MICROCAPITAL STORY: Oikocredit of the Netherlands Invests $12.2m in Latin American Microfinance Institutions

Oikocredit invested a total of USD 12.2 million in eleven different Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs) during November 2007 according to the Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

Oikocredit is a Dutch cooperative investment fund comprised of church groups, social support groups, and individual investors. Established in 1975, Oikocredit invests in MFIs, small businesses and cooperatives with 467 projects worldwide in 58 countries. Oikocredit’s investments are largely successful, with loan loss of less than ten percent, throughout their 33 years of activity. Currently, the fund has USD 421.2 million available for investment.

Oikocredit has invested in fourteen Latin American countries with recent loan transactions in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

November 2007 Investments in Latin American MFIs According to CGAP:

Bolivia:

Emprendre, USD 500,000 investment: Microfinance NGO founded in 1999, offering group and individual microcredit services to small businesses and entrepreneurs with a current loan portfolio of USD 730,000.

Costa Rica:

Asociacion FOLADE, USD 500,000 investment: Organization founded in 1993 to strengthen and support the microfinance sector of Latin America, currently representing over thirty microfinance institutions in seventeen countries.

Integral de Desarrollo Rural de Pacifico Central, USD 772,200 investment: Microcredit NGO founded in 1993 with a current loan portfolio of USD 1.6 million.

Ecuador:

Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito San Jose, USD 1 million investment: Cooperative credit union established in 1964 providing microfinance services in both rural and urban regions in Ecuador with a current loan portfolio of USD 12.3 million.

COAC Mushuc Run: USD 1.5 million investment: Cooperative credit union established in 1997 by indigenous youth in the Tungurahua province of Equador to promote socioeconomic development and sustainability in the region with total assets of nearly USD 40 million.

Coop-Ahorro y Crédito Pablo Múñoz Vega, USD 1 million investment: Credit and savings cooperative founded in 1968, offering microfinance services in the Sierra del Norte region of Ecuador, currently with over thirty thousand members and five main branch offices.

Guatemala:

Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Guatemala, USD 549,484 investment: Details unavailable

Mexico:

Caja Libertad, USD 5 million investment: Cooperative credit union founded in 1960 offering microfinance services from over 100 branches throughout Mexico, with total assets of USD 556 milion.

Nicaragua:

Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples “20 de Abril”, USD 750,000 investment: Cooperative credit union established in 1996 to provide small businesses, farmers and entrepreneurs with microfinance services in the northern region of the country with current total assets of USD 6.4 million.

Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito Caja Rural Nacional, USD 1 million investment: Credit and savings cooperative founded in 1993, providing microfinance services to nearly three thousand members in rural areas of Nicaragua.

By Melissa Duscha

Additional Resources:

CGAP List of Recent Transactions: http://cgap.org/mcm/files/RecentTransactions_Dec2007.html

The MIX Market: http://www.mixmarket.org/en/home_page.asp

Oikocredit:http://www.oikocredit.org/site/en/index.phtml?p=newhome

Oikocredit Active Portfolio: http://www.oikocredit.org/documents/projects/PortfolioUK.pdf