The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private bank also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently announced it is considering lending USD 10 million to Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) Limited, a privately owned commercial bank in Bangladesh. The funding would be for financing imports and exports
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Orange, Safaricom, Telenor, Tigo, Vodacom Earn First GSMA Mobile Money Certifications for Security, Consumer Protection in Africa, Pakistan
Based on assessments conducted by Italy-based MicroFinanza Rating, five organizations in Africa and Pakistan have earned the first GSMA Mobile Money Certifications, verifying their ability “to deliver secure and reliable services, to protect the rights of consumers and to
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Conference; June 4 – 7, 2018; Singapore
Summary of Event: This sixth iteration of this event centers on maximizing social impact in Asia through investing and philanthropy. The topics are to include “strategic philanthropy,” investing in education and healthcare, investing with a gender lens, government policy implications, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Blossom Finance Launches Shariah-compliant Microfinance Fund to Invest in BMT Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia via PBMT Ventura
US-based Blossom Finance recently launched a fund that will lend local-currency on the Indonesian island of Java via Permodalan BMT (PBMT) Ventura, a provider of technical and financial services to Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMTs), financial institutions that follow Shariah, Islamic law. PBMT Ventura invests in BMTs that mainly serve market vendors.
Jamil Abbas, a general manager at PBMT Ventura, said, “Ramadan is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund Lends $9m to MFIs in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indonesia
C-Quadrat Asset Management, a unit of Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment, disbursed a total of USD 9 million during April from its Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund to microfinance institutions (MFIs) Costa Rica, Ecuador and Indonesia. Although the identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential, C-Quadrat Asset Management tells MicroCapital that the Indonesian MFI
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Guarantee $20m in Local-currency Lending by Malaysia’s Maybank to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently agreed to guarantee USD 20 million in local-currency lending by Maybank, a Malaysia-based bank, to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar. The deal is part of ADB’s Microfinance Risk Participation and Guarantee Program, which has supported local-currency loans valued at a total of USD 670
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Traditional Credit Bureau Ctos Tapping LenddoEFL to Add Digital, Behavioral Data to Scoring Models to Boost Financial Inclusion in Malaysia
Malaysian credit scoring firm Ctos recently partnered with LenddoEFL, an alternative credit scoring firm with offices in Singapore and the US, to increase the number of people and small businesses for which it can supply credit evaluations. The usage of alternative data can also improve the credit scores of
SPECIAL REPORT: “Aadhaar: Lessons for the African Continent?”, by Edmund Higenbottam of Verdant Capital
In 2009, India launched the world’s largest IT project, i.e. the Aadhaar biometric identification program. The program is intended to drive social and financial inclusion, reform public-sector service delivery, improve fiscal management, increase convenience, etc. An Aadhaar number can be viewed as a permanent financial address. Considering that almost the entire Indian population is now enrolled in Aadhaar – the underprivileged as well as the rich – it also can be viewed as a tool for justice and equality.
The program consists of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: KKR Planning $1b Global Impact Fund to Invest in Green Energy, Education, Environmental Firms
KKR, a private equity firm that manages USD 168 billion as of 2017, reportedly is looking to raise USD 1 billion for a Global Impact Fund that would invest in medium-sized enterprises involved in fields such as education, renewable energy and other environmental issues. The fund’s goals would be to earn market returns while supporting work toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One source indicates the managers would disburse roughly 10 investments of USD 50 million and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: RSA Advisory, FMO Syndicate $80m Loan for One Bank of Bangladesh for On-lending to Smaller Firms, Environmental Efforts with Participation from PROPARCO, Norfund, OeEB, FMO-Actiam SME Finance Fund
RSA Advisory, a Bangladeshi firm founded in 2014, and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, recently arranged a syndicated loan totaling USD 80 million for One Bank of Bangladesh, mainly for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and projects that reduce environmental impact.
