MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Issuing Senior, Secured Loan of $10m in Local Currency to NeoGrowth for Microfinance Lending in India

The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently signed a senior, secured facility equivalent to USD 10 million in local currency to India’s NeoGrowth to expand its lending to microenterprises. Founded in 2013, NeoGrowth provides loans to micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) based on

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACEP Niger, ACFIME Borrow in Local Currency from Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently announced it has issued a local-currency loan equivalent to EUR 762,000 (USD 756,000) in favor of Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) Niger. As of 2022,

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, EFSE, GGF Lending $9m to Bank Lviv to Support SMEs in Ukraine in Adjusting to War

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution, is arranging a loan package of up to EUR 10 million (USD 10 million) for Ukraine’s Bank Lviv to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan fulfills part of a pledge by EBRD to invest EUR 1 billion (USD 1 billion) this year into the Ukrainian economy to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $1m to VisionFund Senegal for Microfinance Lending

The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently announced a local-currency loan worth the equivalent of EUR 1 million (USD 1 million) to VisionFund Senegal, which is controlled by the US-based, Christian nonprofit World Vision International. VisionFund Senegal provides

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.1m to Microfinance Institution Baobab Burkina Faso

The unit of France-based Baobab Group that operates in Burkina Faso has accepted a local-currency loan equal to EUR 3.1 million (USD 3.1 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. Baobab Group offers microbanking, solar-powered devices and tablets in eight African countries as well as China. Its outstanding loans total

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lending $2.7m to Africa Negoce Industries, Buyer of Cashews from Smallholder Farmers in Benin

The Dutch cooperative lender Oikocredit recently granted a line of credit with a cap of EUR 2.7 million (USD 2.7 million) to Africa Negoce Industries (ANI) a trader and processor of almonds, cashews and coal in Benin. ANI plans to use the credit to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3.4m to Chamroeun for Microfinance in Cambodia

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently announced it has disbursed a loan of USD 3.4 million to Chamroeun, a Cambodia-based microfinance institution (MFI). Chamroeun offers loans for

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KOMIDA Secures $3m from Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance for Women in Rural Indonesia

Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (KOMIDA), a microfinance institution in Indonesia, recently borrowed local currency equivalent to EUR 3 million (USD 3 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. The wholesale loan is to be used to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAURIE-MF Borrows $2.6m from Huruma Fund to Expand Agricultural Microfinance in Senegal

Spain’s Gawa Capital, the manager of the public-private partnership Huruma Fund, recently disbursed a loan of EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.6 million) from the fund to Coopérative Autonome pour le Renforcement des Initiatives Économiques par la Micro finance (CAURIE-MF), a microfinance institution in Senegal, with the objective of creating employment opportunities by expanding

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Baobab+ Borrows $5.1m from Symbiotics to Boost Solar Electrification in 6 Countries in Africa

Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investor focused on small businesses in low- and middle- income countries, recently extended a loan of EUR 5 million (USD 5.1 million) to Baobab+, a French energy and technology company, with the objective of increasing electrification rates in Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Founded in 2015, Baobab+ provides access to solar energy and digital technology with the goal of

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Lends $15m to KMF to Boost Financial Inclusion for MSMEs, Post-Covid Growth in Kazakhstan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microlender in Kazakhstan. The loan is intended to boost its services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially in rural areas – to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends Soafiary $3.6m to Boost Direct Sourcing from Smallholder Farmers in Madagascar

The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently extended a loan of EUR 3.5 million (USD 3.6 million) to Soafiary, an agribusiness in Madagascar, to support the firm’s effort to “grow sustainably and reorient [its] business model, by increasing from 30 to 70 percent its direct sourcing from small-scale farmers,” potentially increasing grower incomes by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends India’s Uttarakhand State $105m for Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) to Address Incomes, Climate Resilience, Out-migration

The government of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently partnered to launch the Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) with the objective of reaching 560,000 households by “supporting smallholder farmers, agricultural laborers, and micro and small agribusinesses to start and expand competitive businesses” including by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Compartamos Borrows $50m from IDB Invest to On-lend to Micro-, Small Enterprises in Mexico, Focusing on Female-run Enterprises

IDB Invest, the private-investment member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced a local-currency loan totaling the equivalent of USD 50 million to Banco Compartamos, one of the seven units of Mexico-based Gentera. Compartamos provides

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tugende Borrows $2.6m to Finance Vehicle Ownership for SMEs in East Africa

Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm, recently helped Tugende, a Uganda-based, technology-driven, lease-to-own vehicle financing firm, secure EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.6 million) in debt funding from an unspecified “European impact investor.” In addition

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Loans $5m to Banco Delta to Boost Post-COVID Economy in Panama via Financial Access for MSMEs 

MicroVest, an asset-management subsidiary of US-based Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), recently invested USD 5 million to Panama-based Banco Delta. The loan is meant to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ABC Fund Lends $3m to Finamiga to Fund 5k Vehicle, Agricultural Loans for Women in Colombia

The Luxembourg-based Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund recently announced it has lent USD 3 million to Finamiga, a Colombia-based lender to rural, small-scale farmers and independent workers, most of whom are women. Finamiga plans to use the wholesale loan to fund

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Palestinian Monetary Authority, European Investment Bank (EIB) Announce $63m Package for MSMEs in Gaza Adjusting to COVID-19 Pandemic, with Focus on Companies Run by Women, Youth

The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) recently announced it will disburse EUR 60 million (USD 63 million) to the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), with USD 50 million of the total to be on-lent by retail lenders in Gaza to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The remainder of the funding will