MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Invests $6m in Peer-to-peer Lender Amartha from Inclusive Finance Fund, Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Increase Group Lending to Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Indonesia

Amartha, a firm offering peer-to-peer lending and other services in Indonesia, recently gained access to USD 6 million in debt financing from the Belgian impact investing firm Incofin Investment Management in an attempt to boost access to financial services for women entrepreneurs in rural Indonesia. Two thirds of the total invested comes from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), and the remainder is sourced from

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fido of Ghana Attracts $30m Equity Package Led by Fortissimo to Expand Fintech in Africa

Ghana’s Fido Micro Credit, with the aim of expanding across Africa, recently obtained USD 30 million in Series A funding. Israel’s Fortissimo Capital led the funding round, while US-based Yard Ventures also participated, along with other unspecified private investors. Fido previously had raised

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CreditAccess Grameen Seeking $50m in Debt from IFC for Financial Inclusion of Women in India 

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently moved to lend as much as USD 50 million in the form of a three-year senior loan to CreditAccess Grameen, a unit of CreditAccess India. The objective of the loan is to boost enterprise lending to women who live in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanmeyah for Microenterprise Buys B2B Platform Fatura to Bolster Online Capacity in Egypt

Tanmeyah for Microenterprise Services, a subsidiary of Egypt-based EFG Hermes Holding, recently acquired Netherlands-domiciled Fatura, a “tech-driven business-to-business (B2B) platform” active in Egypt. Tanmeyah CEO Hossam AlNaggar said the acquisition will provide “the company a faster route to digitally transform and develop.” The terms of the transaction

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Lends $15m to KMF to Boost Financial Inclusion for MSMEs, Post-Covid Growth in Kazakhstan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microlender in Kazakhstan. The loan is intended to boost its services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially in rural areas – to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MSME Clients of Sudameris Bank to Benefit from $15m Bond Issued by IDB Invest in Paraguay

IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently arranged a bond in the amount of PYG 100 billion (USD 15 million) to fund “medium- and long-term” lending in local currency by Paraguay’s Banco Sudameris to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The bond is priced at 7.9 percent and was intermediated by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends Soafiary $3.6m to Boost Direct Sourcing from Smallholder Farmers in Madagascar

The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently extended a loan of EUR 3.5 million (USD 3.6 million) to Soafiary, an agribusiness in Madagascar, to support the firm’s effort to “grow sustainably and reorient [its] business model, by increasing from 30 to 70 percent its direct sourcing from small-scale farmers,” potentially increasing grower incomes by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC, USAID, African Union’s AUDA-NEPAD Partner to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria

The US Agency for International Development (AID) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently joined with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to provide loan guarantees to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria. The goals of the partnership are to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends India’s Uttarakhand State $105m for Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) to Address Incomes, Climate Resilience, Out-migration

The government of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently partnered to launch the Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) with the objective of reaching 560,000 households by “supporting smallholder farmers, agricultural laborers, and micro and small agribusinesses to start and expand competitive businesses” including by

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Belize, ICDF, IDB Seek to Create Employment, Aid Pandemic Recovery Among MSMEs, Especially Women-led Firms 

The multilateral Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) and Belize’s government recently agreed to collaborate on an effort to facilitate job creation and the growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Belize. With a focus on female entrepreneurs, the program targets MSMEs with investments to “finance

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Compartamos Borrows $50m from IDB Invest to On-lend to Micro-, Small Enterprises in Mexico, Focusing on Female-run Enterprises

IDB Invest, the private-investment member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced a local-currency loan totaling the equivalent of USD 50 million to Banco Compartamos, one of the seven units of Mexico-based Gentera. Compartamos provides

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: Sanad Fund for MSME Sells 30% Equity Stake in GlobalCorp of Egypt, as Amethis, EBRD, SPE Capital Acquire Controlling Stake

A group of three entities recently acquired majority control of GlobalCorp for Financial Services, an Egyptian provider of leasing and factoring services to small and large enterprises. The buyers are

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sherpa Company Pays $65m for 25% Equity Stake in Trusting Social to Harness Big Data for Consumer Finance in Vietnam

Singapore-based Trusting Social recently closed its Series C funding round, selling 25 percent of its equity for USD 65 million to Sherpa Company, a subsidiary of the Vietnam-based Masan Group, which operates across the financial, food, materials, retail and technology sectors. Trusting Social offers

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Disburses $15m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions in 7 Countries

Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans totaling USD 15 million from the Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and three other countries. Neither the names of the MFIs nor

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Banco Solidario Borrows $3m from MicroVest to Speed MSMEs’ Adjustment to COVID-19 Pandemic

Ecuador’s Banco Solidario recently agreed to borrow USD 3 million from MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, to support the microbank’s financial education of women as well as “the expansion of the company’s SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] portfolio to revive the liquidity needs of small businesses seeking working capital in the post-COVID environment.” Established in 1995, Banco Solidario offers

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Fundacion Espoir Receives $2m Investment from MicroVest, Targeting Women-led Businesses in Ecuador

MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 2 million to Ecuador’s Fundacion Espoir, an NGO providing microcredit, insurance and financial education. The goal is to support Fundacion Espoir in assisting women-led micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics to Place $105m in Debt for Pensioenfonds Detailhandel in Microfinance, SME Finance in Emerging Markets

Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investor, recently announced that Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, an administrator of pensions for Dutch retail workers, has selected the firm to manage a private debt fund with a volume of EUR 100 million (USD 105 million) with the aim of enabling progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The portfolio will focus on investing local currency to support