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Friday, June 23, 2006
responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund loaned $750,000 to Fundacion Jose Nieborowski, a non-profit established in 1993 to promote development in the province of Boaca, Nicarauga. Fundacion Nieborowski reported a gross loan portfolio of $15.6 million, total assets of $17.7 million, total equity of $4 million, return on assets of 4.21%, and return on equity of 19.4% to the MIX Market. MicroCapital recently reported on the $1 million syndicated loan it received from the Triodos-Doen fudn.
Continue reading “responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Loans $750,000 to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fundacion Nieborowski in Nicaragua”
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
In addition to its recent $500,000 loan to CEPRODEL in Nicaragua, private investor fund Oikocredit committed close to USD $3 million to MFIs in Central and South America. None of these 5 MFIs report to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse. Oikocredit is an international co-operative society established in 1975 under Dutch law. It reported fund assets of $304 million and assets of $126 million allocated to microfinance investments at the end of 2005. According to the MicroCapital ROI Quicklist, Oikocredit has a return on investment of 2%. Oikocredit’s active portfolio of microfinance investments can be found here.
Continue reading “Oikocredit Invests Nearly $3 Million in 5 Central and South American Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): Loans Given to UNCREFUM, Pablo Munoz Vega, Kullki Wasi, Intihuaca, and ADEA”
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Private investor fund Oikocredit loaned $500,000 repayable in 5 years to the Centro de Promocion del Desarrollo Local (CEPRODEL), a Nicaraguan non profit established in 1991.
Continue reading “Oikocredit Loans $500,000 to CEPRODEL for Microfinance Investment in Nicaragua”
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Friday, June 9, 2006
Both MFI’s PRESTANIC (Asociación fondo Nicaraguense para el Desarrollo Comunitario) and FADES (Fundación para Alternativas de Desarrollo) received $250,000 loans from private investor fund Incofin.
Continue reading “Incofin Loans USD $500,000 Total to Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) PRESTANIC in Nicaragua and FADES in Bolivia”
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is providing $50 million to Fundación Social, a non-profit organization based in Colombia, with the purpose of expanding its small and medium-sized business client base. More specifically, part of the IFC’s financing aims to help Fundación Social increase its microfinance portfolio to more than $37 million, aspiring to reach over 53,000 clients over the next five years. Information on how the money is to be invested in the Fundación Social Group is not currently available.
Continue reading “International Finance Corporation Provides $50 million to Colombia-based Non-Profit Organization Fundación Social to Increase Its Microfinance Fund”
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
With the Grameen Foundation providing loan guarantees of $750,000, Banco de Credito de Bolivia and Banco Bisa, both Bolivian commercial banks, will lend a total of $1.5 million to ProMujer Bolivia, a microfinance institution (MFI) belonging to the ProMujer network across Latin America. Loan guarantees provide collateral substitutes for disadvantaged borrowers, altering lender behavior by covering part of the loan risk.
Continue reading “ProMujer Bolivia Borrows $1.5 Million in Microfinance Investment Deal Between Grameen Foundation, Banco de Credito de Bolivia and Regional Player Banco Bisa”
Monday, March 20, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The microcredit portfolio of Megabanco has made it a hotly contested acquisition target for six large mainstream financial institutions. “Megabanco has a big base of small clients,” said Alexander Cardenas, head analyst at Bogota-based Acciones y Valores brokerage. “This makes it very attractive in the eyes of several banks that don’t cater to small savers and would be interested in capturing this type of client.”
Continue reading “Strong Microcredit Portfolio Makes Colombian Megabanco a Sought-After Acquisition Target”
Friday, March 10, 2006
Impulse Microfinance Fund, a US$15,413,875 microfinance investment fund managed by Incofin was founded in 2004 by Incofin and four Belgian institutional investors. The fund strives to strengthen financial markets in developing countries and achieve a “double bottom line” of financial and social returns on its investments. The fund recently extended five new loans to microfinance institutions around the world.
Continue reading “Impulse Microfinance Fund Makes New Loans to Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan, FAMA Nicaragua, CRECER Bolivia, PADME Benin, and PRASAC Cambodia”
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Unitus, a non-profit microfinance investment fund with assets of US$7,100,000 as of August 2004, completed three new microfinance investment deals. Unitus provides both strategic consulting and funding for microfinance institutions using its “Acceleration Model.”