The funders include – in unspecified portions – the SME Finance Fund and three government-backed
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kaebauk Investimentu no Finansas (KIF) of Timor-Leste Designing Mobile Banking for Women, Farmers with Support from IFC, Australia’s Government
Kaebauk Investimentu no Finansas (KIF), a non-banking financial institution in Timor-Leste, is partnering with the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop a mobile banking system with a “special focus on women.” The goal is to reach 50,000 people, including 10,000 farmers by
MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Graduation Programming in Uganda, Financial Lives of Farmers in DRC, Funding Local-currency Microlending in Myanmar
“The Impact of Variations of Ultra-Poor Graduation Programming in Uganda;” by Richard Sedlmayr, Munshi Sulaiman and Anuj Shah; published by Innovations for Poverty Action; February 2018; 4 pages; available at https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/VE%20Results%20Brief.pdf
Village Enterprise is a US-based NGO that offers microenterprise services in Africa such as cash transfers, mentorship, financial education and business education with the goal of helping participants achieve financial stability and increased income. This study includes a sample of approximately 6,000 Ugandan households in 138 villages that accessed Village Enterprise programs. The researchers studied a control group and groups engaged in four sets of interventions: (1) unconditional cash transfers equivalent to USD 300; (2) cash transfers coupled with training on how to manage the money; (3) cash transfers with training plus mentoring; and (4) all three of these services plus participation in business savings groups.
The fourth intervention – the full graduation program – had the largest
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Malaysia Distributing $6m in Microcredit for Younger Chinese-Malaysians to Boost Their MSMEs via Technology
The government of Malaysia recently committed MYR 25 million (USD 6.4 million) to a microcredit program intended to help Chinese-Malaysian business owners to “evolve their businesses into tech-savvy outfits.” The program, called the Micro-Credit E-Commerce Scheme, is targeting entrepreneurs in Malaysia who are aged 18 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Altum Credo Raises $10m from Aavishkaar, PS Pai, Others for Housing Finance
Altum Credo, a housing lender serving low- and moderate-income Indians, recently raised a total of INR 640 million (USD 9.8 million) from investors including Aavishkaar Venture Management Services, an India-based investor seeking to “enhance livelihoods and reduce vulnerabilities for the low-income population,” and PS Pai, who is known for his tenure at the Murugappa Group, an Indian conglomerate. The amounts they invested and the names of the other investors – identified
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branch International Raises $70m in Debt, Equity from Trinity, Victory Park, IFC, Andreessen Horowitz, CreditEase to Expand Digital Financial Services in Africa, India
Branch International, a for-profit lender to 1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, recently raised USD 70 million with the goal of expanding within Africa, entering the Indian market, and launching savings and transfer services. US-based Trinity Ventures led the fundraising round, and its general partner, Schwark Satyavolu, will take a position on the board of directors of Branch. While the amounts invested by each entity have not been released, the other investors are US-based Victory Park Capital, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, US-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and China-based CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. Branch’s other shareholders are listed at https://www.branch.co/about.
Branch evaluates the creditworthiness of applicants by harvesting data from their phones: GPS data, contact lists, type of phone, data from social networks, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s IDA Commits $30m to Bhutan for Goals Including Boosting Small Business, Access to Finance
The International Development Association (IDA), a unit of the World Bank, recently approved a loan of USD 30 million to Bhutan in an effort to strengthen the government’s financial management, create jobs and “improve the investment climate” in the country by increasing: (1) domestic revenue; (2) access to financial services; (3) the number of small firms using existing incubation centers; (4)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ant Financial Buys 45% Equity Stake in Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank for $184m, Anticipating Synergies Between Alipay, Easypaisa
Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, which is controlled by Jack Ma, a co-founder of Chinese web retailer Alibaba, recently agreed to pay USD 184.5 million to acquire a 45-percent stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank, a Pakistani unit of Norway’s Telenor Group. Telenor Microfinance, which has 20 million customers as of 2018, launched its Easypaisa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Adding $100m to Supply Chain Finance Program, Increasing Guarantees to Banks Lending to SMEs in Asia-Pacific via Alternative Scoring Methodologies
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently elected to add USD 100 million to the Supply Chain Finance Program (SCFP), a risk-sharing mechanism it launched in 2012. SCFP boosts lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific region by providing partial guarantees to banks using alternative methods to evaluate SMEs’ creditworthiness. ADB describes the strategy as follows: “Rather than focusing on balance sheets and collateral, which tend to be weak at SMEs, supply chain finance focuses on