In this 23-minute video, Fintech.tv’s Kavita Gupta interviews Vineet Rai, the Chair of Aavishkaar Group, an impact investor with offices in India and Kenya that manages assets valued at USD 1 billion.
This post is part of an occasional series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
The Togo-based Ecobank Group recently received a 9-year credit facility of EUR 100 million (USD 113 million) from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). The purpose is to help develop the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, with a particular emphasis on the
Mambu, a German software-as-a-service (SaaS) banking platform founded in 2011, recently raised EUR 235 million (USD 265 million) in Series E funding, valuing the firm at EUR 4.9 billion (USD 5.5 billion). EQT Growth, a Sweden-based private equity investor, led the funding round. EQT Growth is a first-time investor in Mambu and is joined by
Retail Capital, a South African lender to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently raised ZAR 150 million (USD 10 million) in debt capital from Triodos Investment Management, a Dutch impact investor. Retail Capital issues collateral-free loans to retailers, in amounts based on their monthly cash flow. Since it was established in 2011, Retail Capital has served
This 4-minute video describes a partnership among the Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos, Citi, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the US International Development Corporation to fund 170,000 female entrepreneurs in Mexico and Peru.
This post is part of an occasional series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Union des Caisses de Credit Mutuel du Sénégal (CMS), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Senegal, recently borrowed EUR 5 million (USD 5.6 million) from Oikocredit, a cooperative based in the Netherlands. With this funding, CMS aims to
Two US-based firms involved in international development announced yesterday that they have agreed to become one organization. Employee-owned DAI is paying an undisclosed sum to acquire MicroVest Capital Management, which was founded in 2003 and specializes in channeling loans to funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in low- and middle-income countries. MicroVest manages a portfolio valued at
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership, recently finalized an agreement with Northern Arc Capital, an Indian financial firm, to support Nasira, a risk-sharing program through which FMO encourages retail financial institutions to lend to entrepreneurs in Africa and parts of Asia. In particular, Nasira guarantees lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises whose owners fall into one or more of the following
The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, a publicly traded commercial and investment bank, recently partnered to channel EUR 50 million (USD 56 million) to Kenyan “companies active in sectors most challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic.” In particular, the line of credit from EIB will enable firms with up to 250 employees to access
At this presentation on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial inclusion, which was subtitled “Navigating the Uncharted Sea of Insolvency,” Lucia Spaggiari of MFR (formerly known as Microfinanza Rating) predicted that the solvency challenges brought on – or simply exacerbated – by the pandemic may haunt institutions for the next 10 years. Although she described the solvency challenges of 2020 as “not drastic,” 22 percent of financial services providers (FSPs) in her dataset still significant solvency risk. Ms Spaggiari believes this may increase to as high as 34 percent over the next two years.
As for the potential effects on clients, there are clusters of greater risk among: FSPs in sub-Saharan Africa, where 17 percent of institutions are in danger; smaller FSPs, those with assets under USD 10 million; FSPs with
The Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA), a commercial and investment bank, and Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based impact investing firm, recently partnered to raise USD 6.75 million for onlending in Armenia. Symbiotics will list a sustainability bond on the
The Supervisory Board of Oikocredit recently announced that Mirjam ‘t Lam has accepted the role of Managing Director at the Dutch cooperative. Ms ‘t Lam has acted in the role on an interim basis since August 2021, after having been named
Mariama Kamara of Smiling Through Light, a women-run provider of solar products in rural Sierra Leone, stayed in business during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to emergency funding from the Shine Campaign. Demand is high for Smiling Through Light’s products, but the last shipment of solar appliances from the manufacturer took five months to arrive, causing a delay in paying staff. Only since the onset of the pandemic – and at the request of customers
Today, at the first plenary of European Microfinance Week 2021, climate adaptation was the hot topic – in contrast to climate mitigation, which is more of a preventative measure. The panelists argued that the scale of funding for climate adaptation is much too small and that many of those most in need still lack access to funding. These groups include smallholder farmers, women, youth and members of indigenous groups. Meanwhile, financial services providers (FSPs) are reporting that
Triodos Investment Management, an impact investing unit of the Netherlands’ Triodos Bank, has announced the launch of the Triodos Emerging Markets Renewable Energy Fund. The fund will deploy senior debt in low- and middle-income countries to support:
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), a government agency responsible for preventing and investigating financial crimes, and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently agreed to collaborate to establish an electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) system to “fast-track financial inclusion” in Bangladesh. By allowing financial services providers (FSPs) to compile and certify customer data online, the e-KYC system is expected to
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to loan the National Bank of Iraq (NBI) USD 10 million for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and related advisory services. NBI is a commercial bank owned by Jordan’s Capital Bank Group.
NBI Chairman Bassem Khalil Al-Salem stated the loan will help his institution
Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued USD 1.5 million to FINCA Bank Kyrgyzstan, a unit of US-based FINCA Impact Finance, on behalf of Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV). FINCA Kyrgyzstan serves 155,000 customers – half women – with