responsible Projects
The United Nations (UN) Global Compact, an initiative to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and Gate Global Impact (GGI), a US-based regulatory-compliant electronic marketplace that focuses on impact investing, have launched Gateway 2.0, a website enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) listed on the UN Global Compact Social Enterprise Hub to access financing for sustainable and “socially responsible” projects [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Innovation Fund (GIF) Receives $200m from Omidyar Network; Governments of Australia, Sweden, UK, US
The Global Innovation Fund (GIF), a UK-based nonprofit, recently announced its launch in the US city of New York.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Syndicates Loans Totaling $60m to BBVA Paraguay to Fund Small, Medium-sized Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, has announced that it will loan a total of USD 60 million to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Paraguay (BBVA Paraguay), a subsidiary of the Spanish financial services group BBVA.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Provide $3.9m in Advisory Services to Airtel Uganda to Expand Mobile Money
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to improve the living standards of people in developing countries, recently announced that it will partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that supports innovations in health and education, to provide advisory services valued at USD 3.9 million to Airtel Uganda, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel.