MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Via Regulatory Sandbox, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Approves Digital, Crowdfunding, Robo-advisory, Shariah-compliant Proposals

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the regulator of non-bank financial institutions in the country, recently introduced a regulatory sandbox, inviting companies to propose pilot tests of novel services. It approved the following six: a digital insurance service

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Loans $100m to COFIDE of Peru to Support Energy Efficiency, Renewables, SMEs

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending institution of the EU, recently loaned USD 100 million to Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo (COFIDE), a development bank owned by the Peruvian government, to provide support to small businesses and projects to reduce the climate impacts of energy usage. This includes investments

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oolu Solar of Senegal Raises $8.5m in Equity with Participation from All On, DPI Energy, Gaia Impact, Persistent, RP Global

Oolu Solar, a Senegal-based startup aiming to provide affordable solar energy in West Africa, recently closed its Series B round of funding at USD 8.5 million, with Austria-based RP Global acting as the lead investor. Other participants included

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jive, IFC Launch $320m Investment Vehicle to Buy Distressed Assets in Brazil; Freeing Cash for SMEs, Lenders

An entity of Jive Investments, a Brazil-based investment management firm, recently partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to purchase “non-productive assets” in Brazil, increasing liquidity in markets that have been bogged down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jive Distressed Fund III and IFC will invest USD 240 million and USD 80 million, respectively, in a

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFU, Incofin Invest $4.2m in Equity in Ningxia Dongfang Huimin Microfinance of China to Boost Financial Inclusion for Rural Women

Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management and the government-owned Investment Fund for Developing Countries, which is known by its Danish acronym IFU, recently invested USD 2.1 million each in Ningxia Dongfang Huimin Microfinance Corporation Limited to further Huimin’s provision of financial services to female farmers in China’s Ningxia province. Incofin placed the investment through its agRIF fund

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Protecting Low-income Communities Through Climate Insurance,” by Will Bugler et al, Published by InsuResilience Investment Fund

Launched in 2015 and focused on developing countries, the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF) is dedicated to increasing access for low-income households as well as micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises to financial services that increase their resilience to climate change. The report focuses on IIF’s “achievements in facilitating adaptation of climate insurance to improve productivity and resilience of

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $25m to Aklease to Support Renewable Energy in Turkey

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private partnership also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently loaned USD 25 million to Aklease, a leasing subsidiary of Turkish bank Akbank, to be used for solar energy projects. Through this loan, Aklease aims to increase the “green” portion

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Singapore, Rwanda Implementing 1st Rollout of E-commerce Platform Proxtera; Promising SMEs International, Domestic Connections to Customers, Vendors, Logistics, Financial Services

Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently signed a deal to implement the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) platform Proxtera in Rwanda. As the successor to Business sans Borders, Proxtera

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Romanian Fintech Instant Factoring Raises $915k in Equity; Will Expand to Serbia, Boost Invoice Financing for SMEs in Romania

With a new capital injection of EUR 750,000 (USD 915,000) from its current shareholders, Instant Factoring, a Romania-based firm that buys businesses’ accounts receivable, will invest EUR 350,000 (USD 427,000) in expanding to Serbia. During 2021, it expects to buy invoices worth approximately EUR 5 million (USD 6.1 million)

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $6m to OTP Bank Albania to On-lend to SMEs, EU Offers Premiums for Hitting Goals

Országos Takarék Pénztár (OTP) Bank Albania, a member of the Hungary-based OTP Bank Group, recently borrowed EUR 5 million (USD 6.1 million) from the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Albania in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by upgrading

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Loans $50m to BRDE to Support MSMEs in Southern Brazil in Retaining Employees During Pandemic

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is owned by 48 member nations, recently issued a loan of USD 50 million, with a term of 15 years and a 5.5-year grace period, to Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul (BRDE), which is owned by three states in southern Brazil. BRDE will on-lend the funds through its Recupera Sul credit line product in an effort to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary goal is to help these firms to preserve employment in order to hasten economic recovery after the pandemic, decreasing the burden on social programs.

