The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) based in Luxembourg, recently made a loan of USD 4.9 million to Banka Respublika Open Joint Stock Company, a private Azerbaijani bank. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, reportedly has disbursed a loan of DOP 195 million (USD 4.8 million) to Asociacion La Nacional de Ahorros y Préstamos, a microfinance institution in the Dominican Republic, to increase its mortgage lending for housing and loan financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, recently announced plans to disburse financing facilities worth a total of EUR 13 million (USD 17.1 million) to Ohridska Banka, a Macedonian subsidiary of French bank Societe General that focuses on financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based development finance institution, recently loaned EUR 10 million (USD 13.2 million) to BT Leasing Transilvania, a subsidiary of Banca Transilvania (BT), a privately-owned Romanian bank. Continue Reading »

The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Jordan, a governmental institution that aims to affect sustainable development, reportedly has stated that the European Union (EU) will provide funding in the amount of EUR 25 million (USD 32.5 million) to support Jordan’s 2012-2014 executive plan to establish a nationwide microfinance program. Continue Reading »

Frontier Investments Group, an investment vehicle of the US-based nonprofit Accion, recently announced that it, along with Saama Capital, a venture focused investment firm in India, invested a total of USD 4 million in equity in India’s Shubham Housing Development Finance Company. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly has completed a securitization deal worth INR 544 million (USD 10 million). Continue Reading »

Grameen Capital India (GCI), an investor in microfinance institutions and other social enterprises, recently announced the acquisition of a 43 percent stake in the company by Indian technology entrepreneurs Amit and Arihant Patni. Continue Reading »

ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently disbursed USD 14 million in return for a promissory note from LOLC Microcredit Limited (LOMC), a Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) that provides individual and group loans to microentrepreneurs in Sri Lanka’s agricultural districts. Continue Reading »

In Myanmar, which recently lifted restrictions barring wholly foreign-owned direct investments, ACLEDA Bank Public Limited Company (PLC), a Cambodian commercial bank specializing in microfinance, plans to launch microfinance operations by January 2013. Continue Reading »

Renaissance Credit (RenCredit), a new microfinance institution (MFI) offering deposit services and consumer loans in Nigeria, recently began operations using T24, a “cloud-hosted core banking system” offered by Temenos, a Geneva-based banking software provider. Continue Reading »

Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Dutch Triodos Bank, recently disbursed loans to the following five microfinance institutions: Caja Rural de Ahorra y Credito Quillabamba (Credinka) of Peru, Ugafode Microfinance Limited of Uganda, Fundación de Apoyo Comunitario y Social del Ecuador (FACES) of Ecuador, Agora Microfinance Zambia and Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Rural (ASDIR) of Guatemala. Continue Reading »

Symbiotics Investment Group, a Swiss for-profit microfinance investment intermediary, recently raised USD 10 million in loan funds for Access Bank, a microfinance bank in Azerbaijan, through Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Bonds SA (MSME Bonds), an investing issuance platform founded by Symbiotics. Continue Reading »

The MasterCard Foundation, a Canada-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) supporting microfinance and education, and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit policy and research center, recently announced a USD 11.4 million partnership to develop low-cost financial products to assist people living in poverty. Continue Reading »

Fundacion Microfinanzas Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a nonprofit affiliate of Spanish banking heavyweight BBVA Group, recently has taken a 31-percent stake in microfinance institution (MFI) Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM) of the Dominican Republic for an undisclosed sum. Continue Reading »

Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), an organization that provides funding and financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and social business projects, recently issued an AZN 350,000 (USD 445,000) loan to Azeri Star, an Azerbaijani MFI. Continue Reading »

Bamboo Finance, a commercial investment firm based in Luxembourg, recently acquired Accion Investment Fund, a for-profit equity fund affiliated with the US-based nonprofit organization Accion, for USD 105 million. Continue Reading »

Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM), a Belgian company that manages six microfinance funds, recently received a EUR 1 million (USD 1.29 million) equity investment from Gimv, a Belgium-based investment company. Continue Reading »