responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund, a Swiss-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) manager, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has provided MXN 942,000 (USD 72,000) in debt financing to two Mexican microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Populist Governments Propose Interest Rate Caps and Other Public Interventions on Latin American Microfinance Institutions
Populist governments in Latin America are attempting to favor microborrowers by proposing interest rate caps and other public interventions, as is described in a recent article written by Ms Elisabeth Rhyne, managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, and published in the Huffington Post. [1]
MICROFINANCE EVENT: XIII FOROMIC 2010: Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise, October 6 to 8, 2010, Montevideo, Uruguay, Sponsored by the Multilateral Investment Fund, Organized by the Inter-American Development Bank
Event Name: XIII FOROMIC 2010: Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise
Event Date: October 6 to 8, 2010
Event Location: Montevideo, Uruguay
See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lends $1.6m in Local-currency to Five Latin American Microfinance Institutions
Oikocredit, a microfinance investment fund in the Netherlands with assets of USD 665 million, recently loaned USD 1.6 million to five Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs): Amanecer of Colombia, Coopesparta of Costa Rica, Proempresa of Peru, FINCA Peru and Norandino of Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Andean Development Corporation (CAF) and National Mutual Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FONPYME) Launch ‘Quality Improvement’ Project for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Venezuela
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF), a multilateral financial institution based in Caracas, Venezuela, together with the National Mutual Guarantee Fund for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (FONPYME), an organization founded by the Venezuelan government to provide financial and technical assistance to small businesses, has launched a new ‘Quality Improvement’ project within the Venezuelan government’s National Reciprocal Guarantee System (SNGR) to increase the efficiency and quality of management of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pro Mujer Wins Second Annual Morgan Stanley Social Enterprise Strategy Challenge
Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm based in the US, has declared Pro Mujer, a women’s development and microfinance organization that works in Latin America but is headquartered in New York City, as the winner of the second annual Morgan Stanley Social Enterprise Strategy Challenge. The challenge involved 12 New York City-based nonprofits working with teams of Morgan Stanley employees over the course of eight weeks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $47m in Brookfield Incorporacoes to Increase Quality of Housing for Low-Income People in Brazil
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is planning to invest USD 47 million in Brookfield Incorporacoes, a Brazilian real estate development company, in order to “increase the availability of high-quality housing for low-income people in Brazil” [1]. The investment consists of USD 17 million in equity and USD 30 million for a long-term revolving line of credit.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Finance Invests $6.5m in Latin American Microfinance Institutions
BlueOrchard Finance, a Swiss asset management company, recently invested USD 6.5 million from its Dexia MicroCredit Fund (DMCF) in three Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs): Forjadores of Mexico, Women’s World Banking (WWB) Popayan of Colombia and D-Miro of Ecuador.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroCred Group Completes $5m Sale of Mexican Operations to Fig Tree Ventures, a Microfinance Management Company
The MicroCred Group, an investment company with operations in France, Madagascar and China, has completed the sale of its Mexican operations to Fig Tree Ventures, including assets of EUR 4.1 million (equivalent to USD 5 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Banks to Open in Colombia
The financial regulator of Colombia, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, has reported that six local and foreign firms are applying to offer banking services in the country, including an unspecified number that would offer microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gates Foundation, USAID Offer $15m to Initiators of Mobile Money Services in Haiti
The US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Agency for International Development (AID) have announced a USD 15 million fund to encourage companies to initiate mobile financial services in Haiti.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IBM Launches New Center For Provision of Microfinance Services in Peru with Investment of $20m
Jaime Garcia Echecopar, a general director for IBM, a multinational computer, technology and IT consulting corporation, announced the launch of a new microfinance project in Peru. IBM plans to invest USD 20 million over the next five years to develop its first processing center for microfinance institutions. The center will be able to manage the information relating to 2 million loans and deposits of various microfinance institutions (MFIs). These institutions will be able to use the internet to access their customer’s information and thus will not have to face extensive new investments in IT systems.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships Social Investor Forum Covers Microfinance Investment
Global Partnerships, a US-based microfinance investment firm, held a forum on June 8 in Bellevue, Washington, that covered the organization’s efforts to reduce poverty in Latin America while offering investors a fixed rate of return.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest $10m in Bancamia, a Microfinance Bank in Colombia
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group working to alleviate poverty through loan and debt securities, equity investments and guarantees, will invest USD 10 million in Bancamia, a microfinance bank in Colombia [1]. The goal of the investment is to support the expansion of the Colombian microfinance sector, thereby helping to increase access to financial services for microenterpreneurs in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Brazilian Microfinance Sector Poised For Growth Following Annual 22 Percent Increase In Microborrowers since President da Silva’s Election
While the Brazilian microfinance market has seen significant growth since President Inacio Lula da Silva took power in 2002, a recent article estimates the market has reached two percent penetration [1]. Since his election, the number of microborrowers in Brazil has increased from 159,000 to 809,000 with a total of BRL 775.5 million (USD 426 million) in outstanding loans. Growth is expected to continue with increased interest in this market from established banking institutions such as Banco Santander, Unibanco and Banco Real.
MEET THE BOSS: Rick Beckett, CEO of Microfinance Fund Manager Global Partnerships, Which Will Host a Social Investor Forum on June 8, 2010, in Seattle, Washington, USA
MicroCapital: What is your personal motivation for investing in microfinance?
Rick Beckett: I spent the first 20 years of my career in the private sector. My motivation is really rooted in a couple things: one is I want to live in a world where everybody is treated like they matter, and for me that’s a lot about people having the opportunity to earn a living and provide for their families. We don’t live in that kind of a world. I do the work I do at Global Partnerships and Direct Relief and elsewhere because I’m interested in how we can use market solutions to advance the common good. I’m intrigued by the opportunity to change investment markets to incorporate more social motivations. I’m intrigued by the evolution of enterprises and products to incorporate more of the common good, both in terms of global poverty and global health issues as well as environmental issues. So it’s a combination of wanting to see a different world and intrigue in how the market mechanisms are evolving to advance that. So it’s a pretty interesting place to be in right now.
MC: You have said previously that “All microfinance is not created equal.” How you make such distinctions?
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Security Company Lockheed Martin Gives $30,000 to Support the Efforts of the Microfinance Organization FINCA
Lockheed Martin, a global security company based in the US state of Maryland, has given a USD 30,000 grant to support the microfinance efforts of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) [1]. Established in 1984, FINCA is a global microfinance network, which serves approximately 700,000 people through its subsidiaries in 21 countries [2]. The funding from Lockheed Martin will help provide loan capital for FINCA’s clients in Afghanistan and El Salvador and will support FINCA Haiti’s relief fund efforts following the January 12th earthquake.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds Disperses Total of $3.2m to Microfinance Banks Inecobank of Armenia, AFK of Kosovo, Lazika Capital of Georgia and Coomuldesa of Colombia
The responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) founded in 2007, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has executed debt investments totaling USD 3.2 million in four microfinance banks. The largest amount, USD 1.5 million, went to Inecobank, an Armenian bank founded in 1996 with a gross loan portfolio of USD 91.7 million [1]. The MIV reports total assets of USD 108.5 million as of 2009, and is one of four funds operated by responsAbility, the others being responsAbility Base of the Pyramid, responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund and responsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund.