Opportunity EduFinance, an affiliate of the US-based NGO Opportunity International, recently brought on seven new financial services provider (FSP) partners, with whom it plans to invest in affordable private education in India, Nigeria and Rwanda. Although the FSPs have not been identified publicly, they are expected to
Tag: Rwanda
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LOLC Buys 28% Equity Stake in Unguka Bank, Provider of Microfinance in Rwanda, from Incofin
Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) Holdings, a Sri Lankan unit of the Japanese conglomerate Orix, recently paid an undisclosed sum to Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management to acquire 28 percent of the shares of Rwanda’s Unguka Bank. Unguka provides deposit, lending and other services to individuals as well as micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The bank has 15 service locations in the capital and three provinces. It serves 1,700 clients with total assets of USD 29 million. Unguka received its license from the National Bank of Rwanda in 2005.
Geert Peetermans, Co-CEO of Incofin commented: “From the time we
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: I&M Bank Enables Spenn Mobile App Users to Send Money to Financial Institutions Across Rwanda
Norway’s Spenn Technology recently expanded its partnership with the Rwandan unit of Kenya’s Investments & Mortgages (I&M) Bank to allow users of the Spenn mobile application to send money to any financial services provider in Rwanda, including banks and competing mobile money services. The app’s other features include
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance Technology Summit; March 28-29, 2023; Kigali, Rwanda
This event will promote networking among representatives of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and technology firms to leverage innovations that improve
SPECIAL REPORT: Enabling Microinsurance via Technology: RFID Tags Slash Fraud, Costs of Livestock Cover in Rwanda
At a well-attended workshop today at European Microfinance Week, Ovia Tuhairwe, the CEO of Radiant Yacu Microinsurance, described her firm’s journey to develop a viable product to insure livestock in Rwanda. On its own, a subsidy of 40 percent from the Rwandan government did not make it easy to insure cattle, pigs and chickens in the country. Before Radiant Yacu moved to its current model in 2019, fraud was rampant, and costs were high at 10 percent of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Leveraging Digital ID and e-KYC for the Financial Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced Persons: Risks and Opportunities;” Published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion
The authors of this paper discuss the use of electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) procedures and digital forms of identification (ID) to support financial inclusion for forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) in Eswatini, Mauritania and Rwanda.
In Eswatini, refugees and asylum-seekers may apply for refugee ID cards and non-Swazi ID cards, respectively. After acquiring IDs, individuals may access
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Resilient and Inclusive Financial Services Delivery During COVID-19,” Published by Toronto Centre
This paper examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial services by focusing specifically on financial inclusion in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zambia. The study explores changes in the “face-to-face (F2F) delivery of financial services” to groups traditionally underserved by the financial system, including “women, youths, small and medium enterprises, smallholder farmers and rural households.” The authors collected data via
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chipper Cash Raises $100m in Equity to Expand Cryptocurrency, Peer-to-Peer Services, Distribution of Payment Cards in Africa, UK
Chipper Cash, a US-based financial technology (fintech) firm active in Africa, recently raised USD 100 million in a Series C round of funding that it plans to use to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ascent Rift Valley Fund II Raises $100m from Public, Private Investors for SMEs in East Africa
Kenya-based private equity firm Ascent Capital Africa recently secured USD 100 million at the first rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II), surpassing the firm’s initial goal of USD 80 million. The funds will be invested in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in East Africa, targeting
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: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $1.5m to ACEP Niger, VisionFund Rwanda, LAPO of Sierra Leone
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation has issued local-currency loans to three microfinance institutions (MFIs), approximately equivalent to the following amounts: USD 550,000 to ACEP Niger, an affiliate of the Agency for Private Enterprise Credit (ACEP) International; USD 540,000 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Entwicklungsbank Invest $5.4m in AccessBank Rwanda
The Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), a Dutch development bank that aims to promote growth in the economies of developing countries; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group that offers assistance to private companies with the goal of alleviating poverty in developing countries; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned German development bank, have invested RWF 3.5 billion (USD 5.4 million) in AccessBank Rwanda (ABR), the eighth member of Access Microfinance Holding AG (AccessHolding), a German company that invests in microfinance institutions [1].