The Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund 2008 (GP MFF 2008), a member of the Global Partnerships family of funds, reported three investments in April 2009 to the CGAP Microfinance Dealbook, the monthly report on microfinance market transactions. Equadorian microfinance institutions (MFIs) FODEMI and Fundacion D-MIRO each received USD 500,000 in debt while Peruvian MFI Asociacion Benefica PRISMA received USD 750,000 in debt. MicroCapital previously reported on the launch of the GP MFF 2008 in November 2008. Continue Reading »

Source: Los Angeles Times. Continue Reading »

Zurich Bolivia, a unit of Zurich Financial Services, and the microfinance bank BancoSol of Bolivia have partnered to offer insurance to Bolivian emigrants in Spain. The insurance comes in four different plans. The first plan, requiring a premium of USD 57, covers 10,000 dollars in case of death due to any cause and the return of the body to Bolivia. The second plan, requiring an annual premium of USD 86, offers the same benefits, as well as home expenses for the family for one calendar year. The third plan, requiring a premium of USD 100, covers the return of the body to Bolivia and the cost of education for two children up to USD 300 per year per child. The fourth plan, requiring a premium of USD 129, includes all of the above benefits. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, provides investment and advisory services to developing countries. Created in 1956, the IFC seeks to foster sustainable economic growth by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Within its Global Financial Markets sector, the IFC supports microfinance in order to promote successful and sustainable economies in low and middle income countries. The IFC provides direct and indirect investment and advisory services to the microfinance sector. Its focus is on creating and supporting commercially viable microfinance institutions (MFIs) that can attract private capital thereby responding to unmet demand for micro loans. Furthermore it seeks to demonstrate the business case for commercial microfinance and also promote it as an asset class to private institutional investors. During 2008 the IFC invested USD 513.8 million in micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) initiatives and provided USD 840,000 worth of advisory services. Following is detailed information about IFCs activities in the microfinance arena. Continue Reading »

Source: eGov Monitor. Continue Reading »

Written by Xavier Reille, Christoph Kneiding, and Meritxell Martinez and based on research by the Consultative Group to the Poor (CGAP), released May 2009 as a brief, 4 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.34453/CGAPBrief_SurveyResults.pdf   Continue Reading »

Source: Newsweek. Continue Reading »

Source: Living in Peru. Continue Reading »

Source: Business News Americas
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Source: Inter Press Service
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Source: BBC News
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IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will invest USD 7.4 million (a 16.4 percent participation/stake) in Microlender Caja Nuestra Gente, a Microfinance Institution serving 170,000 clients microlending in Peru.  The IFC investment is also aimed to promote the growth and expansion of the Fundación BBVA para las Microfinanzas (owner of microlender, Caja Nuestra Gente) in Peru and Peruvian rural geographies.  The IFC provides investments and advisory services to build the private sector in developing countries.   Terms of the IFC’s investment are not provided.  According to the IFC, Caja Nuestra Gente loan portfolio is currently at USD 146 million (average loan of USD 1,506 dollars) and presently serves 170,000 borrowers from low-income economies.  Caja Nuestra Gente’s largest funder is Fundación BBVA para las Microfinanzas. Continue Reading »

“Can Microcredit Help to Cope with Aggregate Shocks? Evidence from Ecuador”, by Gunhild Berg and Jan Schrader, Published by Social Science Research Network, November 2008
Available at:http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1346565 (28 pgs)

In this paper, Gunhild Berg and Jan Scrader seek to determine the effect of major environmental shocks on microlending in the area. Following major environmental shocks, borrowers typically seek loans from either formal credit institutions or from family and friends. In addition, they may turn to personal savings. The effect of the presence of microfinance insitutions on the ability of low income families to cope with shocks have not yet been previously documented. In this study, the authors observe ProCredit Ecuador´s monthly loan approvals and applications from January 2002 to August 2007 in the cities of Riobamba and Ambato, cities near Tungurahura, the country´s most active volcano. Following Tungurahura´s most severe eruption in 2006, 19,000 people were evacuated and 23,000 hectares of crops were destroyed. Volcanic activity may also disrupt trade. ProCredit Ecuador runs 25 branches in Ecuador and had granted 58,000 loans totalling USD 166 million within the country. The authors correlate ProCredit´s loan data, including borrowers´profiles, with the Instituto Geofisico Ecuador´s monthly reports on seismic activity and eruptions of Tungurahua to determinine the influence of environmental shocks on a microcredit bank´s activities. Continue Reading »

Latin America – Caribbean Regional Microcredit Summit, June 8-10, 2009, Cartagena, Colombia. 

