The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and BP, a British-based multinational oil supplier have agreed to provide additional funding to the Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA), so it can improve access to finance for micro and small enterprises in western Azerbaijan by expanding its branch network to the towns of Mingechevir and Gazakh and enhancing services in the Ganja branch. The funding will consist of a USD 1 million grant from BP and USD 2.3 million of the IFC and the MFBA’s own investments. BP’s contribution will be used to support international credit experts and develop local loan officers and branch managers. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) has released a Baseline/Impact Study which it commissioned in order to 1) establish a baseline database of clients, 2) measure the impact of the microfinance program in Afghanistan since its inception and 3) set up a few key socio-economic indicators that microfinance institutions (MFIs) could monitor to track the well-being of their clients. Following its initial release in September, the survey was presented to key stakeholders, including the Afghan Government, the World Bank, MISFA management and key donors and MFI partners. Continue Reading »

The Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA), a central Asian and eastern European microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan, received a loan of AZN 4.2 million (USD 4.95 million) from the SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund, a Dutch investment fund. It is the first loan from an international private-sector financial institution denominated in Azerbaijan’s local currency, the Manat. The loan will be used to lend to small businesses in Azerbaijan. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reported Swiss Microfinanz-Fonds issued a loan of USD 1 million to Microenterprise Development Fund Kamurj and a loan of USD 2.5 million to microfinance institution (MFI) Azerdemiryolbank of Azerbaijan. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reported LOKMicro, a Eastern Europe microfinance institution (MFI), received a loan of USD 1.4 million from responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds, a loan of USD 2.0 million from responsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund and a loan of USD 2.8 million from the VDK MFI Loan Portfolio. Continue Reading »

After entering into a joint venture with Indian real estate developer, DLF Group, Prudential Financial, a U.S.-based financial services company, is also eyeing business in India’s microfinance sector. Continue Reading »

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has announced that it will contribute a USD 35 million loan to a new microfinance program worth USD 46 million in Pakistan that aims to expand its microfinance services. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has agreed to provide Sekerbank, one of Turkey’s leading private commercial banks, with a loan worth USD 52 Million (EUR 36 Million) over a seven-year period to help expand its microfinance and small and medium enterprise program. The loan has been designated to help the bank reach more than 10,000 micro and small entrepreneurs through its nationwide network of 230 branches across Anatolia. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Bai Tushum Financial Foundation (BTFF), a leading microfinance institution (MFI) in the Kyrgyz Republic, with a USD 2 million guarantee for local currency loans from local banks. Bai Tushum will use the finances to on-lend to local micro and small enterprises. Continue Reading »

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The Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA), a commercial bank that was established in 2002 to provide financial services to privately-owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Azerbaijan, plans to appear in the domestic mortgage lending market. The bank does not currently participate in the state mortgage lending program, but is taking steps to launch its own mortgage program. AMFB board member Anar Hasanov said that the bank has met all the preconditions for financing mortgage operations as an independent commercial entity. The issue is currently under consideration by MFBA shareholders. No program conditions have yet been outlined. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reported Oikocredit, a co-operative financial development institution in the Netherlands, has issued a loan of USD 1.3 million to PRIZMA, an Eastern Europe microfinance institution (MFI), and issued another loan of USD 2.1 million to another MFI, Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Limited (CEB).

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The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Westpac Banking Corporation, the fourth largest bank in Australia, are sponsoring a four-day workshop designed to encourage micro-lending to women business-owners in developing countries. International women bankers gathered in Sydney, Australia on October 2 to exchange global best practices on serving women entrepreneurs. Attendees included representatives from several of IFC’s client financial institutions: Exim Bank Limited (Tanzania), Access Bank (Nigeria), dfcu Limited (Uganda), Business Partners (South Africa), and MI-BOSPO (Bosnia). Continue Reading »

Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA), a central Asian and eastern European microfinance institution (MFI), has issued USD 11.4 million in bonds to international capital investors. Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based asset management firm, sponsored and arranged the investment deal, which took place in Luxembourg, through a specially created investment vehicle titled MFBA Bond I. The debt accrued by MFBA through the bond issuance has been categorized as senior debt, with a five-year term for repayment. MFBA will use the loaned capital to finance micro loans for Azeri small businesses. Continue Reading »

A recent article from the Inter Press Service (IPS), an independent news agency focused on the developing world, reveals Russia’s micro-entrepreneurs and micro-businesses are not receiving the capital they need to grow. The article indicates microfinance institutions (MFIs) are only supplying 15 percent of an estimated USD 8 billion in micro-business demand. Furthermore, formal banking institutions are supplying just 20 percent of the USD 22 billion needed by small and medium-sized enterprises. Continue Reading »

This is another story coming courtesy from the latest issue of the Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse. ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), an Armenian microfinance institution (MFI), has received two loan investments totaling over USD 16.4 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based international financial institution, provided half of the investment in a USD 8.2 million loan. Citigroup has matched EBRD’s USD 8.2 million loan, however lent ACBA the finances through EBRD’s A/B loan structure. According to the EBRD website, the A/B loan structure allows EBRD to sign off as the official lender of record, while Citigroup receives the lender’s benefits that would have otherwise gone to EBRD. The combined loans add to ACBA’s gross loan portfolio of 90.4 million, an increase of 18.1 percent. ACBA now has over USD 158.5 million in total assets (see “Financial Data”). Continue Reading »

Source: Trend Capital

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The Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA) has launched a loan product for people whose business is related to agriculture. The new product is basically assigned for farmers and farm workers. The project has been worked on for quite a long period and the MFBA has already started disbursing loans in the regional branches in Sheki and Lenkoran. Continue Reading »

Here is another story coming courtesy of the Microfinance Capital Markets Newsletter of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the MIX, the microfinance information clearinghouse. In a series of three installments, the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), an investment fund focusing on economic development, has loaned USD 4.7 million to FINCA Kosovo, a microfinance program of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a US-based humanitarian organization. The three parts of the entire loan investment include USD 2.7 million for the FINCA Kosovo’s micro loans to micro and small entrepreneurs (MSEs), USD 1.3 million for the program’s housing microfinance, and USD 671,265 for the program’s rural microfinance. Continue Reading »