MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Société Générale de Banque au Liban to Borrow $50m from EBRD for On-lending to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises in Lebanon

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently agreed to loan Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), a Lebanese bank, USD 50 million to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas and another USD 50 million for firms involved in importing and exporting. The latter allocation falls under EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), which was launched in 1999 and is intended to promote trade among Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Central and Western Asia. As of 2018, TFP engages approximately 100 issuing banks in 28 economies, with total approved financing limits exceeding EUR 1.5 billion (USD 1.8 billion). TFP also works with approximately 800

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Mulling $17m Loan to Belinvestbank of Belarus for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises

The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering assembling a loan of up to EUR 50 million (USD 58.2 million) for Belinvestbank, a bank in Belarus, for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The loan would include at least EUR 15 million (USD 17.4 million)

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loaning $55m to Argentina’s Banco Industrial (Bind) to Boost SME Lending

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to loan USD 55 million to Argentina’s Banco Industrial (Bind) to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with “longer-term financing than [is] currently available in the local market.” An estimated 70 percent of SMEs in the country have difficulty accessing credit. David Tinel, IFC’s Regional Manager for the Southern Cone, states that for SMEs

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $7.1m to Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK); Advans Group to Refinance in DRC, Myanmar

The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing loans to: (1) Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK) in the amount of EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million),

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Calvert Impact Loans $5m to One Acre Fund for Agricultural Inputs, Clean-energy Equipment Leasing to Smallholder Farmers in East Africa

Calvert Impact Capital, a US-based NGO that raises funds for organizations with “a social and/or environmental focus,” recently loaned USD 5 million to One Acre Fund, a US-based NGO active in the agriculture sector in Africa.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $45m to Bank CenterCredit of Kazakhstan, Mostly for Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Run by Women Outside Major Cities

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently disbursed three-year loans totaling USD 45 million to Bank CenterCredit, a commercial bank in Kazakhstan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $4.7m to Microfinance Institution ASA Pakistan

Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently announced that it loaned USD 4.7 million in July to ASA Pakistan, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Pakistan. IIV disbursed the loan from its microfinance investment vehicle, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, which lends to MFIs in developing countries.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Disburses $148m for Energy-efficiency Projects for Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Argentina, El Salvador, Paraguay via UN’s Green Climate Fund

With funds drawn from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a UN-managed investment vehicle for mitigating the effects of climate change, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a member of the US-based IDB Group, recently made three loans totaling USD 140 million to finance energy-efficiency projects undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $29m to Turkish Leasing Firm QNB Finans Finansal Kiralama for Energy-efficiency Investments

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned EUR 25 million (USD 29 million) to Qatar National Bank Finans Finansal Kiralama (QNB Finans Leasing), a subsidiary of the Turkish commercial bank, QNB Finansbank.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OPIC Loans $5m to Motorcycle Leasing Firm Tugende of Uganda

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an entity of the US government that facilitates investments aligned with US foreign policy, recently loaned USD 5 million to Tugende Limited, a Ugandan motorcycle leasing company. Michael Wilkerson,

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, Rabobank Foundation Invest $500k in Apollo Agriculture, Provider of Loans, Insurance, Training to Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private bank also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, and Rabobank Foundation, the “social fund” of the Dutch Rabobank Group, each recently disbursed USD 250,000 to Apollo Agriculture, a Kenyan startup that provides financial and technical assistance to smallholder farmers in Kenya.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Lends $5m to Ghabbour Auto’s Tasaheel Microfinance of Egypt

Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently announced that it loaned USD 5 million in June 2018 to Tasaheel Microfinance, which is controlled by Egypt-based vehicle manufacturer Ghabbour (GB) Auto, formerly known as Ghabbour Brothers. IIV disbursed the loan from its microfinance investment vehicle, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, a fund that lends to microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in developing countries.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loans $93m to Mahindra Finance for Microloans Targeting Farmers, SMEs, Women in India

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of the World Bank Group, recently loaned INR 6.4 billion (USD 93 million) to Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (Mahindra Finance), a non-banking financial company owned by the India-based Mahindra Group. Mahindra Finance plans to use the funding to expand its lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $59m to Qatar National Bank (QNB) Tunisia for Small, Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Financing

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently loaned EUR 50 million (USD 59 million) to Qatar National Bank (QNB) Tunisia, a subsidiary of the Qatar-based QNB Group. QNB Tunisia will use the proceeds from the loan to on-lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tunisia. This is the first transaction between EBRD and QNB Tunisia.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) Reports Increasing Delinquency in India; L&T Finance, Bharat, Utkarsh Rejecting Up to 30% of Loan Applications Due to Multiple Borrowing

The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulating body representing 48 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, reports that 2.83 percent of non-group microloans in the country have at least one payment overdue by more than 180 days as of March 2018,

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Supports $100m IFC Loan to TienPhong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) to Boost Digital Financial Services in Vietnam

With funds from the government-backed Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) and other sources, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently loaned USD 100 million to TienPhong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) of Vietnam. TPBank plans to use the proceeds of the five-year loan to expand its lending via its website and mobile app.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Cameroon Launches Centrale des Risques de Etablissements de Microfinance (CREMF) in Collaboration with Microfinance Institution Networks CamCCUL, ANEM-CAM to Address Delinquency Rate of 23%

The Cameroonian government recently announced the launch of the Centrale des Risques de Etablissements de Microfinance (CREMF), an organization that assists microfinance institutions (MFIs) in assessing the credit worthiness of their customers. Since June 2018, CREMF has offered a database of microloan borrowers that any Cameroonian MFI can consult for data such as whether