LeapFrog Investments, a US-based private equity fund focusing on microinsurance activities, will invest USD 15 million in the Shriram Group, an India-based provider of financial services to low-income individuals, to help the organization expand its offering of microinsurance and savings products for up to 10 million clients. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution based in the United Kingdom, has agreed to make a three-year loan of KGS 180 million (USD 4 million) in Kompanion Financial Group Microfinance Closed Joint Stock Company, a Kyrgyz microfinance institution (MFI). Continue Reading »

Incofin Investment Management, a private Belgian company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) through six investment funds, has recently made debt investments totalling the equivalent of USD 8.75 million in four African MFIs: Promotion of Rural Initiative and Development Enterprises Limited (PRIDE Tanzania); Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) of Nigeria; Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) of Ghana; and First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), also of Ghana. Continue Reading »

According to a recent story in the Nigeria-based newspaper This DayLive, the Lagos chapter of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), a trade group of microfinance banks (MFBs) in Nigeria, has established the “NAMBLAG Trust Fund.” Continue Reading »

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral financial institution, has launched the Spanish language “Microfinance in Latin America” blog in an effort to explore the role of microfinance in financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to provide long-term debt financing of seven years worth USD 50 million to Panamanian commercial lender Banco General, to increase the bank’s mortgage lending program for low-income households. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that two of the funds it manages, the IFC Capitalization Fund and the Africa Capitalization Fund, will invest a total of USD 10 million in equity in Malawian commercial bank NBS Bank (formerly the New Building Society). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investment totaling USD 749,439 in microfinance institutions Pearl Microfinance Limited of Uganda and Association Al Karama de Micro Credit (Al Karama) of Morocco [1]. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investment totaling the equivalent of USD 3 million in microfinance institutions Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) of Cambodia and Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura of Indonesia [1]. Continue Reading »

MICROFIS, a France-based market platform for investors in “responsible finance”, recently obtained accreditation as a “listing sponsor” from NYSE Alternext, a stock exchange operated by NYSE Euronext that connects investors with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1]. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, will each provide local currency loans of CRC 7.8 billion (USD 15 million) to Costa Rica’s National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae), a finance company that provides credit, savings and insurance products in the country. Continue Reading »

The Wall Street Journal, a US-based newspaper, recently commented on the potential of illiquid currencies and volatile monetary policy to have a negative impact on the loan portfolios of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. Continue Reading »

By Xavier Reille, Sarah Forster and Daniel Rozas; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); 2011; 16 pages; available at http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.50967/FN71.pdf Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, will invest USD 1 million in Advans Cote d’Ivoire, a member of the Advans SA group of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, has agreed to make a four-year, local-currency loan of TJS 29 million (USD 6 million) to AccessBank Tajikistan, a bank that specializes in financial services for micro- and small enterprises (MSEs). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that operates four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling USD 24 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) Inecobank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA) and ACBA leasing of Armenia; DemirBank of Azerbaijan; and Sekerbank of Turkey. The investments have been made through three MIVs: responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), responsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund (rAMLF) and responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth the equivalent of USD 27.4 million in NBD Bank, a commercial bank in Russia, and three microfinance institutions (MFIs): Microcredit Foundation Prizma of Bosnia and Herzegovina; FINCA Russia; and Forus Bank, also of Russia. Continue Reading »

Incofin Investment Management, a private Belgian company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) through six investment funds, recently made debt and equity investments in four MFIs: FINCA Guatemala and FINCA Azerbaijan, both members of US-based FINCA International’s network of MFIs; Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) of Nigeria; and Association pour la Cooperation avec la Micro Enterprise (ACME) of Haiti. Continue Reading »