Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company Ltd, an Indian-Dutch joint venture company that provides equity finance for microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently invested USD 450,000 in Belstar Investment and Finance Ltd, a non-bank finance company (NBFC) based in Bangalore, India.
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Students Make Commitments to Microfinance At Third Annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Meeting in Miami, Florida
At the third annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting which recently took place at the University of Miami, Florida, students, universities and national youth organizations made commitments to implement solutions to global challenges worth approximately USD 42 million; several of the commitments are aimed at advancing microfinance efforts around the world.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Experts Debate New Code of Conduct Adopted by the Microfinance India Network (MFIN)
A recent article featured on Livemint.com, an Indian business newspaper owned by the Wall Street Journal, discusses the debate surrounding the code of conduct recently adopted by the Microfinance India Network (MFIN), a trade association made up of 38 Indian non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) engaged in microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Provides $15m Equity Investment to Lok II, an $80m Microfinance Fund that will Invest in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, recently announced that it will provide an equity investment of USD 15 million in Lok II, a venture capital fund investing primarily in microfinance.
SPECIAL REPORT: The Merger of Microfinance and Carbon Finance – A Mechanism for Small-Scale Technology Transfer
As world leaders haggle over emissions cuts and financial obligations to promote technology transfer to developing nations, a vanguard of microfinance institutions (MFIs) have silently financed purchases of clean energy technologies such as solar panels, biogas digesters, micro hydro dams and clean energy cook stoves in some of the poorest regions of the world. The prevalence of small-scale clean technologies could contribute to the displacement of rapidly expanding coal powered electricity grids to rural areas. Furthermore, it could replace dirty fuels – firewood, animal dung and charcoal – which have significant consequences for human health.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited, Microfinance Institution (MFI) Based in Kolkata, India, Decreases Interest Rate on Loans from 24 Percent to 19.1 Percent on a Reducing Balance
Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kolkata, India, has decreased its annual interest rate on loans from 24 percent to 19.1 percent on a reducing balance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sequoia Capital Sells Stake in Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd of India for $70m
Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm that commits a portion of its portfolio to microfinance, recently sold its stake in Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd, an India-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) that provides loans in exchange for gold, for USD 70 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Investments Poised to Invest $30m to $37m in Microinsurance Projects in India
In a recent interview with the Indian online news platform VCCircle, Mr Jim Roth, Principal at LeapFrog Investments, a private equity microinsurance fund, said that of the fund’s USD 110 million in capital, it would commit USD 30 to 37 million to microinsurance products in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) to Publish Microfinance Institution Interest Rates Online via MFTransparency
The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organization of 35 Indian microfinance companies, has asked Microfinance Transparency (MFTransparency), a US-based non-governmental organization that aims to disseminate accurate and comparable microfinance product cost information, to post on its website information on the interest rates charged by as many of the microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India as possible.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippine Microfinance Industry Reaches $200m and Reflects on Challenges for the Future
At a recent event gathering a number of Filipino public and private agencies from both the entrepreneurial and academic sector it came to light that the microfinance industry in the Philippines has grown into a PHP 12 billion (USD 200 million) industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Invest $15m in Aavishkaar Goodwell Fund for Microfinance
Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company Ltd, a microfinance focused private equity firm, has secured a USD 15 million commitment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank, for its second fund.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pakistan Looking to Microinsurance to Increase Insurance Penetration in the Country
The executive director of insurance at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Nasreen Rashid, has commented that insurance penetration throughout Pakistan is “miserably” low. The insurance penetration of Pakistan is reportedly “0.7 percent of GDP, which is believed to be the lowest in the region”. According to the Life Insurance Council, a forum that connects the various stakeholders within the insurance sector, insurance penetration in India “reached 4.7 percent in 2008”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Microfinance Institution (MFI) SKS Microfinance Plans to Apply for Commercial Banking License
SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) registered as a non-banking financial company (NBFC), reportedly has plans to apply for a commercial banking license. An unnamed source told Indian news agency, Press Trust of India, that “SKS Microfinance is likely to approach the Reserve Bank [of India] for a banking license once the guidelines are issued.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BASIX Microfinance Institution Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL) of India Plans to Raise $16.8m via Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs)
Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that is a member of the BASIX (Bhartiya Samruddhi Investment & Consulting Service) Group, is reportedly planning to raise INR 750 million (USD 16.8 million) in non-convertible debentures (NCDs) within the next couple of months.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cambodian Microfinance Association Reports Improved First Quarter Performance over Last Quarter for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia
According to microfinance industry officials in Cambodia, in the first quarter of 2010, non-performing loan (NPL) rates have remained mostly steady and loan disbursement by microfinance institutions (MFIs) has increased over the fourth quarter 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microinsurer Vimo SEWA to Advise Implementation of Namibian Microinsurance System
Vimo SEWA, an Indian insurance cooperative owned and run by women working in the informal sector, will be advising the implementation of a similar microinsurance program in Namibia [1]. The effort is part of the Namibian government’s Vision 2030 initiative, a series of developmental policy goals enacted in 2004 to be achieved by the year 2030 [2]. As part of Vision 2030, the Namibian government has demonstrated commitment to other forms of social insurance by enacting monthly pensions to elderly and disabled citizens [1]. Additionally, the Namibian government is funding Vimo SEWA during the advisory process [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tibet Inaugurates Microfinance Institution (MFI) Tibet Yurong Microcredit Company
Tibet Yurong Microcredit Company, a microcredit institution in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, was recently established with registered capital of CNY 50 million (USD 7.3 million) financed by unnamed private investors.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Bangladesh to Limit Interest Rates for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Mr Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, recently told the Bangladeshi Parliament that, in collaboration with Transparency International Bangladesh, an international non-governmental organization aimed at fighting corruption, the government would limit interest rates charged by microfinance institutions (MFIs).