Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) Ltd. (TPC) received a USD 1.57 loan from the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund. TPC began as part of the Small Enterprise Development program of the Catholic Relief Services in Cambodia, but has since evolved into a limited liability company licensed as a microfinance institution by the National Bank of Cambodia. MIX market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reports that THC has 55,870 active borrowers, a gross loan portfolio of USD 7.3 mn and USD 7.7 mn in total assets as of 31 December 2006. ResponsAbility was created in 2003 by several large Swiss financial institutions. It has USD 96 mn in fund assets as of 31 January 2007 and also reports that USD 89 mn of its fund assets were allocated to microfinance investments during the same period.
Continue reading “Cambodian Microfinance Institution Thaneakea Phum Cambodia receives USD 1.57 mn in Loans from ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund”

Another deal coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX MCM Newsletter, the Morocco based Association Al Karama de Micro Credit, received a USD 155, 700 loan from responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund. Creates in 1999, Al Karma mission is to help fight poverty by providing financial services to micro-enterprises. According to the MIX Market, the microfinance clearing house, as of December 31^st 2006, its gross loan portfolio equaled USD 1,741,806 and its total assets were USD 2,140,920. Its debt to equity ratio was 3.96%, and as of December 2006, Al Karama had 8,071 active borrowers.

Continue reading “Association Al Karama de Micro Credit Receives $155, 700 Loan from the ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund”

In a speech at a regional training course on regulation and practical operations of microfinance institutions, Famara Jatta, the Governor of the Central Bank of Gambia publicly criticized governments that use credit schemes to transfer resources to specific target populations and agrees with the groups that advocate that governments disengage from microfinance. He added that the role of governments is in a legal and supervisory role. Governor Jatta did not criticize microfinance as an industry, praising the financial services it provides as helpful to human and economic development. He did, however, suggest that, since poor clients require financial services beyond credit, microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in his country expand their services into savings, transfers and insurance, pointing out the success of such programs in Latin America.

Continue reading “Governor of the Central Bank of Gambia Criticizes Government Provision of Microfinance and Calls for a More Integrated Approach for MFIs Operating in the Gambia”

MicroCredit Enterprises (MCE) announced the approval of three new loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs), total USD 1.4 mn to Hattha Kaksekar Limited of Cambodia with USD 600,000, Finance for Development LLC in Azerbaijan with USD 700,000, and FINCA Peru with USD 150,000.

Continue reading “MicroCredit Enterprises Provides Loans to Microfinance Institutions Cambodia-based Hattha Kaksekar Limited, Azerbaijan-based Finance for Development, and FINCA Peru”

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter, Hivos-Triodos Fund loans USD 561,600 to Marang Financial Services, based in South Africa. The investment by Hivos-Triodos Fund hopes to encourage growth in the foundation by providing the means for new loans. Marang Financial Services (Marang) is a Development Microfinance Institution, working towards enabling poor to access a range of financial services. Marang does not report to the MIX Market, the microfinance clearing house, but according to its annual report, as of March 31^st 2003, Marang had total assets amounting to approximately USD 16.5 mm.

Continue reading “Hivos-Triodos Fund Invests 561,600 in Marang Financial Services”

French-based PlaNet Finance, umbrella organization of the PlaNet Microfinance Fund, has teamed up with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to launch the Programme for the Support of the Associates and Communities struggling against HIV/AIDS (PAMAC). The program, whose goal is to provide guarantee funds to people with HIV/AIDS, began in January of 2007 in Burkina Faso, a West African landlocked nation with a population of 13.2 mn, 2.3 percent of which are infected with AIDS.

Continue reading “PlaNet Finance and the United Nations Development Programme Launch the Programme for the Support of the Associates and Communities Struggling Against HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso”

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter, Hivos-Triodos Fund loans USD 650,300 to Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans Ltd, based in Ghana. Sinapi established in 2004 to provide financial services in the form of loans and deposits to micro and small entrepreneurs in order to help increase their income. According to the MIX Market, as of December 31^st 2005, Sinapi had a gross loan portfolio of USD 4,766,482 total assets of 8,211,045, a return on assets of -0.45% and a debt to equity ratio of 160.69%.
Continue reading “Hivos-Triodos loans 650,300 to Sinapi Aba a Ghanaian Microfinance Institution”

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter. Hivos-Triodos Fund loans USD 1.18 mm to Pride Tanzania. The investment by Hivos-Triodos Fund hopes to encurage growth in the foundation by providing the means for new loans. Established in 1994, the mission of Pride Tanzania is to create a sustainable financial services network for micro-entrepreneurs in order to stimulate business growth, and alleviate poverty in Tanzania. According to the MIX Market, as of December 31^st 2005, Pride Tanzania had a gross loan portfolio of USD 12,738,424 total assets of 13,779,696, a return on assets of 3.79% and a debt to equity ratio of 271.11% . In addition, as of December 31^st 2005, Pride Tanzania had active borrowers totaling 71,315.

Continue reading “Hivos-Triodos Fund Loans 1.18 million to Pride Tanzania”

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter. Institution Mutualiste Communautaire d’Epargne et de Credit THIES (IMCEC) based in Senegal, Africa, received a USD 650, 400 investment from Oikocredit. Founded in 2001, IMCEC’s goal is to provide families with appropriate access to financial services so that they obtain a stable income. According to the MIX Market, the microfinance clearing house, as of December 31^st 2003, IMCEC had a gross loan portfolio of USD 571,122, total assets of 907,359, a return on assets of -8.01% and a debt to equity ratio of 147.07%.

