The Mongolian Bankers Association (MBA), a nonprofit association of  financial institutions in Mongolia; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group; and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution headquartered in London, recently  hosted a roundtable event to deliberate on lending  reforms with respect to broadening  access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other borrowers in Mongolia. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to loan RON 36.6 million (USD 10.3 million) to Patria Credit, a non-banking microfinance institution in Romania, with the goal of enhancing access to finance for micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs in Romania. Continue Reading »

Oxfam UK, a UK-based charity, City of London and Symbiotics, a Swiss microfinance investment intermediary, recently launched a joint initiative known as the Small Enterprise Impact Investing Fund (SEIIF). SEIIF is intended to deliver measurable social as well as financial returns to its stakeholders by investing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through financial intermediaries operating in developing countries. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s financial regulatory authority, recently announced the inauguration of a financial inclusion advisory committee (FIAC) under the chairmanship of the bank’s Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty. Continue Reading »

The Directorate for Development and Cooperation (Lux-Development), an agency of the government of Luxembourg, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s lending institution, recently unveiled MicroMED Tunisia, a EUR 4 million (USD 5.2 million), five-year initiative intended to aid the development of the microfinance sector in Tunisia. Continue Reading »

Appui au Developpement Autonome (ADA), a Luxembourg-based nonprofit organisation, recently partnered with Confédération des Institutions Financières (CIF), a Burkina-Faso-based association of six West African savings cooperatives, to implement microinsurance projects across five countries in West Africa. Continue Reading »

AccessBank, a microfinance bank in Azerbaijan, began offering credit cards to its customers on October 10, 2012. Continue Reading »

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 »

“Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2012;” by the Economist Intelligence Unit; published by The Economist; 72 pages; available at: http://www5.iadb.org/mif/en-us/home/knowledge.aspx?idPublication=64206 Continue Reading »

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based funder of institutions that support micro- and small businesses, recently disbursed EUR 4 million (USD 5.18 million) to MF Banka, a subsidiary bank of Bosnian and Herzegovinian microfinance institution (MFI) Mikrofin. 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 »

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 »

Banking Production Centre (BPC) Banking Technologies, a mobile technology solutions provider with offices in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Russia, has released SmartVista for Microfinance, an electronic payment solution specifically for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

The Incofin Rural Impulse Fund II (RIF II), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) that mobilizes capital for rural microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently completed an equity investment of an undisclosed amount in Azercredit, an Azerbaijani MFI. Continue Reading »

ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently disbursed approximately USD 1.7 million in debt to Russian microfinance institution (MFI) Forus Bank. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based international finance institution, recently signed a five-year, USD 10 million loan agreement with AccessBank, an Azerbaijani microfinance institution (MFI). Continue Reading »

Hypo Alpe Adria Group, a state-owned Austrian financial group, and ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment organization founded in 2003, approved loans of BAM 5 million (USD 3.2 million) and EUR 3 million (USD 3.7 million), respectively, to Microcredit Foundation Prizma, a microcredit organization operating in rural Bosnia and Herzegovina. The funds will be used to expand Prizma’s operations. Continue Reading »

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution established in 1991, has funded small and medium-scale agribusiness in Turkey with a credit line for Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi (Vakifbank) in Turkish lira (TRL) equivalent to USD 24.7 million. Continue Reading »