Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH, an Austrian investment company that specializes in microfinance, recently reported that its Dual Return Fund, a sub-fund of Vision Microfinance, made debt investments totaling USD 3 million in unnamed microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Mongolia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Ecuador. 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 worth the equivalent of USD 27.4 million in NBD Bank, a commercial bank in Russia, and three microfinance institutions (MFIs): Microcredit Foundation Prizma of Bosnia and Herzegovina; FINCA Russia; and Forus Bank, also of Russia. Continue Reading »

Eko India Financial Services Private Limited, a mobile banking technology provider and business correspondent (BC) for State Bank of India and India’s ICICI Bank, has raised USD 5.5 million in “growth equity” through an investment campaign led jointly by Creation Investments Capital Management LLC and Promus Equity Partners, two private investment funds based in the US. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution, has agreed to make a three-year, local-currency loan of KGS 270 million (USD 6 million) to Bai Tushum and Partners, a non-banking microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the Kyrgyz Republic. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced that it will lend RUB 2.0 billion Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, has arranged a USD 3.6 million syndicated loan to the “Fund for Small Rural Producers in Latin America” or “Fondo para los Pequeños Productores Rurales en América Latina” (FOPEPRO), to provide access to finance for associations of small-scale farmers and other producers in nine Latin American countries. Continue Reading »

Incofin Investment Management, a private Belgian company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) through six investment funds, recently made debt and equity investments in four MFIs: FINCA Guatemala and FINCA Azerbaijan, both members of US-based FINCA International’s network of MFIs; Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) of Nigeria; and Association pour la Cooperation avec la Micro Enterprise (ACME) of Haiti. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in London, recently announced that it has committed to loan the equivalent of USD 3 million in the local currency, somoni, to Imon International LLC, a microfinance provider in Tajikistan [1]. The loan marks the expansion of EBRD’s Local Currency Lending Programme in Early Transition Countries (ETC) to Tajikistan for the first time. The ETC Initiative aims to stimulate economic activity in the countries served by EBRD that are deemed to face the most significant economic challenges. With this 4-year loan, EBRD aims to allow the Tajik borrowers, including small enterprises, microfinance institutions and small banks, avoid taking on exchange-rate risks, which can force borrowers to repay much more than expected if exchange-rates change significantly. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth a total of EUR 34 million (USD 49.7 million) in three banks that support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs): Raiffeisen Banka Serbia, ProCredit Bank Macedonia and Mikrofin Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth a total of USD 29 million in Raiffeisen Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a bank that provides corporate, retail and investment banking services. Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, has approved a USD 15 million loan to Mibanco Banco de la Microempresa SA, a private Peruvian bank that provides a range of financial services to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs). Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced it has committed USD 5 million to co-finance up to 50 percent of loans issued by XacBank, a Mongolian community development microfinance institution (MFI). Continue Reading »

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based BlueOrchard Microfinance Investment Managers, has announced that it will provide a local-currency loan of XAF 500 million (USD 1.1 million) to Advans Cameroun, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in Cameroon. Continue Reading »

Avendus Capital, an Indian investment bank, recently reported that it purchased INR 108 million (USD 2.4 million) in securitized debt from Grama Vidiyal Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in India’s state of Tamil Nadu. Securitization is a process by which lenders pool the receivables from loans for sale to investors such as banks, mutual funds and wealth managers. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, agreed to loan USD 10 million to Araratbank at EFSE’s recent annual meeting in Armenia. Continue Reading »

The European Investment Fund (EIF), a public-private partnership (PPP) that supports financial institutions in Europe that serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has agreed to loan EUR 5 million (USD 7.2 million) to Šiauliu Bankas, a Lithuanian bank that provides finance to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it made debt investments totaling approximately USD 6.7 million through MIVs it manages to Locfund, an MIV with offices in Costa Rica and Bolivia, and the following three MFIs: Interfisa, a financial intermediation company offering loans, voluntary savings and fund transfer services in Paraguay; Ecofuturo, a regulated Bolivian MFI that supports the development of small and micro-enterprises; and FIE Grand Poder of Argentina. Continue Reading »

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), a government institution that provides economic and humanitarian assistance, and Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance / International Executive Service Corps (VEGA/IESC), a US-based partnership focusing on private sector development, recently announced the commencement of the second phase of the Lebanon Investment in Microfinance (LIM) program, which will provide funding to seven microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Lebanon: Association for the Development of Rural Capacities (ADR); Association d’Entraide Professionelle (AEP); Al Majmoua; Ameen; Lebanese Cooperative for Development (CLD in French); Emkan; and Makhzoumi Foundation. Continue Reading »