Continue reading “Oikocredit Invests 650,400 in the Senegalese Institution Mutualiste Communautaire d’Epargne et de Credit THIES”

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter. Triodos Fair Share Fund invested USD 1 mm in the Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Ltd. (CEB). The equity investment by Triodos will allow CEB to further grow its portfolio, and to mature the organizational and operational structure, in order to improve the governance of the organization. Triodos Fair Share fund was launched in December 2002 and its goal is to alleviate poverty by providing the opportunity for Dutch people to invest in the microfinance sector in developing countries. Tridos Fair Share fund, reports to MIX market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, as having USD 18,602,516 in Fund Assets, of which USD 16,928,289 are allocated to microfinance investments and USD 1,490,593 is invested in or committed to microfinance investments but not yet disbursed as of 31 December 2005. During the same period, Tridos Fair Share had 13 active microfinance investments with USD 9,471,600 allocated to microfinance investments projected in the following 12 month.

Continue reading “Tridos Fair Share Fund Invests USD 1 million in the Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Ltd.”

In a recent article in the British Finance Magazine, Financial Times, Barney Jopson reports on the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, report arguing that the microcredit industry is overrated and will not meet its estimated potential. According to Jopson, the Cato Institute’s analysis says that the small loans will not be a source of significant economic or business growth because most people are not entrepreneurs and the loans tend to be spent on consumption. The report came out just after Germany announced its interest in using its G8 presidency to push for a high profile microcredit fund for African entrepreneurs and less than a year after Mohammed Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize for alleviating poverty.
Continue reading “Thomas Dichter of the Washington DC-based Think Tank the Cato Institute Calls Potential of Microfinance “Grossly Overestimated””

Another story coming to us courtesy of the CGAP-MIX Capital Markets Update newsletter. MicroCred Group officially inaugurated MicroCred Madagascar in Antananarivo, Madagascar. According to their press release, MicroCred Madagascar has been operational since December 6th 2006, with the help of with the technical assistance of PlaNet Finance, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on microfinance. MicroCred Madagascar provides financial services to Malagasy small and medium-sized businesses. Thus far, MicroCred Madagascar acquired a staff of 62, 30 credit officers and as of January 31st 2007, the institution had more than 519 clients and an active loan portfolio of USD 624,808.

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will distribute a grant of USD 5.4 mm and a loan of USD 10 mm to Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations. The USD 15.4 mm of capital will fund start-up microfinance banks to serve the poor in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in addition to an expansion of its banking operations in Ghana.

Continue reading “The Gates Foundation distributes 15.4 million to Opportunity International”

Development Workshop Canada, a non-profit microcredit organization, launched KixiCredito as Angola’s first commercial microfinance institution. Its parent non-profit, Development Workshop, has been making loans averaging USD 100 since 1999 and has lent the equivalent of USD 5 mn but has relied on donations.

Continue reading “Angolan Microfinance Institution KixiCredito Gains Independence from its Canadian Nonprofit Parent Organization, Development Workshop”

Alemseged Assefa, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), and Mr. Ishac Diwan, the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, will collaborate on a USD 15 mm financial sector building project to improve the financial system and increase access to finance for the private sector in Ethiopia. The financial sector capacity building project hopes to further develop the financial sector, making it more visible, and competitive to ensure that resources are allocated more effectively and efficiently.

Continue reading “World Bank and the National Bank of Ethiopia join forces to launch a USD 15 mm Financial Sector Building Project”

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is granting USD $9 Million and lending USD $20 Million to the African division of ProCredit, a subsidiary of the German organization ProCredit Holdings. The funding is earmarked for operations in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and a country yet to be named.

This transaction sets precedent in three ways. First, the grant is of unprecedented magnitude, both for ProCredit and for the Foundation’s involvement with microfinance. Second, the Foundation to date has not engaged significant transactions directly with microfinance banks, but has worked with (non-profit) intermediaries. Third, the subordinated loan is Gates’ first significant “program related investment” (PRI) in microfinance. A PRI is different from a grant because it seeks a return on capital, although that return is usually concessionary.

The terms of the agreement stipulate that the grant be spent exclusively to increase the number of clients banking at the ProCredit institutions in Africa and will be drawn down over five years. Furthermore, no dividend will be paid from any African institutions for the duration of the contract (i.e. five years). All profits will be reinvested for the period.

The subordinated loan from Gates will be used to grow ProCredit’s loan portfolio, whereas the grant will support ProCredit’s training academy located in Ghana for the professional development of its employees in the region.

Continue reading “The Gates Foundation Accelerates by Lending and Giving $29 Million to ProCredit Microfinance Banks in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone”

The Kenya Times recently reported the expansion of Equity Bank Limited (EBL), a Kenyan commercial microfinance bank, into internet banking. EBL hopes to serve locals unable to access EBL’s branches as well as the thousands of Kenyans living in Diaspora by offering access to their accounts remotely. EBL’s internet platform will provide capabilities for monthly salary transfers, remittances, money transfers and foreign currency issuance.

Continue reading “Kenya-Based Equity Bank Begins Offering Internet Banking Services to its Microfinance Clients”

The Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter will soon launch a micro-finance bank with capital totaling USD 162,946,729 through a private placement. The NASSI is a private sector organization founded in 1978 and registered under the Land Perpetual Succession Act. It was organized to promote grassroots economic empowerment, facilitate the creation of employment, and increase the productivity of micro and small industrialists through advocacy programs, and information and communication networking. NASSI does not report to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse and no other information is publicly available about its performance.

Continue reading “Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists Plans to Launch Microfinance Bank”