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Monday, March 28, 2011
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), an organization founded by the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua to promote economic and social development in the region, recently signed an agreement to provide joint advisory services to government projects with private sector participation in CABEI member nations. Through this effort to increase public/private synergies, IFC aims to improve the business climate for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by creating development opportunities and supporting infrastructure improvements. Continue Reading »
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral finance institution that operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA), an association of pubic and private financial institutions in the western hemisphere and Spain, recently published “Guidelines of Principles for Effective Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance Operation.” Continue Reading »
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Event Name: USAID After Hours Seminar #50 – Migrant-backed Loans: Mobilizing Remittances in Guatemala
Event Date: April 7, 2011
Event Location: Washington, DC, United States Continue Reading »
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), which is managed by the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), recently forecast that remittances will rise in Latin American and the Caribbean during 2011 after falling from USD 69.2 billion in 2008 to USD 58.8 billion in 2009 and remaining stable at USD 58.9 billion in 2010. But the purchasing power of those remittances, an important source of capital for poor people in developing countries, is expected to continue to fall. In 2010, the purchasing power of remittances received in Latin America and the Caribbean was 8.9 percent lower than in 2009 due largely to local-currency appreciation. Continue Reading »
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) recently announced the closure of its acquisition of 77 percent of the shares of Apoyo Financiero Incorporated (AFI), an MFI that serves the unbanked Hispanic community in the US State of California. Continue Reading »
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling the equivalent of approximately USD 8.25 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Mexico. Continue Reading »
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral development organization operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently finalized a USD 40 million syndicated loan to Banco Continental, a commercial bank established in Paraguay in 1980, to help fund lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Continue Reading »
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently partnered with Amerika Financiera, a Peruvian finance organization that specializes in leasing services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to broaden the range of financial products that the company offers. Continue Reading »
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Commercial banks in Honduras have expressed increasing interest in expanding lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) according to a recent report from Honduran newspaper Impulso Microempreserial. Continue Reading »
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based, multilateral, development finance organization, recently announced that it has syndicated a USD 9 million loan to Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito (COAC) Jardín Azuayo, a savings and credit cooperative in Ecuador. USD 3 million of the loan has been funded by IDB, the lead arranger in the transaction, through its “Opportunities for the Majority” initiative. The remaining USD 6 million was funded by the following three impact investors: Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund that invested USD 3 million [2]; Incofin, a Belgian investment management firm that invested USD 2 million [3]; and Calvert Foundation, a private US foundation that invested the remaining USD 1 million [4]. Continue Reading »
Monday, February 28, 2011
ACCION Microfinanças, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in Brazil as a subsidiary of US-based nonprofit ACCION International, recently disbursed its first loan. Officially established in December 2010, ACCION Microfinanças aims support to poor people and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Amazon region through access to microcredit. Continue Reading »
Friday, February 25, 2011
Banco Compartamos, a microfinance bank that was established in Mexico in 1990, reported a net profit of MXN 515 million (USD 41.6 million) for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to MXN 516 million (USD 42.5 million) for the same quarter of 2009. Continue Reading »
Friday, February 25, 2011
responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling approximately USD 5.8 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, Peru and El Salvador. Continue Reading »
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Corporación para las Microfinanzas Puerto Rico (Microfinanzas-PR), a microfinance institution (MFI) controlled by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Foundation (BBVA Microfinance Foundation) recently appointed Annette M Montolo as its new president. Continue Reading »
Monday, February 21, 2011
US-based nonprofit Freedom from Hunger recently announced that, since the completion of its Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) initiative in December 2009, it has replicated the program in Peru, Vietnam, Cambodia and additional communities in India. Continue Reading »
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Centre for Financial Inclusion, a division of US-based nonprofit ACCION International, recently released an overview of lessons that can be taken from the Nicaraguan microfinance downturn. Triggered by a combination of the global economic downturn and the “No Pago” (No Payment) Movement, which was encouraged by the Nicaraguan government, the result was a reduction in the aggregate microloan portfolio from USD 420 million in 2008 to USD 170 million in 2011, a fall in the number of clients served from 324,000 to 225,000 and estimated portfolio at risk rising to 19 percent [1]. Continue Reading »
Monday, February 14, 2011
Global Partnerships (GP), a US-based nonprofit organization that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America, recently reported to MicroCapital that it disbursed loans totaling USD 3 million from its Social Investment Fund 2010 (SIF 2010) to four MFIs in Latin America. Continue Reading »
Monday, February 14, 2011
Event Name: Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) Americas Conference and Expo
Event Date: March 21 – March 24, 2011
Event Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil Continue Reading »
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