IDB Invest, the private-investment member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced a loan of USD 15 million to Cordada, a funder of financial technology (fintech) and other lenders to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Peru, Mexico and Chile. The deal includes a renewable two-year term as well
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Global Findex Database: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19;” by Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar
This report presents findings from a World Bank survey of approximately 125,000 adults in 123 emerging markets regarding financial inclusion. The survey was conducted during 2021 and follows analogous surveys performed in 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Account ownership among respondents in all regions has been growing rapidly, from 51 percent in 2011 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIC-BRED, FMO Commit $30m in Working Capital for Sucafina to Expand Coffee Purchases from Smallholder Farmers in Africa, Colombia
Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently agreed to fund half of a USD 30 million facility provided by the Swiss bank Banque Internationale de Commerce-Banque Régionale d’Escompte et de Dépôt (BIC-BRED) to Sucafina, a Switzerland-based coffee trader. The deal is meant to support Sucafina’s origination activities in East Africa and Colombia and in this way
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion, BAC Credomatic, Genesis, Mastercard Move to Expand Digital Financial Inclusion as Part of Call to Action for Northern Central America
US-based payment technology firm Mastercard recently announced plans to further financial inclusion in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras through the development of digital financial services that bring “5 million people in northern Central America into the financial system and digitalize 1 million micro- and small businesses,” with a focus on woman-owned businesses. The financial services include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (I-AM) Loans $35m in 8 Countries via Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed a total of USD 35 million to microfinance institutions in Armenia, El Salvador, Panama, Uzbekistan and four other countries. While I-AM has not released the names of the latter countries or any of the borrowers, it did announce a recent local-currency loan to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MSME Clients of Sudameris Bank to Benefit from $15m Bond Issued by IDB Invest in Paraguay
IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently arranged a bond in the amount of PYG 100 billion (USD 15 million) to fund “medium- and long-term” lending in local currency by Paraguay’s Banco Sudameris to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The bond is priced at 7.9 percent and was intermediated by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Visa, Davivienda Announce Commitments to Digitize Financial Services in Central America
Visa, a US-based financial services company, recently announced its commitment to further “digital and financial inclusion” in Central America as a response to the US government’s Call to Action for Northern Central America. Visa plans to invest USD 270 million to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Belize, ICDF, IDB Seek to Create Employment, Aid Pandemic Recovery Among MSMEs, Especially Women-led Firms
The multilateral Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) and Belize’s government recently agreed to collaborate on an effort to facilitate job creation and the growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Belize. With a focus on female entrepreneurs, the program targets MSMEs with investments to “finance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Compartamos Borrows $50m from IDB Invest to On-lend to Micro-, Small Enterprises in Mexico, Focusing on Female-run Enterprises
IDB Invest, the private-investment member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced a local-currency loan totaling the equivalent of USD 50 million to Banco Compartamos, one of the seven units of Mexico-based Gentera. Compartamos provides
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Loans $5m to Banco Delta to Boost Post-COVID Economy in Panama via Financial Access for MSMEs
MicroVest, an asset-management subsidiary of US-based Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), recently invested USD 5 million to Panama-based Banco Delta. The loan is meant to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: R5 Raises $7m in Equity Investment Round Led By Global Founders for Vehicle-related Fintech, Insurtech in Colombia
R5, a Colombian provider of financial technology (fintech) and insurance technology (insurtech) services, recently raised USD 7 million in an investment round led by Germany-based Global Founders Capital. Also participating were US-based Accion Venture Lab, Costa Rica-based Carao Ventures, US-based Endeavor Catalyst and Chile-based Magma Partners. Neither the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 60 Decibels Microfinance Index Offers Impact Data from 18k Customers of 72 MFIs
Impact-measurement firm 60 Decibels recently released data it has assembled from 18,000 clients of 72 microfinance institutions (MFIs) that serve 25 million people in 41 countries. The report is based on a survey exploring changes in factors such as income, stress level, number of employees and ease of affording loan repayments, as well as levels of MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FICO, Círculo de Crédito Deploy Updated Credit Scoring System Seeking to Overcome Customers’ Lack of Credit History in Mexico
Círculo de Crédito, a Mexico-based credit bureau, and FICO, a US-based credit scoring company, recently implemented an updated credit scoring system to help lenders, insurers, automobile dealerships and other firms in Mexico to evaluate their customers. The companies estimate that “FICO Score 4” and “FICO Extended Score 4” will allow their clients to reach 8 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) Launches Campaign to Boost Personal, Business Financial Literacy Among Spanish-speaking Women
US-based Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) recently released a set of free resources to deliver financial education to women in Latin America, including 22 audio lessons spanning 1 to 4 minutes in length. The lessons mainly cover topics relating to digital financial services, including using
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ABC Fund Lends $3m to Finamiga to Fund 5k Vehicle, Agricultural Loans for Women in Colombia
The Luxembourg-based Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund recently announced it has lent USD 3 million to Finamiga, a Colombia-based lender to rural, small-scale farmers and independent workers, most of whom are women. Finamiga plans to use the wholesale loan to fund
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Fintech Summit Latam; August 24-25, 2022; Mexico City, Mexico
This event will explore how banks and mobile operators in Latin America are adopting digital financial services. The first day will focus on financial technology (fintech) and the telecom industry, addressing The Evolution and Consolidation of the Fintech Ecosystem; Inter-regional and International Expansion; Biometric Identification Systems; Big Data: Fintech & Mobile Operators; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; and IoT (Internet of Things) and B2B (Business-to-business). August 25 will center on fintech and traditional financial services providers, with sessions titled
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Disburses $15m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions in 7 Countries
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans totaling USD 15 million from the Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and three other countries. Neither the names of the MFIs nor
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Banco Solidario Borrows $3m from MicroVest to Speed MSMEs’ Adjustment to COVID-19 Pandemic
Ecuador’s Banco Solidario recently agreed to borrow USD 3 million from MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, to support the microbank’s financial education of women as well as “the expansion of the company’s SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] portfolio to revive the liquidity needs of small businesses seeking working capital in the post-COVID environment.” Established in 1995, Banco Solidario offers