Continue reading “American Microfinance Investment Fund Unitus Strikes Deals with Pro Mujer Mexico and the Jamii Bora Trust of Kenya”
Friday, March 3, 2006
The Triodos-Doen Fund had a very busy year-end. The Dutch microfinance investment fund closed 11 deals totaling just over US$7 million. Opened in 1994 as a joint initiative of the DOEN Foundation, an organization dedicated to sustainable development, and Triodos Bank; the Triodos-Doen Fund had US$34,822,585 in assets under management as of 12/31/04. The fund’s mission is to stimulate sustainable development in a “dynamic, entrepreneurial way.” Investments are focused on microfinance and trade finance for “Fair Trade” or certified organic producers.
Details of all of the latest Triodos-Doen Fund deals are below:
|
MFI
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Region
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Funding
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Vehicle
|
|
FIE
|
Latin America
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$ 232,650
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Equity Shares
|
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Alter Modus
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Eastern Europe
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$ 244,800
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Loan
|
|
FINCA Mexico
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Latin America
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$ 750,000
|
Loan
|
|
Fundación José Nieberowski
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Latin America
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$ 1,000,000
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Syndicated Loan
|
|
CAME
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Latin America
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$ 750,000
|
Loan
|
|
Argentina Microfinanzas
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Latin America
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$ 250,000
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Convertible Loan
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Edpyme Proempresa
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Latin America
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$ 600,000
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Loan
|
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Edpyme Edyficar
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Latin America
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å¥ 700,000
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Syndicated Loan
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PRODEM
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Latin America
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$ 1,000,000
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Syndicated Loan
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|
K-REP
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Africa
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$ 1,390,000
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Syndicated Loan
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CEB
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Asia
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$ 500,000
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Convertible Loan
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The individual deals were primarily debt financings, including a number of “syndicate loans” funded with partner MFIFs. Among the groups that Triodos-Doen partnered with were two other funds managed by the Dutch development bank: the Hivos-Triodos Fund and the Triodos Fair Share Fund. Though primarily focused in Latin America, Triodos’ microfinance investments had a broad reach, extending to Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia as well.
Triodos-Doen and Triodos Fair Share Fund also participated in a round of equity financing with Bolivian microfinance institution,
FIE S.A.. FIE S.A. is the result of an effort by the Center for the Development of Economic Initiatives. The organization offers both lending and remittance services to support small-scale economic activities of families and people living in poverty. At the end of 2004, FIE S.A. had total assets of US$59,638,363 and generated a return on these assets of 3.02%. Typically, Triodos-Doen attempts to allocate 1/3 of its funds to equity deals such as this and 2/3 to debt financing. Overall, the fund maintains a portfolio of 64 active investments as of 12/31/04, and increased its Net Asset Value by 12% from 2003-2004, according to the fund’s most recent annual report.On the debt side, Triodos-Doen extended a number of loans to Latin American microfinance institutions. FINCA Mexico received a US$750,000 loan. As a member of the Foundation for International Community Assistance network, FINCA Mexico uses the “Village Banking” methodology to provide lending services to entrepreneurial women that often live on less than US$2.00 per day.
Peruvian microfinance institutions Edpyme Proempresa and Edpyme Edyficar both received loans from multiple Triodos Bank funds. Proempresa, with US$12,680,540 in assets as of 12/31/2004, received both a US$600,000 loan from Triodos-Doen, and a loan in Peru’s local currency, the New Sol, from Hivos-Triodos. Proempresa will use these funds to serve its individual clients with competitive advantages in areas such as handicrafts, medicinal plants, and agro-industry. As of year-end 2004, the microfinance institution had generated a 1.95% return on assets. Edyficar, likewise, received a å¥700,000 syndicated loan from Triodos-Doen and the Triodos Fair Share Fund. This money will finance activities for microentrepreneurs in both urban and rural settings. Edyficar had total assets of US$50,361,010 at year-end 2004, and generated a return on assets of 1.90%.
