Green for Growth Fund Southeast Europe (GGF), a Luxembourg-based foundation that finances environmentally sustainable enterprises, along with the Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently entered a joint agreement to provide Turkish bank Fibabanka with a credit line of EUR 40 million (USD 50 million) for on-lending to businesses for efforts that have plans to become more energy-efficient.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion;” by Dean Karlan; Published by Stanford Social Innovation Review
“The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion;” by D. Karlan; published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review; fall 2014; 9 pages; available at: http://www.ssireview.org/pdf/Fall_2014_The_Next_Stage_of_Financial_Inclusion_1.pdf
This paper investigates the evolving role of nonprofit organizations in providing microcredit to people with low incomes.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $5m to KazMicroFinance (KMF) of Kazakhstan for On-Lending to Small Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will loan the equivalent of USD 5 million in Kazakh tenge (KZT) to KazMicroFinance Limited Liability Company (KMF), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kazakhstan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Turkish Government Launch “Finance and Advice to Women in Business”
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, along with the European Union Delegation to Turkey, the Turkish Employment Agency and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey recently launched the “Finance and Advice to Women in Business” program, an initiative that aims to strengthen and increase the role of women in the Turkish economy.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $15m to Eskhata Bank of Tajikistan to Fund Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will loan the equivalent of USD 15 million to Eskhata Bank, a commercial bank in Tajikistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oxus Raises $4.2m in Equity from Investors including Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) for Expansion in Asia, Africa
The Oxus Group, a French microfinance organization with subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and three Asian countries, recently raised EUR 3.3 million (USD 4.2 million) in equity through its unit Oxus Holding by selling equity shares to the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), which remains its majority shareholder, and three unnamed retail investors.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $19m to Komercijalna banka Beograd of Serbia for Housing Purchases, Improvements
Serbia’s Komercijalna banka Beograd, a bank based in Serbia, recently borrowed EUR 15 million (USD 19.2 million) under a senior loan agreement from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based, government-backed microfinance investment vehicle.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) Announces Potential $25m Risk-sharing Endeavor with Société Générale Serbia for Rural Microenterprise Financing Via VisionFund’s AgroInvest
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, England, recently announced that it is likely to participate in a risk-sharing endeavor totaling RSD 2.3 billion (USD 25 million) with Société Générale Serbia, a subsidiary of the France-based financial institution Société Générale.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $3m to Muganbank of Azerbaijan for On-Lending to Corporates, Individuals for Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Projects
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, is loaning USD 3 million to Muganbank, a financial institution that offers retail and corporate banking services in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Fund Loans $2.53m to Vitas via European Progress Microfinance to Support Microenterprises in Romania
The European Investment Fund, a member of the European Investment Bank Group providing financing to small and medium-sized enterprises, recently loaned EUR 2 million (USD 2.53 million) to Vitas, a Romanian microfinance institution, through European Progress Microfinance, a microfinance investment vehicle supported by the EU’s European Commission and the European Investment Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Raises $27m from Existing Shareholders in Third Round of Fundraising
Advans SA, a Luxembourg-based organization that provides financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), recently raised EUR 20 million (USD 26.8 million) in its third round of fundraising.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Invests $1.68m in Palestine’s Faten, in Azerbaijan’s Viator, in Bangladesh’s Grameen Danone
The Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a provider of financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has granted loans of EUR 739,000 (USD 937,000) to Faten, a microfinance institution based in the West Bank in Palestine; EUR 702,000 (USD 890,000) to Viator, an Azerbaijani microfinance organization; and a loan, which can be converted into equity, of EUR 240,000 (USD 304,000) to Grameen Danone Foods Limited, a social business in Bangladesh that sells food products containing nutrients that are generally lacking from the regional diet.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Invest $8.5m in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ecuador, India
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an arm of Austria-based asset management group C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that it disbursed credits totaling approximately USD 8.5 million from its two Vision Microfinance funds, the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance and the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance Local Currency, to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ecuador, and India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) May Loan $38m to Raiffeisen Leasing Romania for Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, is considering disbursing a senior, local-currency loan in an amount equivalent to EUR 30 million (USD 38 million) to Raiffeisen Leasing Romania, a subsidiary of Austria-based Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Centre (MFC) To Launch “Borrow Wisely” Campaign in Effort to Increase Financial Literacy in Europe, Central Asia
The Microfinance Centre (MFC), a Poland-based network of 103 microfinance providers in 27 countries, will launch a “Borrow Wisely” campaign during October 2014 with the goal of increasing the financial literacy of 80,000 low-income borrowers in nine countries in Europe and Central Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Commits $5m to Belarusian Minsk Transit Bank (MTB) for Onlending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution that finances companies in countries that are transitioning to open market economies, recently agreed to commit a local-currency, senior loan worth up to USD 5 million to Minsk Transit Bank (MTB), a government-backed bank in Belarus.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dutch Development Bank Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) Loans $20m to Armenia’s Ameriabank
The Dutch development bank Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently agreed to loan USD 20 million to Ameriabank Closed Joint Stock Company (CJSC) (Ameriabank), a commercial bank in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Airtel, Grameen Foundation, Plan International to Launch Mobile Money Platform for Savings Groups in Uganda Under Which All Group Members Must Approve Each Transaction Via SMS
The Ugandan subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecommunications services provider with operations in 150 countries; Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization; and the Ugandan arm of Plan International, a UK-based child rights and anti-poverty nonprofit that operates in 48 countries, have entered into a partnership to launch a mobile money platform that is intended to serve savings groups in Uganda.