MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OPEC Fund Donating $1m to UNCDF to Boost Energy Access, Reduce Emissions, Starting in Madagascar, Tanzania

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development recently granted USD 1 million to the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to co-finance clean cooking, energy access and renewable energy through the Climate Finance and Energy Innovation Hub (CFEIH). CFEIH was created in 2022 by the OPEC Fund, UNCDF and the Austria-based

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC), Habitat for Humanity Partner to Bolster Housing Microfinance 

The Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) recently signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based NGO Habitat for Humanity International to “support lower-income Tanzanians and those working in the informal sector to more easily purchase, build or upgrade their homes.” With technical assistance from Habitat for Humanity, TMRC will perform a market study and design housing microfinance products that

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Business Case for Linkage With Informal Savings;” by Constantin Albot, Stephen Peachey; Published by MasterCard Foundation, Oxford Policy Management

This report describes Savings at the Frontier (SatF), a partnership between Canadian NGO MasterCard Foundation and UK-based consultancy Oxford Policy Management, that provided USD 17.6 million in technical assistance and direct funding to establish relationships between formal financial service providers (FSPs) and informal savings mechanisms (ISMs). The program ran from 2015 to 2022, engaging 10 FSPs in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loans $105m to CRDB Bank to Increase Funding for MSMEs – Especially Women-owned Enterprises – in Tanzania, Burundi

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently announced a loan equivalent to USD 100 million – half in local currency – to Tanzania-based Cooperative Rural and Development Bank (CRDB Bank) and a loan of USD 5 million to CRDB Bank Burundi. The goal of the loans to these two members of the CRDB Bank Group, whose head office is in Tanzania, is to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC, USAID, African Union’s AUDA-NEPAD Partner to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria

The US Agency for International Development (AID) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently joined with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to provide loan guarantees to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria. The goals of the partnership are to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) Sells $3.8m in Bonds to Boost Access to Home Ownership

The Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC), an institution that refinances the portfolios of housing lenders, recently completed an issue of corporate bonds on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. The bond listing had a target of

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: Switzerland Capacity Building Facility (SCBF) to Support Hapa Cash of Kuunda, Expanding Liquidity for FINCA, M-Pesa Agents in Tanzania

The government-funded Switzerland Capacity Building Facility (SCBF) recently agreed to disburse an unspecified amount of grant funds to Kuunda Digital, a financial services provider based in Mauritius, to help expand its Hapa Cash product, which supplies

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: CGAP: “Building Inclusive Payment Ecosystems in Tanzania and Ghana;” by Max Mattern, Claudia McKay

This is a summary of a paper by Max Mattern and Claudia McKay, published by CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), June 2018, 35 pages, available at:
http://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Focus-Note-Building-Inclusive-Payment-Ecosystems-June-2018.pdf

This report addresses how advances in technology over the past

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unit Trust of Tanzania (UTT) to Split into UTT Microfinance, UTT Asset Management and Investor Service (UTT AMIS), UTT Project and Infrastructure Development (UTT PID)

Unit Trust of Tanzania (UTT), a government-owned trust fund established in 2003, reportedly has decided to split into three separate firms: UTT Microfinance, UTT Asset Management and Investor Service (UTT AMIS) and UTT Project and Infrastructure Development (UTT PID) [1].