During July and August, Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating (MFR) issued five microfinance institutional ratings. Morocco’s Attadamoune Micro-Finance was assigned the grade B+ with a stable outlook. Ecuador’s Fundación Espoir and Albania’s FED Invest both earned grades of BB with stable outlooks. Two institutions earned grades of
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Munich Re Foundation, Microinsurance Network, APESEG to Host 13th International Microinsurance Conference, November 7-9, 2017, Lima, Peru
Event Name: 13th International Microinsurance Conference: Inclusive Insurance for the Mass Market
Event Date: November 7 – November 9, 2017
Event Location: Swissotel; Lima, Peru
Cost: The maximum fee to attend the conference is USD 1,390, with a range of discounts available, including tiered reductions for those registering by September 1 and October 31. There is no fee for representatives of regulatory and supervisory authorities.
Summary of Event: This conference aims to engage stakeholders on “accelerating growth and economic viability in microinsurance.” It will feature roughly 80 speakers covering topics including: microinsurance across Latin America and the Caribbean; the role of microinsurance in economic development; digital technologies for microinsurance; and the relationships among data, analytics and the future of microinsurance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fairtrade Access Fund Loans $750k to Colombia’s Cooperativa DelosAndes for Coffee Mill
Germany-based development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) recently notified MicroCapital that the Fairtrade Access Fund (FAF), which invests in initiatives supporting farmers in developing countries, has loaned USD 750,000 to Cooperativa DelosAndes, a Colombia-based coffee cooperative, to co-finance a wet mill.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Lend $10m During June
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance funds extended loans totaling USD 10 million during June.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cuba’s Banco Popular de Ahorro Launches Mobile Banking Service
Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA), a government-owned bank in Cuba, recently began offering a mobile banking service called Banca Movil that operates through an app on mobile phones that use the Android operating system.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jamaica’s Access Financial Buys Micro Credit Limited for $630k
Access Financial Services Limited, a Jamaican provider of payday and business loans, recently bought Jamaican microfinance institution Micro Credit Limited (MCL) for JMD 80 million (USD 630,000).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Syndicates $81m Loan for Banco Industrial do Brasil (BIB) to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced it has arranged a loan package of USD 81.2 million for Banco Industrial do Brasil (BIB).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Rating Issues 8 Institutional, Social, Client-protection Credentials to Microfinance Institutions in Asia, Latin America
During June, Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating (MFR) issued four microfinance institutional ratings. Ecuador’s Insotec earned a rating of BBB with a stable outlook.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Loans Colombia $450m for Goals Including Facilitating Access to Capital for SMEs, Improving Financial Inclusion
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral finance institution that operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently announced it will extend a loan of USD 450 million to the government of Colombia with the goal of helping to “solidify macroeconomic stability, boost development, encourage public/private partnership financing, strengthen regulation of the financial system [and] promote financial inclusion.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MIF Invests $5m in Nxtp Labs Fund for Tech Firms Seeking Social Impact in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, recently announced it will invest USD 5 million in equity in a fund launched by Nxtp Labs, an Argentine supporter of technology start-ups in areas such as (fintech), education (edtech), and reducing negative environmental impacts (cleantech).
MICROFINANCE BRIEF: Carolina Trivelli to Chair CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Executive Committee
The executive committee of US-based nonprofit CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) recently elected Carolina Trivelli to be its new chair as of June 30.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Sells Equity Stakes in Microfinance Institution Financiera Confianza of Peru, Affiliate of Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) recently informed MicroCapital that three of its funds, Incofin CVSO, Volksvermogen and Rural Impulse Fund I, have sold their stakes in Financiera Confianza, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with Fundacion BBVA MicroFinanzas, which in turn was launched by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) in 2007. While the sizes and prices of the stakes, which included all Confianza shares held by Incofin IM funds, remain confidential, Incofin IM reports that the funds earned “over
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Rating Announces Client Protection Certifications, Ratings in Asia, LAC
During May 2017, Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating (MFR), under license from the US-based Smart Campaign, determined that Kyrgyzstan’s Kompanion Bank and FINCA Pakistan have complied with the certification standards derived from the Smart Campaign’s seven client protection
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Sells 55% Equity Stake in Colombian Microfinance Institution Crezcamos to Its Founder, Mauricio Osorio
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently informed MicroCapital that its Rural Impulse Funds I and II have sold all of their shares of Crezcamos, a Colombian microfinance institution (MFI), to
SPECIAL REPORT: Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) New York Presents “A Purpose-led Career,” June 21, 2017
The New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance, a group that organizes events and provides scholarships supporting women involved in social entrepreneurship, is hosting an event called “A Purpose-led Career,” at which a panel will discuss setting and achieving personal and career
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vision Microfinance Funds of C-Quadrat Loan $45m in Countries Including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Nicaragua
C-Quadrat Asset Management recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 45 million during April to unidentified providers of financial services in a range of countries including Cambodia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan as well as – for the first time –
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Issues 13 Institutional, Credit, TrueLift Ratings to Microfinance Institutions in Haiti, Latin America, Togo
During April 2017, Italy’s MicroFinanza Rating issued four microfinance institutional ratings. Two of these were to affiliates of French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde: BB- with a stable outlook to Assilassimé Solidarité of Togo and CC “under observation” to Palmis Mikwofinans Sosyal of Haiti. The other two are
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) Annual Meeting; June 6 – 8, 2017, Mexico City, Mexico
Event Name: Social Performance Task Force 2017 Annual Meeting
Event Date: June 6 – June 8, 2017
Event Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Summary of Event: This meeting will include plenary speeches, working group meetings and networking sessions relating to financial inclusion regulation, social outcomes data collection, and analysis and advances in “client-centric” technology [2]. The event will begin with an introductory session on the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (SPM) and the resources available to financial service providers for measuring and improving their social performance. This is the first time this event is taking place in Latin America since 2013.