MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Banco Solidario Borrows $3m from MicroVest to Speed MSMEs’ Adjustment to COVID-19 Pandemic

Ecuador’s Banco Solidario recently agreed to borrow USD 3 million from MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, to support the microbank’s financial education of women as well as “the expansion of the company’s SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] portfolio to revive the liquidity needs of small businesses seeking working capital in the post-COVID environment.” Established in 1995, Banco Solidario offers

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Fundacion Espoir Receives $2m Investment from MicroVest, Targeting Women-led Businesses in Ecuador

MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 2 million to Ecuador’s Fundacion Espoir, an NGO providing microcredit, insurance and financial education. The goal is to support Fundacion Espoir in assisting women-led micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equity Group Nets Over $165m from IFC, BII, FMO, ResponsAbility, Symbiotics for Climate Projects, Financial Inclusion for MSMEs in Africa

Partially through its Financial Institutions Growth Fund, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is paying an undisclosed sum to acquire a 6.7-percent stake in Equity Group Holdings, which has banking operations in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. IFC and the UK government’s British International Investment (BII) also are each lending the group’s Equity Bank Kenya

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Fund Issues Subordinated Loan to Humo for Microfinance in Tajikistan

C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it has disbursed a subordinated loan through its Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3.7m to Assilassimé Solidarite of Togo, Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ)

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has announced its disbursal of local-currency loans to Togo-based Assilassimé Solidarite in an amount approximately equivalent to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfund for Women (MFW) Expands Digital Capabilities via MoneyPhone Technology

Microfund for Women (MFW), a nonprofit microfinance institution in Jordan, recently partnered with MoneyPhone, a Netherlands-based financial technology (fintech) company, to enhance its digital offerings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bdour Al-Hyari, the director of strategic planning and business development at MFW, cited the “opportunity for us to introduce new digital services, such as

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB to Lend $150m to Panama, Targeting MSME Recovery

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral financial institution that promotes economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently approved a loan of USD 150 million to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Panama in adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic “by facilitating access to production-oriented finance.” The funding will be delivered via

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Invest, DFC, FinDev Canada Loan $390m to Davivienda of Colombia for SMEs, Environmental Sustainability, Women

IDB Invest, a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group; the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC); and FinDev Canada, a subsidiary of government-owned Export Development Canada, recently issued subordinated loans totaling USD 390 million to Colombia’s Banco Davivienda for repayment over 10 years. The deal will “provide new financing for work

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, PROPARCO Loan $80m to Banco Supervielle of Argentina for SMEs

The Dutch development bank, which is known by the acronym FMO, recently assembled a loan of USD 80 million for Banco Supervielle, a bank in Argentina, to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) amid the recession in Argentina. The loan is funded in equal parts by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $13m to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) for Microfinance Lending

Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently announced that it has disbursed a loan of USD 13 million to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) from IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, a microfinance investment vehicle that is active in developing countries. CFPA, an NGO in China, was established in 1989 and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest In Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $3m to Armeconom Bank to Support Microfinance in Armenia

Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently announced that it has loaned USD 3 million to Armeconom Bank of Armenia from IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, a microfinance investment vehicle that lends to financial institutions in developing countries. Launched in 1991, Armeconom offers loans, credit lines, deposit services, payment cards, transfers and other services to individuals and businesses. It accepts deposits in four currencies, with rates ranging from 0.2 percent to 10 percent per year. Its lending products include

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Loans $1.1m to Microcredit Foundation Lider to Reduce Energy Costs, Carbon Emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership, recently loaned EUR 1 million (USD 1.14 million) to Lider, a microcredit foundation based in Sarajevo, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in rural regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lider will on-lend the funds to households and small-scale farmers to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $5m to Al Majmoua for Enterprise, Housing Microfinance in Lebanon

Sanad Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-based investor in lenders to micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), recently loaned USD 5 million to Al Majmoua, a provider of financial and business development services to underserved groups in Lebanon. The funds are to be on-lent to low-income individuals for housing improvements and to very small enterprises for business needs.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Disburses Local-currency Loan Worth $2.8m to AMK Microfinance Institution of Cambodia

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has lent the equivalent of EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.8 million) in local currency to AMK Microfinance Institution, which was founded in Cambodia in 2003 under

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) Local-currency Equivalent of $687k

The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCA) has told MicroCapital that it lent Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ), an affiliate of UK-based Agora Microfinance Partners, local currency approximately equivalent to USD 687,000. AMZ offers loans and insurance services – including

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lending Microloan Foundation (MLF) $292k in Local Currency for Microfinance in Rural Malawi

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently granted a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 292,000 to the UK-based Microloan Foundation (MLF) to support its work in Malawi. MLF offers