The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral finance institution based in London, is providing loans to banks in Serbia and Moldova in an effort to increase access to finance for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Continue Reading »

The government of the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh reportedly is set to alter the Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Institutions (Regulation of Moneylending) Act, which was enacted December 2010 in response to complaints of high interest rates and coercive loan recovery, by replacing the term “self-help group (SHG) women” with “below poverty line (BPL) households” [1] [2]. According to unspecified sources at the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office, the purpose of the replacement is “to ensure that MFIs adhere to the existing stringent rules” by “bringing all kinds of MFI loan products, existing and future, under the purview of the Act [1].” Continue Reading »

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, is currently training bankers in the nation of Georgia to provide financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). IFC is partnering with the governments of Austria and Japan to offer the three-day program covering strategy and market segmentation, product design, credit risk management and information management systems. The initiative is aimed at building self-sustaining SMEs and strategies for funding these organizations. While reportedly being major drivers of economic growth and job creation in Central and Eastern Europe, SMEs often struggle with financing the growth of their businesses. Continue Reading »

Finance in Motion, a Frankfurt-based asset management firm focused on development finance, recently reported to MicroCapital that the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance institution investment fund that it advises, made a debt investment of USD 5 million in Minsk Transit Bank, a joint stock company in Belarus [1]. Continue Reading »

Beema Samiti (Insurance Board), the insurance regulatory authority of Nepal, recently instituted a taskforce intended to define microinsurance products and identify channels for delivering these products to rural and low income-households [1]. Continue Reading »

Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency headquartered in New York and London, recently confirmed its ratings for AccessBank, a financial institution in Azerbaijan. AccessBank’s long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) was confirmed at ‘BB+’ with ‘Outlook Stable’, its short-term IDR was confirmed at ‘B’ and its Individual Rating was confirmed at ‘D’, all of which are at the ‘sovereign ceiling’ which is generally the highest available in a given country. Continue Reading »

In its effort to boost energy efficiency in Eastern Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Bulgaria and loaned EUR 7 million (USD 9.7 million) to BCR Chisinau, a Moldovan commercial bank. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling USD 4.7 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Tajikistan. Continue Reading »

Event Name: 14^th Annual Microfinance Centre (MFC) Conference, “Reorienting Microfinance Towards Balanced Growth”

Event Date: May 18 – May 20, 2011

Event Location: Prague, Czech Republic Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London, and Crédit Agricole Serbia, a subsidiary of financial institution Crédit Agricole of France, have recently partnered to accept warehouse receipts as collateral for loans totaling EUR 20 million (USD 27.4 million) to agribusinesses in Serbia. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, has recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 2.9 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Tajikistan and the Philippines. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Center (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, an international network of approximately 110 microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently announced the launch of its Social Performance Start-up Fund, a facility that aims to provide technical and financial assistance to regional- and country- level microfinance networks that are looking to address social performance. Continue Reading »

Incofin cvso, a Belgian cooperative company that invests in microfinance, recently loaned MNT 41 million (USD 1.5 million) to Tenger Financial Group, a Mongolian Company that controls XacBank LLC, XacLeasing LLC, Horus Nomadic Solutions LLC and TenGer Insurance LLC. Founded in 2001, the group was formed following the merger of Goviin Ehlel (renamed XAC-GE Holding) and X.A.C. (renamed XacBank), two non-bank financial institutions that focus on micro-, small and medium enterprises. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently invested USD 12.5 million across three financial institutions based in Belarus and Mongolia. Continue Reading »

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), an internet and telephone service provider based in Islamabad, recently reached an agreement with the licensed banking arm of Pakistani microfinance institution (MFI) National Rural Support Program (NRSP), NRSP Microfinance Bank, to provide the central and branch offices of the bank with internet connections and bank surveillance. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested loans approximately equivalent to USD 10.2 million to FINCA International subsidiaries in Azerbaijan, Russia, Ecuador and Mexico. FINCA International is a global microfinance network operating in 21 countries reporting total assets of USD 467 million as of 2009 [2]. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution that is headquartered in London, recently announced that it loaned EUR 7 million (USD 9.7 million) to IMPULS-Leasing Romania IFN SA (ILRO), a Romanian vehicle and equipment leasing company, to extend leasing services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas. Continue Reading »

Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of global financial services provider Citigroup, has partnered with the Russian Microfinance Center (RMC), a professional association that supports microfinance operators in Russia, to facilitate business development for start-up entrepreneurs in Russia. Continue Reading »