Belgian company Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) has recently disbursed loans through microfinance investment funds it manages to three microfinance institutions (MFIs): USD 800,000 to Azerbaijani Finance for Development (FinDev), KZT 44 million (approximately USD 305,000) to Kazakh Asia Credit Fund (ACF) and USD 2.5 million to Kyrgyz Kompanion. 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 totaling EUR 6.5 million (USD 8.7 million) in two banks to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs): Mikrofin Banja Luka (Mikrofin) of Bosnia and Herzegovina and ProCredit Bank Macedonia [1]. Continue Reading »

Triodos Investment Management, a Netherlands-based manager of four microfinance investment funds, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested an undisclosed amount of funds in the following five microfinance institutions (MFIs): DemirBank of Azerbaijan; First Microfinance Bank – Tajikistan (FMFB-TJK) and Arvand, both of Tajikistan; Arnur Credit of Kazakhstan; and Kompanion Financial Group Microfinance Closed Joint Stock Company (Kompanion) of Kyrgyzstan [1]. Continue Reading »

Nonprofit social investor Global Partnerships (GP), which has offices in USA and Nicaragua, has made its first two loans in Colombia to the following microfinance institutions: USD 1 million to Fundación Amanecer and USD 1.5 million to Corporación Nariño Empresa y Futuro (Contactar). Continue Reading »

Armenian microfinance bank Inecobank is set to receive a loan of USD 10 million through a joint agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and Austrian development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) in an effort to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Armenia. Continue Reading »

Hassan al Sayed, head of Sudanese trade group Insurance Companies Union (ICU), reportedly has said that an agreement has been reached to guarantee an unspecified volume of microfinance loans. Continue Reading »

The nonprofit Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) reportedly has established an equity fund to invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in an effort to facilitate access to commercial financing, with the ultimate goal of increasing growth and facilitating expansion into rural areas. Continue Reading »

Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited (Utkarsh), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has raised equity commitments of INR 15.8 crores (USD 3.2 million) from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) Frontier Fund, a public-private partnership (PPP) that provides technical and financial support to “emerging” microfinance institutions; INR 6 crores (USD 1.2 million) from Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company (AG), an Indo-Dutch for-profit private investor in Indian MFIs; and INR 3.2 crores (USD 650,000) from International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group [1]. Continue Reading »

Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos, S A, Institucion de Banca Multiple has issued local bank bonds (certificados bursatiles bancarios) amounting to MXN 2 billion (USD 147 million) in the local debt capital market. Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, recently approved a loan of USD 30 million to the “Program to Support Production Development for International Integration,” which will be carried out by El Salvador’s Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the export promotion agency, National Investment Promotion Agency (PROESA) [1]. Continue Reading »

Indian rating agency ICRA Limited (ICRA) has assigned a conditional rating of A2(SO) to a series of pass through certificates (PTCs) backed by INR 7.18 crores (USD 1.45 million) in microloan receivables originated by Arohan Financial Services Private Limited (Arohan), a Kolkata-based non-banking financial company (NBFC). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it made loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) through its MIVs equivalent to the following amounts: the local-currency equivalent of USD 4.92 million to FINCA Mexico, the local-currency equivalent of USD 850,000 to Instituto para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña Unidad Productiva (IDEPRO) in Bolivia, USD 1.41 million to Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequeña y Micro Empresa (EDPYME) Alternativa in Peru and USD 2 million to Fundación para el Desarrollo Microempresarial D-Miro (D-Miro) in Ecuador [1]. Continue Reading »

IFMR Capital, a private India-based company that aims to provide liquidity and debt capital to financial institutions that serve poor people, recently securitized a “multi-originator” portfolio of 49,881 loans with a total value of INR 511 million (USD 10.5 million). Continue Reading »

Bank Eskhata, a commercial bank located in Tajikistan, will receive a USD 8 million syndicated loan funded by three European financial institutions: the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, will provide USD 5 million; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, will provide USD 2 million; and Bank im Bistum Essen eG (BiB), a German cooperative bank, will provide USD 1 million. Continue Reading »

Christofferson, Robb and Company (CRC), a private UK- and US-based money manager, is working to raise USD 400 million for a new “capital release fund” that will allow banks and financial institutions in developed countries to reduce the amount of capital that must be set aside against losses from their loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Continue Reading »

BNP Paribas, a financial service provider based in France, recently made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 1.9 million to two microfinance institutions (MFIs): Fundación Espoir (Espoir) of Ecuador and Amret Company Limited (Amret) of Cambodia [1]. Continue Reading »

Ujjivan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly plans to raise up to INR 6.2 billion (USD 138 million) from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a government-owned financial institution, along with other unspecified private and public-sector banks. Continue Reading »

Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited recently raised INR 135 crore (the equivalent of USD 29 million) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group [1]. Continue Reading »