The France-based NGO Just Sustainability Transitions (JuST) Institute is launching a mentoring and training program for financial services providers (FSPs) looking to orient their work toward “climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.” The program, which is for loan officers and their managers, takes place online over a period of four to six months. Participation can be part of an MFI becoming certified for
Search Results for: BRAC
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Raising Debt from Global Partnerships, Proparco; Seeking to Expand Microfinance Outreach, Including into 3 New Countries
To grow its microfinance operations, BRAC International, which operates in a range of African and Asian countries, recently launched a programme to source debt from multiple investors, the first of which are Global Partnerships, an investment fund manager based in the US city of Washington, and Proparco, a development finance institution backed by the French government. With the new funding, BRAC International aims to grow its client base, which is made up almost entirely of women, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agents for Impact Loans $14m from IIV to Kinara Capital of India, BRAC Tanzania for Microfinance, SMEs
Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued the following loans on behalf of Germany’s Invest in Visions (IIV): EUR 8 million (USD 9.2 million) to India’s Kinara Capital and USD 5 million to BRAC Tanzania Finance Limited. AFI aims to bring together investors to make progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Kinara issues collateral-free loans to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The loans, which range in size from INR 100,000 (USD 1,300) to INR 3 million (USD 40,000), are intended for purposes such as working capital and asset purchases. Although the firm promises “digital first”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Founder, Microfinance Leader Sir Fazle Hasan Abed Passes Away in Bangladesh
Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder and a former Chairperson of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), the Bangladesh-based NGO dedicated to
SPECIAL REPORT: At SAM, Meeting the SDGs by Decreasing Hunger, Increasing Digital Access, Embracing Change to Modernize Microfinance in Africa
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the second day of this week’s SAM conference in Burkina Faso, Mathieu Soglonou of the UN Capital Development Fund commented on several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a session on the “State of the Inclusive Finance Sector and Its Contributions to Development in Africa.” Despite general progress toward the SDGs, Mr Soglonou noted that there have been setbacks in SDG 2, “Zero Hunger.” The number of people living with hunger has increased by 800 million due to problems such as extreme weather, war, and difficulties with the storage and distribution of agricultural products. Mr Soglonou noted that one challenge in reducing hunger is that lenders tend to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, Equator’s ShoreCap III, Triple Jump Buy Equity in Microfinance Institution BRAC Uganda Bank
Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), which is owned by the German federal and local governments as part of the KfW Group; ShoreCap III, a fund of US-based Equator Capital Partners; and Dutch investor Triple Jump recently collaborated to purchase minority equity stakes in BRAC Uganda Bank, a provider of microfinance and other services in Uganda. The sizes
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Yoma Bank Increasing Loan Exposure to BRAC Myanmar by $4.4m for Microfinance Lending to 15k More Borrowers
Yoma Bank of Myanmar recently agreed lend MMK 6.8 billion (USD 4.4 million) to BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Company
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Asian Development Bank (ADB): “Embracing the E-commerce Revolution in Asia and the Pacific”
This is a summary of a paper published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), June 2018, 101 pages, available at:
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/430401/embracing-e-commerce-revolution.pdf.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GGAMF) Loans $6m to Proximity, BRAC, Vision Fund for Microlending in Myanmar
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has committed to extending loans totaling the following amounts in phases over three years: the euro equivalent of USD 2.96 million to Myanmar’s Proximity Finance; the euro equivalent of USD 1.60 million to BRAC Myanmar; and the euro equivalent to USD 1.37 million to VisionFund Myanmar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian University for Women Expanding on Partnerships with Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, BRAC Afghanistan
Asian University for Women (AUW), which was created in 2008 in Chittagong, Bangladesh, is in the process of bringing on additional partners through which it will recruit bachelor’s degree candidates from low-income regions of Asia and the Middle East. The mission of AUW is to offer talented young women from families with minimal educational and financial resources the opportunity to earn an undergraduate
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agora Microfinance, BRAC, Juhudi Kilimo, One Acre Fund, Opportunity, VisionFund International Launch “Propagate” Coalition to Support Financing of Small-scale Farmers
Six microfinance organizations based on four continents recently formed a coalition, called Propagate, to encourage the financing of small-scale farmers to help them improve their productivity and access to markets by (1) lowering economic barriers to entry; (2) enabling growth of financial services for smallholders; and (3) creating commercial and operational partnerships. The founding coalition members are Netherlands-based Agora Microfinance; Bangladesh-based development organization BRAC; for-profit Kenyan microlender Juhudi Kilimo; One Acre Fund, an NGO serving farmers in four African countries; US-based Opportunity International and UK-based VisionFund International.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) Syndicates $70m in Loans to BRAC for Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises with Participation from OFID, OeEB, BIO, Actiam, responsAbility
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, recently disbursed a USD 70 million five-year syndicated loan to BRAC, an NGO that was formerly known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and serves eleven countries as of 2015.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC, LOLC Micro Investments Buy 90% of Shares of Sri Lanka’s Nanda Investments and Finance, Plan its Downscaling to Microfinance
BRAC, an NGO that was formally known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and serves eleven countries as of 2013, has bought 56.6 percent of the shares of Nanda Investments and Finance Public Limited Company, a Sri Lankan finance company specializing in deposits, loans, leasing and installment-based purchases [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Applies Microcredit Strategies to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) Programme in Bangladesh
BRAC, a development organization formerly known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee, has adapted two strategies traditionally used in its microcredit initiatives to promote the organization’s efforts to address issues involving clean water and sanitation in Bangladesh through its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladesh-based BRAC to Expand Microfinance, Health, Education, Agricultural Projects in Tanzania
BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee), a Bangladeshi nonprofit development organization, reportedly has announced plans to expand “pro-poor development projects in health, education, microfinance, farming and livestock sector” in Tanzania within an unspecified timeframe.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Development Institute Releases “Bangladesh Microfinance Review,” Indicates Need for Product Diversity
The BRAC Development Institute (BDI) set up by the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), a Bangladesh-based development organization, recently released “Bangladesh Microfinance Review, August 2011” and concluded that “while the sector has achieved operational efficiency, it needs to diversify its products in order to serve unmet demand for credit.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladeshi Microfinance Organization BRAC Admits to Pushing Loans to Over-Indebted Borrowers
BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee), a Bangladeshi development organization that was established in 1972, reportedly admitted to pushing loans to borrowers that could not afford them.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation of Canada Commits Additional $25m To BRAC’s “Microfinance Multiplied” Program in Uganda, With Plans to Open 40 New Branches
The MasterCard Foundation of Canada recently committed USD 25 million to BRAC, a microfinance institution (MFI) formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, in an effort to support the expansion of BRAC’s “microfinance multiplied” program in Uganda, which enables poor clients to use microloans to build income and assets while simultaneously encouraging social and community development. The commitment aims to enable BRAC to expand its network in Uganda by opening 40 new branches. The BRAC program provides credit, training and technical support to economically active women, with a focus on those engaged in agricultural poultry and livestock. The program also assists adolescent girls in furthering their vocational and life-skills training.