The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently agreed to provide loan funds of up to TJS 15.7 million (USD 2 million) to Arvand, a Tajikistan-based microfinance institution (MFI), for on-lending to local micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).
Tag: Deals
MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Managing Risks for Smallholders in Africa, Financing Shortfall for Women-owned Enterprises in Indonesia, Perspectives of Banks in Emerging Countries on Financial Inclusion
“Finance for Smallholders: Opportunities for Risk Management by Linking Financial Institutions and Producer Organisations;” by J de la Rive Box et al; published by the Food & Business Knowledge Platform, Agri Pro Focus and the Platform for Inclusive Finance NPM; May 2016; 22 pages; available at: http://www.inclusivefinanceplatform.nl/documents/npm%20summary%20report%20finance%20for%20smallholders.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund to Loan $2.2m to Microfinance Institution Alter Modus of Montenegro for Energy Efficiency for Housing, Business
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle that supports energy-efficiency (EE) initiatives in Southeast Europe, recently announced that it will invest EUR 2 million (USD 2.2 million) in debt in Alter Modus, a Montenegro-based microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Tanzania Distributes $2.5m in Profit to Customers, Agents of Digital Payment Platform Tigo Pesa
Tigo Tanzania, a brand of Swedish telecom provider Millicom, recently announced it paid TZS 5.6 billion (USD 2.5 million) of its profits to Tigo Pesa users.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania’s National Microfinance Bank Lists $18m in Bonds on Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange
The National Microfinance Bank (NMB), an institution backed by the government of Tanzania, recently announced that it has listed TZS 41.4 billion (USD 18.8 million) in three-year retail bonds on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), the listing surpassed its initial retail bond target by 107 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Suryoday Microfinance Raises $15m in Equity as Aavishkaar Goodwell Exits
Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited , a non-banking finance company providing microfinance services in India, recently raised INR 1 billion (USD 15 million) from investors including the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank; ASK Pravi; the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Standard Life Insurance; Arpwood Investment Advisors; Kiran Vyapar, the investment arm of LN Bangur Group; Polaris Banyan Holding and Dr. Aravind Srinivasan [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Developing World Markets Closes Debt Investments Totaling $8.3m in Armenia, Colombia, India, Nicaragua
Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based asset manager and investment bank, recently announced that it issued loans in February and March 2016 to four unidentified financial institutions serving microentrepreneurs, including a Colombian bank and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) in Armenia, India and Nicaragua.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Household Responses to Village Bank Access in Laos; Mobile Banking in Kenya; The Role of Banks in Driving Financial Inclusion
“Household Responses to Access to Finance Through GIZ-AFP Village Banks;” published by the Laos-Australia Development Learning Facility; February 2016; 50 pages; available at: http://ladlf.org/images/publications/030516_LADLF_GIZ_HH_Response_to_A2F_Final.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Controversy Brews as For-Profit Fintech Provider MyBucks Buys 6 African Microfinance Organizations from Nonprofit Opportunity International
The sale of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda over the first half of 2016 by US-based NGO Opportunity International to Luxembourg-based financial technology company MyBucks has raised concerns both that these MFIs’ clients could be negatively impacted and that these transactions signal that the sector’s overall direction has shifted toward profit-making.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Janalakshmi Sells $7.5m in Securitized Microloans to Government-backed MUDRA, Arranged by IFMR Capital
IFMR Capital, an affiliate of the Chennai-based nonprofit Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR), recently structured the first capital market transaction for the Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank, an Indian public-sector financial institution that provides subsidized loans and other services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Lender Equitas Holdings Goes Public, Raising $330m
Equitas Holdings Limited, an Indian microfinance lender, recently opened its primary market sale.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS) Invests $15m in Sanad Fund for MSME to Deploy in Middle East, North Africa
Gemeinschaftsbank für Leihen und Schenken (GLS), a German bank that focuses on investing in socially responsible and ecological projects, recently invested EUR 13 million (USD 14.5 million) in Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership that provides debt and equity financing in the Middle East and North Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Invest up to $200m in Equity in LeapFrog Investments
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently committed to investing up to USD 200 million in equity in Leapfrog Investments, a for-profit private equity fund based in Mauritius.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DiD) to Provide Microfinance to Food Producers in Senegal in Partnership with Micronutrient Initiative
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canadian nonprofit supporting the community finance sector in emerging economies, recently joined the “Project integer de nutrition dans les regions de Kedougou et Kolda (PINKK)”, which is aimed at increasing food security for women and children in the Senegalese regions of Kedougou and Kolda.
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: European Fund for Southeast Europe Loans $23m to Burgan Bank of Turkey for Rural MSMEs
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based investor in the development of local financial sectors in Southeast Europe and parts of Central Asia, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned EUR 20 million (USD 23 million) to Burgan Bank Turkey, a retail bank that is part of Kuwait’s Burgan Bank Group. The funds are to be on-lent on a “long-term” basis to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas of the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s PNB Housing Finance Borrows $50m from International Finance Corporation (IFC) for Mortgages for Low-Income Families
PNB Housing Finance Limited (“PNB Housing”), a subsidiary of the India-based, government-controlled Punjab National Bank (PNB), recently accepted a loan of USD 50 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $9.3m to Mikrofin Banja Luka, MF Banka of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Micro- and Small Enterprise (MSE) in Rural Areas
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based government-backed investor in microfinance, has loaned a total of EUR 7 million (USD 9.3 million) to Mikrofin Banja Luka, a microfinance institution based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and MF Banka, a subsidiary of Mikrofin formed in 2010, for on-lending to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) in rural areas.