ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 1 million through the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), one of the microfinance investment  vehicles (MIVs) it manages, to AccessBank Tanzania, a commercial bank established as part of Germany’s AccessHolding in 2007. Continue Reading »

Unilever Pakistan, a member of the British-Dutch Unilever consumer goods group, and the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), a nonprofit organization providing microcredit to rural Pakistanis, recently agreed to provide entrepreneurial assistance to indigent microentrepreneurs. Continue Reading »

Omtrix Incorporated, a privately owned fund management consulting firm based in Costa Rica, recently announced the first disbursement from its Higher Education Finance Fund (HEFF), which will go to Fundacion Genesis Empresarial, a Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI). Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, and BBVA Continental, a commercial bank in Lima, Peru, recently entered into a USD 75 million loan agreement to boost renewable energy and mortgage financing in the country. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), which is advised by German firm Finance in Motion, recently disbursed a subordinated loan of approximately EUR 15 million (USD 19.4 million) to Turkish commercial bank Sekerbank. Continue Reading »

The Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small a Medium-Sized Enterprise), an initiative of KfW Entwicklungsbank that provides medium- and long-term debt and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East, recently made a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 1.5 million to FINCA Jordan Specialized Microloans, a Jordanian microfinance institution (MFI) that is part of the US-based FINCA International microfinance network. Continue Reading »

IntelleCash Microfinance Network, a subsidiary of the India-based social-sector advisory firm Intellectual Capital Advisory Services (Intellecap), reportedly has purchased a 56-percent stake in Arohan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), for INR 520 million (USD 10 million). Continue Reading »

Citibank Indonesia, a branch of US-based financial services conglomerate Citigroup; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US–based development finance institution; and Bank Andara, an Indonesian company that provides wholesale services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and savings services to individuals, have announced the disbursement of a USD 18.5 million term loan to finance the growth of Bank Andara’s wholesale microfinance lending. Continue Reading »

Sonata Finance Private Limited, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that serves India’s northern states, recently announced that it has closed a Series D equity raise of INR 350 million (USD 6.71 million). Continue Reading »

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance institution based in the Philippines, recently lent USD 40 million to the government of Vietnam in an effort to improve the country’s microfinance sector. Continue Reading »

Ujjivan Financial Services, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, recently raised INR 450 million (USD 8.55 million) in equity capital from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group. Continue Reading »

Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH (APM), an Austrian investment company that specializes in microfinance, recently disbursed loans to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Continue Reading »

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, has agreed to partner with Global Partnerships, a US-based nonprofit, to support microfinance institutions (MFIs) and cooperatives in offering health services and health education to low-income households in Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua. Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based finance institution that provides funding to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other sectors, recently issued a partial credit guarantee of UYU 51.4 million (USD 2.41 million) to Microfin, a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides support to SMEs in Uruguay. Continue Reading »

Fundacion para el Desarollo Integral Espoir, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) offering economic and social development services to poor female entrepreneurs in Ecuador, recently borrowed USD 1.5 million jointly from Developpement international Desjardins (DID) and Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance, two members of Desjardins Group, a cooperative financial institution based in Canada. Continue Reading »

Credins Leasing, a holding of Credins Bank of Albania that provides funding to individuals for vehicles and equipment, recently borrowed EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.97 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution that provides funding to support micro- and small businesses in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region. Continue Reading »

ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) managed by responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland, recently loaned USD 5 million to Chase Bank of Kenya. Continue Reading »

The Rural Impulse Fund II (RIF II), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) managed by Incofin Investment Management (IM) of Belgium, has acquired an 8.2-percent equity stake in Peru’s Empresa de Desarrollo de la Pequeña y Micro Empresa (EDPYME) Solidaridad, a non-bank financial institution that is held by the nonprofit organization Caritas del Peru. Continue Reading »