Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (KOMIDA), a savings and loan cooperative in Indonesia, has secured a three-year loan worth approximately USD 2.4 million in local currency from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. KOMIDA was established in 2004 to provide collateral-free loans to low-income women in rural areas. As of 2019, it serves 598,000 members through 237 offices. In addition to loans and savings,
Tag: Women
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Issues $2b in Bonds for Climate-focused, Infrastructure, Women-entrepreneurship Projects in Developing Countries
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently raised USD 2 billion via a bond issue to finance projects in developing countries that are focused on mitigating climate change, developing infrastructure, increasing opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and expanding financial resources
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: With Delinquency Up 24%, Sri Lanka Paying Off Women’s Microfinance Loans, Capping Microloan Interest Rates
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance recently announced that it has placed a cap on the interest rate microfinance institutions (MFIs) can charge borrowers at 30 percent per year. This comes as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has found the microfinance sector’s gross non-performing loan account
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canada Donating $29m for Youth, Women’s Entrepreneurship Programs in Palestine to be Run by CARE Canada, CowaterSogema International, Mercy Corps, Save the Children
The government of Canada recently announced it will fund four projects under its program titled Women and Youth Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Employment in the West Bank & Gaza. More specifically, Global Affairs Canada, the government’s international development and diplomatic relations department,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU Funding Expansion of EBRD Women in Business Programme to Morocco
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, is expanding its Women in Business Programme to Morocco, where it will offer training sessions, networking opportunities and internet-based mentoring for women entrepreneurs in the country.
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: Government of Sweden Gives $3m for EBRD’s Women in Business Programme for SMEs in Moldova
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, recently disbursed a grant in the amount of SEK 26 million (USD 3 million) to support its Women in Business Programme in Moldova. The funds, which have been supplied by the Swedish government
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: Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Invests $2.5m in Equity in Indian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Sambandh Finserve
Base of Pyramid Asia (BOPA) Private Limited, a microfinance investment firm in Singapore, recently invested USD 2.5 million to buy a stake of undisclosed size in Sambandh Finserve Private Limited, an Indian microfinance institution that is organized as a non-banking financial company.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance of India Cuts Interest Rate from 24.6% to 23%
Fusion Microfinance Private Limited, an Indian non-banking financial company, recently reduced the interest rate it charges on microloans from 24.6 percent to 23 percent per year for pre-existing customers. The rate for first-time borrowers was also 24.6 percent but is now 23.5 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: L&T Finance Rolling Out Instant Loan Approvals, Expanding Microlending to Women in India
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Finance Limited, a subsidiary of India-based L&T Finance Holdings that lends to women, recently debuted an app that is intended to “enable seamless customer on-boarding by providing instant loan sanctioning.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Industry (BOI) of Nigeria to Debut Government’s TraderMoni Microenterprise Lending Program
The government of Nigeria recently announced plans for a national rollout of TraderMoni, a lending service for microenterprises whose inventories do not exceed NGN 10,000 (USD 30). During the pilot phase of the project, 368 microentrepreneurs in Nigeria’s Edo State each borrowed
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Holding Company ASA International to Trade on London Stock Exchange, Citigroup Coordinating IPO
ASA International, a microfinance holding company that owns and operates 12 microfinance institutions in Asia and Africa, is scheduled to become a Premium Listed company on the London Stock Exchange on July 13. The firm, which has offices in Bangladesh and the Netherlands, was co-founded by Md Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, the founder and President of ASA. ASA,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: RBZ Launches Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank to Finance Women’s Rural Enterprises
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) recently disbursed USD 10 million to form the Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank (ZWMB) Limited, an institution whose focus is to provide deposit and lending services to rural women entrepreneurs. Based in Harare, ZWMB is licensed and wholly-owned by RBZ.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OPIC Loans $100m to IndusInd Bank for Microfinance Lending to Women in India
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the US government that seeks to facilitate investment by US-based firms in developing countries, recently issued an eight-year loan in the amount of USD 100 million to India’s IndusInd Bank to increase its microenterprise lending
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Malawi, IFAD Debut $58m Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprise Programme (FARMSE)
The government of Malawi and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently agreed to launch the Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprise (FARMSE) Programme, whose primary objective is to address poverty in Malawi by boosting rural households’
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s IDA Loans $15m to Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Project in Djibouti for MSME Guarantee Fund, Training, Business Plan Competitions, Online Resource Portal
The International Development Association (IDA), a unit of the World Bank, recently issued a credit of USD 15 million to the Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Project to facilitate financial, educational