Summary of Event: This is the 13^th Microcredit Summit since the first summit held in Washington DC in 1997. The summit will offer the opportunity for microcredit practitioners, advocates, investors, donors, non-government organizations, financial institutions and those committed to the summits’ goals to assess progress, address challenges and discuss strategies for achieving the 2015 goals. Delegates will also come together to share microfinance best practices and network. The conference will be in Spanish and English depending upon the workshop session.

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Cost: Registrants from Latin America and the Caribbean USD 250; all other registrants USD 300.  This excludes 16 percent tax and must be paid in USD. This includes all sessions (seating may be limited), closing dinner and all lunches. This does not include field visits and day-long courses post summit. Continue Reading »

The White House has nominated the president and CEO of ACCION International, Ms. Maria Otero, to assume the position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs in the US Department of State. Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet to approve the nomination, Ms. Otero has indicated that she will accept the position should her nomination be successful. Ms. Otero has been profiled in MicroCapital’s Who’s Who in Microfinance series in May 2007. Her position at ACCION International will be filled temporarily by Ms. Catherine Quense, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, while a committee searches for Ms. Oteros successor. Ms. Diana Taylor, Vice Chair of the ACCION Board, comments, “Her nomination as Under Secretary comes as no surprise to those of us who know her and her deep commitment to social and economic justice, and we know that she now has an even more effective platform from which to help build better lives for the world’s citizens.” Ms. Otero was born and raised until the age of 12 in La Paz, Bolivia, whereupon she and her family moved to Washington DC. She holds a BA in Literature from the University of Maryland and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins. She has been with ACCION since 1986 and became CEO in 2000. ACCION International is a microfinance organization founded in 1961 and consisting of 27 partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 20 countries. The position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs was established under Section 161(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995. In total, there are five Under Secretaries of State in the Department of State, headed by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton. Continue Reading »

Jesus Alberto Garcia, Venezuelan ambassador to Angola, stated in an interview with Radio Nacional de Angola that Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (BANDES), the state development bank of Venezuela, will open a branch in Angola. He added, “This is one of the main things President Chavez wants to do with Africa.” Branches of BANDES outside of Latin America and the Caribbean include Syria and the Republic of Mali. Mr. Garcia expects that the Angola branch may be open by next year. In 2005, BANDES became an independently managed institution under the supervision of the government’s Ministry of the People’s Empowerment in Economics and Finance and is currently 75 percent government owned. BANDES provides microcredit and funds development projects in Venezuela as well as abroad. Continue Reading »

CreSud SpA, a socially responsible Italian private investment company, has reported three microfinance investments in the past three months to the CGAP Microfinance Dealbook, a monthly report on microfinance capital market transactions. In February 2009, CreSud SpA granted a loan of USD 250,000 to Comixmul of Honduras. In March 2009, CreSud SpA loaned USD 250,000 to Unidad Microfinanza Arariwa (UMF Arariwa) of Peru. In April 2009, CreSud SpA closed an equity investment of USD 400,000 in Proempresa Edpyme of Peru. CreSud SpA invests in companies with a minimum portfolio of USD 500,000 and three years of operational history. As of 2006, 88 percent of CreSud SpA’s investments were in Latin America and the Caribbean. Continue Reading »

In March 2009, responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF) reported four loans to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Microfinance Dealbook, a monthly report on microfinance capital market transactions. responsAbility is a Switzerland-based asset management firm that connects social investors with microfinance institutions (MFIs). Three loans were made to Peruvian MFIs Caritas del Peru (USD 500,000), MiBanco (USD 7.5 million) and to Proempresa (USD 1 million (in local currency)). A Loan was also granted to FIELCO of Paraguay of USD 1.5 million. These loans were made through responsAbility’s Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF) which invests either directly in MFIs or indirectly through microfinance investment vehicles. Continue Reading »