Beyond Latin America, the Triodos-Doen Fund again partnered with Hivos-Triodos to make a US$1,390,000 syndicated loan to K-Rep of Kenya. Originally an intermediary for funding non-governmental organizations, K-Rep became the first commercial bank in Kenya to target low-income clients. With US$35,057,877 in assets, K-Rep generated a return of 3.03% in 2004.
Extending its reach still further, Triodos-Doen also financed a convertible loan for Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Limited (CEB). CEB focuses on entrepreneurial, poor women in both urban and rural areas throughout Cambodia. It had assets of US$4,307,422 in 2004 and generated a return on assets of 2.53%.
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Edypme Confianza, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) created in 1997 to provide microfinance services to entrepreneurs and small producers, sold shares worth $405,280 to Incofin. Initially, Confianza was primarily an agriculture lender, but changed its lending practices in 2002 and expanded its portfolio to include urban and individual loans. This MFI had $17 million in total assets, over 17,000 active borrowers, and a loan portfolio of $13.7 million at the close of 2004. Edypme Confianza also reported total equity at $3 million, return on assets (ROA) as 1.3%, return on equity (ROE) as 7.2%, a debt to equity ratio of 465%, and a 6.7% profit margin at the end of 2004. According to an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) survey based on number of loans outstanding in Latin America, Edypme Confianza was ranked 53rd overall and 12th within Peru.
Incepted in Belgium in 1992, Incofin invests in MFIs in 16 countries, and in mid-2005 had total assets of $5.6 million. The duration of Incofin’s loans, which are between $120,000 and $600,000, is five years, and the terms offered are “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk”. Shareholders include both corporations and private individuals and Incofin invests in equity, quasi-equity, debt securities and guarantees. Although Incofin does not provide a return, it has the objective of maintaining the initial value of the shareholders’ investments.
Incofin also provided Nigerian-based Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) with a $306,000 loan. LAPO is an African NGO established in 1987 with a mission “to promote economic empowerment through financial services on sustainable basis.” In September, 2003 LAPO reported a loan portfolio of $1.2 million and total assets just under $2 million.
Continue reading “Belgian Incofin Makes Over $400,000 Microfinance Investment, Buying Shares in Peruvian Edypme Confianza and Lending over $300,000 Investment in Nigerian Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO)”
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Compartamos was founded in 1990 to provide microfinance services to the Mexican population as employment generated by microenterprises outpaced job growth in the formal economy. It became “fully functional and self-sufficient in 1997,” and is now a Non Banking Financial Institution (Sociedad Financiera de Objeto Limitado). Compartamos is a member of the ACCION International and Microfinance Networks. Investors include the Accion Gateway Fund, the International Finance Corporation, Oikocredit, ProFund International, S.A., the Triodos Fair Share Fund and the Triodos-Doen Foundation. Annual figures last updated December 31st, 2004 on the MIX Market, an information clearinghouse for microfinance recognized as the standard by MicroCapital, stated Total Assets of $125,140,019, and a Gross Loan Portfolio of $101,023,790 distributed among of 309,637 Active Borrowers. Compartamos does not offer savings accounts. For the same 2003-2004 period the company posted a Debt / Equity Ratio of 154.63%, an ROA of 18.2% and Profit Margins of 40.44%. Further details about the deal are not publicly available.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Established in 2002 by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, and German LFS Financial Systems GmbH, AMFB provides financial services to micro and small business within the country. The bank’s typical microloans are between $400 and $10,000 for a maximum of 9 months. In June 2005, the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association reported that AMFB had a total loan portfolio of more than $11.4 million. It is the only one of the 45 commercial banks in Azerbaijan that focuses on microfinance services. AMFB does not report to the MIX Market, the World Bank’s microfinance information clearinghouse. Further information about their performance is not publicly available.
Established in 1992, Incofin invests in MFIs in 14 countries, and in mid-2005 had total assets of $5.6 million. The duration of Incofin’s loans, which are between $120,000 and $600,000, is five years, and the terms offered are “LIBOR plus full cost plus full risk”. At the end of 2004, Incofin, along with KBC, Boerenbond, VDK Spaarbank, Volksvermogen (Belgian institutional investors) set up the Impulse Microfinance Investment Fund, which had initial capital of å¥5 million. By mid-2005, the fund’s assets were worth $15,413,875. The fund invests between $300,000 and $1.5 million in MFIs, and offers the same terms as Incofin.
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