Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Ujjivan Financial Services has raised INR 127.9 crore (USD 25 million) in its fifth round of equity financing. Continue Reading »

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a four-year agreement to provide a 50-percent guarantee on a loan of up to USD 2.71 million for Cambodian microfinance institution Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) Limited (TPC). Sok Voeun, TPC’s chief operations officer, reportedly said that USAID “will support us in providing more loans to the agriculture sectors in the four provinces” referring to Kampong Thom, Pursat, Battambang and Siem Reap. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has made a loan of USD 30 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA)-Credit Agricole Bank to increase lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and agribusinesses in Armenia. Continue Reading »

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), a French public development finance institution, has donated EUR 1.8 million (USD 2.4 million) in technical assistance (TA) funding to Incofin Rural Impulse Fund II. Valued at EUR 120 million (USD 173 million), Rural Impulse Fund II is one of two funds managed by Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management that invest in rural microfinance institutions [1].  Continue Reading »

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based nongovernmental organization, has reported to MicroCapital that it has issued a three-year loan of USD 300,000 to Tuba Rai Metin (TRM), a microfinance institution (MFI) in East Timor [1]. Continue Reading »

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance agency of the US government, has finalized its commitment to issue a 10-year loan of USD 45 million to the Microbuild Fund, a Habitat for Humanity initiative to provide loans via microfinance institutions for poor people to improve their housing situations and funding for related technical support [1] [2]. Continue Reading »

Acumen Fund, a US-based nonprofit fund that invests in entrepreneurial approaches to reduce poverty, has made a loan amounting to USD 1 million to Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network (GUARDIAN), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on lending to increase access to clean water and sanitation facilities [1]. Continue Reading »

The United International Group (UIG) of Pakistan reportedly completed purchase of the Network Microfinance Bank Limited (NMB) on January 16, 2012, for an undisclosed sum of money. Continue Reading »

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans amounting to USD 4 million to Cambodian financial institutions ACLEDA Bank and Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL). Continue Reading »

The United Nations (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an organization working to alleviate rural poverty in developing nations, has pledged to provide USD 100 million to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the Rural Financial Intermediation Programme Phase II (RUFIP II). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling the equivalent of USD 2.3 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan, FINCA Armenia and Finance for Development LLC (FinDev) of Azerbaijan [1]. Continue Reading »

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, has signed an agreement to loan the equivalent of USD 10 million to Vision Banco, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Paraguay [1]. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, has reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans to the following institutions: USD 15 million to AccessBank of Azerbaijan, the equivalent of USD 649,000 to Kreditimi Rural I Kosoves (KRK) of Kosovo, the equivalent of USD 5.27 million to Byblos Bank Armenia and approximately USD 3.89 million to Alter Modus of Montenegro. The loan to Byblos Bank was disbursed in two tranches: a local currency loan of AMD 875 million (USD 2.27 million) and an additional transaction of USD 3 million. The loan to Alter Modus was disbursed in tranches of USD 1.3 million and USD 2.6 million. Continue Reading »

Alternatifbank A.S. (ABank), a private commercial bank in Turkey, has entered into a loan agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, to receive EUR 30 million (USD 38.7 million) to boost credit availability for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Turkey [1]. Continue Reading »