Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Armenia and one in Kazakhstan – recently borrowed a total of USD 11 million from Austria-based C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund. The identities of the MFIs and the amounts each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management, the unit of C-Quadrat that manages the fund, tells MicroCapital that the Kazakhstani MFI was founded in the 1990s and provides
Category: Investment Funds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branch International Raises $70m in Debt, Equity from Trinity, Victory Park, IFC, Andreessen Horowitz, CreditEase to Expand Digital Financial Services in Africa, India
Branch International, a for-profit lender to 1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, recently raised USD 70 million with the goal of expanding within Africa, entering the Indian market, and launching savings and transfer services. US-based Trinity Ventures led the fundraising round, and its general partner, Schwark Satyavolu, will take a position on the board of directors of Branch. While the amounts invested by each entity have not been released, the other investors are US-based Victory Park Capital, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, US-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and China-based CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. Branch’s other shareholders are listed at https://www.branch.co/about.
Branch evaluates the creditworthiness of applicants by harvesting data from their phones: GPS data, contact lists, type of phone, data from social networks, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Syndicates $100m Loan to Access Bank for Agricultural Value Chains in Nigeria with Participation from Norfund, Proparco, Finnfund, Swedfund
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently arranged a syndicated loan totaling USD 100 million for Access Bank, which has 385 service points, mostly in Nigeria. The funding is intended for lending in USD to firms involved in the production, processing and distribution of agricultural goods. The focus is to be on export goods, such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD) Borrowing $45m from IDB for SMEs in Farming Value Chains, Improving Impact Measurement
The Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD), a US-based funder of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently secured a seven-year loan of USD 45 million from the private-sector member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, IDB Invest.
LAAD will use the fund to invest in SMEs active in “all stages of production, storage, technology and commercialization” in Chile, Colombia,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Adding $100m to Supply Chain Finance Program, Increasing Guarantees to Banks Lending to SMEs in Asia-Pacific via Alternative Scoring Methodologies
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently elected to add USD 100 million to the Supply Chain Finance Program (SCFP), a risk-sharing mechanism it launched in 2012. SCFP boosts lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific region by providing partial guarantees to banks using alternative methods to evaluate SMEs’ creditworthiness. ADB describes the strategy as follows: “Rather than focusing on balance sheets and collateral, which tend to be weak at SMEs, supply chain finance focuses on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lafise Bancentro of Nicaragua Borrowing $75m for Mortgages, SMEs, Green Energy Projects from IFC, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)
Lafise Bancentro, the Nicaraguan member of Panama-based Grupo Lafise, recently agreed to accept a loan package arranged by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund housing loans as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for purposes including reducing energy usage or accessing clean energy sources. The package includes USD 50 million from IFC and USD 25 million from Austria-based OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), an affiliate of the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Of the total package, USD 42.5 million is senior debt with a term of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $10m to VisionFund for Microfinance in Fragile States, Rural Areas in Africa, Asia
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently agreed to lend USD 10 million from the Massif fund to VisionFund International, an NGO conducting microfinance activities in 32
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GuarantCo to Re-guarantee up to $74m in Infrastructure-related Transactions by African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Kenya-based African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF) recently accepted a re-guarantee facility of USD 74 million from GuarantCo, a member of the UK-based Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) that reduces risk for lenders to infrastructure projects in low-income countries. AGF will use the facility to support lenders in disbursing “larger
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Takura Capital of Zimbabwe Acquires Vegetable Producer Companhia do Vanduzi of Mozambique
Zimbabwean private equity firm Takura Capital recently purchased Mozambican vegetable producer Companhia do Vanduzi for an undisclosed price via a bidding process managed by Verdant Capital, a corporate finance firm based in Mauritius. The seller is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ameriabank Borrows $11.5m from Symbiotics for On-lending to Microenterprises, SMEs in Armenia
Ameriabank, the primary member of Armenia’s Ameria Group, recently accepted a senior loan of USD 11.5 million from Switzerland-based Symbiotics. Ameriabank CEO Artak Hanesyan explained that the funding is “aimed at micro and SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] financing, which is a strategic priority for Ameriabank.” Symbiotics sourced the loan from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Turkey’s Yapi Kredi Bank Sells $60m in Covered Bonds to EBRD for Residential Energy Efficiency
Yapi Kredi Bank, a Turkish member of Italy-based UniCredit Group, recently sold the local-currency equivalent of USD 60 million in covered bonds to the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The bonds, which are backed by housing loans, are slated to fund residential energy efficiency projects carried out by homeowners, housing managers and firms dealing in energy-efficient equipment.
The funding is supported by a concessional loan of USD 15 million from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $2.2m in Local Currency to Advans, Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) of Cote d’Ivoire
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is extending the following local-currency loans: the equivalent of USD 1.24 million to Advans Cote d’Ivoire, a unit of Luxembourg’s Advans SA, and the equivalent of USD 950,000 to Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) Cote d’Ivoire, an affiliate of Switzerland’s Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.
Founded in 2012, Advans Cote d’Ivoire has a gross loan portfolio of EUR 74 million (USD 92 million), client deposits of EUR 46 million (USD 57 million), and 79,000 clients served via 12 branches as of June 2017. Advans SA, which is active in 10 countries
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GGF Lending $1.9m to Microcredit Foundation Sunrise Sarajevo for Energy-efficiency Measures Expected to Prevent 2k Tons of Annual Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Microcredit Foundation Sunrise Sarajevo, which the World Bank founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996, recently borrowed EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.9 million) from the Green for Growth Fund (GGF), which is domiciled in Luxembourg, to on-lend to homeowners, farmers, and micro- and small enterprises to fund energy-efficiency measures. GGF will also provide an unspecified amount of technical assistance funding to Sunrise for capacity development and marketing.
Samir Bajrovic, the director of Sunrise said, “Our organization is committed to continuously support programs and activities resulting in the reduction of energy poverty, improvement of air quality and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $3m in Local Currency to Asian Credit Fund of Kazakhstan, Oxus Tajikistan for Microfinance
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Central Asia are among those that recently borrowed from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. Both of the loans are denominated in local currency and have terms of three years. Neither MFI accepts deposits.
The Asian Credit Fund, an MFI controlled by US-based NGO Mercy Corps, borrowed the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund Nets $19m in Equity from BMZ to Boost Funding of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Projects via Microfinance Institutions, Banks
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), which invests in reductions in pollution and energy usage in Eurasia and North Africa, recently accepted an investment of EUR 15 million (USD 19 million) from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is also known by its German acronym BMZ, to boost the fund’s investment in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance of India Raises $12m in Equity from Creation Investments, Oikocredit, Gawa Capital
Fusion Microfinance, a lender to groups of women in India, recently raised INR 800 million (USD 12.4 million) in unspecified portions from US-based Creation Investments, Netherlands-based Oikocredit and Spain-based Gawa Capital Partners. All three of the investors were already shareholders in the microlender. Fusion plans to use the cash to invest in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Lending $15m to Jamaica for Microfinance Credit Guarantees, SME Fund
The World Bank recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to the Development Bank of Jamaica to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises via partial credit guarantees and an SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) fund. Galina Sotirova, the World Bank country manager for Jamaica, described the program as an effort to “…diversify and expand financing mechanisms for small businesses to promote entrepreneurship and job creation.” The objectives includes raising USD 10 million from private funders and guaranteeing
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Bolivia, Vietnam Borrow $11.5m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Bolivia and one in Vietnam – recently borrowed a total of USD 11.5 million from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund, an offering of C-Quadrat Asset Management, which is a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat. The identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management did tell MicroCapital that