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Digital Cash Transfers for Stranded Migrants,” by Anit Mukherjee, Published by Center for Global Development

In light of efforts by government entities to assist internal migrants within India whose lives have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Mukherjee argues that “unlike countries such as Brazil or Pakistan, India does not have a unified beneficiary database or social registry that could be used to identify, target, register and pay those in need of assistance.” The bureaucracy of India’s social assistance programs, which are fragmented among

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FEI OGEF Loans $4m to Bboxx to Expand “Pulse” Electric Power Management, Pay-as-you-go Solar Energy in DRC

The Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (OGEF), a debt fund of the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), recently lent USD 4 million to Bboxx, a UK-based solar energy installation and financing firm that is active in Africa and Asia. The loan proceeds are slated to help Bboxx meet its agreement with

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Closes, Looking to Future of Financial Inclusion: Wooing Regulators, Women Leveraging Loans by Factor of 5, Investor Collaboration, New Customers for MFIs

Claudio European Microfinance PlatformGonzalez-Vega, a board member of Spain’s BBVA Microfinance Foundation, spoke of the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the closing plenary of European Microfinance Week, with life expectancy falling and an estimated 115 million people being pushed into extreme poverty. Despite the difficulties for microfinance institutions (MFIs), he said they may soon find a larger, very appropriate market for their services, given that many of these newly poor people have business experience. Dr Gonzalez-Vega argued that the “pandemic will make microfinance more important,” as – given MFIs’ “intimate knowledge of clients – the role of microfinance will be appreciated in a new light.”

Dina Pons of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management agreed that microfinance clients have gotten

SPECIAL REPORT: Financial Inclusion for Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) – Part 2: Regulatory Barriers, Segmenting Needs

(This European Microfinance Platformis the companion feature to an earlier piece on a European Microfinance Week conversation on serving refugees.)

Swati Mehta Dhawan of Germany’s Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt argued for building up legal frameworks to allow forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) to escape “infinite limbo” by accessing documentation for identification purposes, working legally and integrating with host populations. She offered the example of a person displaced to Kenya, who has been there for 15 years without being allowed to work. Hans-Martin Zademach, also of Catholic University, noted many are “stuck in survival mode,” more in need of a reliable income source than methods for managing money.

However, Ms Dhawan explained that FDPs’ needs for financial services often increase as years go by. A common trajectory is

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Gender Equity in Development Finance Survey,” by Nancy Lee et al, Published by Centre for Global Development

Based on a survey of 16 development finance institutions (DFIs), this document offers a baseline of the extent to which “institutions incorporate gender objectives or analysis when developing investments, assessing development effectiveness, sourcing deals, and making investment decisions.” In particular, the survey investigates:

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank-Genie, Cufa to Distribute BanqIn Digital Banking Platform to 23 Credit Unions in Rural Myanmar

Bank-Genie, a Singapore-based financial technology (fintech) firm, recently partnered with Cufa, an Australia-based NGO, to deploy Bank-Genie’s BanqIn platform in Cufa partner credit unions. The BanqIn platform will house the credit unions’ customer datasets,

SPECIAL REPORT: Strong Motivation to Save, “Extreme Resilience During Times of Crisis” Despite Microfinance Institutions’ “Smothering” Loan Offers Pre-pandemic

During European Microfinance Platformthe plenary titled “Creating an Environment for Effective and Inclusive Savings” on day two of European Microfinance Week, Stuart Rutherford of the Hrishipara Daily Diaries Project suggested thinking of savings as two separate services – collection and storage. While storage is primary for a person with regular paychecks deposited into a bank electronically, collection is critical for cash earners. This is why the service of a susu worker, who collects deposits frequently door-to-door and then returns “withdrawals” periodically, is so valuable that people are willing to pay fees for it.

Luis Treviño Garza of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion noted that savings is an “important factor for resilience, especially for vulnerable groups.” He added that “from the regulator’s perspective savings is really crucial… above credit.”

Mr Rutherford said that “all the diaries I’ve [collected in Bangladesh] show that poor people have a strong propensity to