MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Austrian Development Bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) to Invest $18.75m in European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)

Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Austria’s official development bank, recently pledged an investment of EUR 15.0 million (USD 18.75 million) to the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) based in Luxembourg.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Venture Capital Company Advans SA Wins $4m in Grants From Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Part for Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire

Advans SA SICAR (Advans SA), a venture capital company specializing in microfinance and managed by Horus Development Finance of France, recently announced the signature of grant agreements with Agence Française de Développement (AFD), a public bilateral development finance institution, and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), the development bank of Austria, worth a total of EUR 3.1 million (USD 4.4 million) [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Receives First $10m Tranche of $20m Loan From Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB)

AccessBank, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Azerbaijan, has received the first tranche of USD 10 million as part of a USD 20 million syndicated loan from Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote developing economies, and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), the development bank of Austria. The three-year syndicated loan was organized by FMO with participation from OeEB, with each institution contributing USD 10 million. The loan will be directed to financing micro- and small businesses in Azerbaijan.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OoEB, BNP Paribas, SPF, SPOV, vdk Invest $76m in Incofin’s agRIF Fund for Smallholder Farmers, Other Rural Entrepreneurs

A group of investors recently committed to loan a total of USD 76 million to agRIF, the successor to the first and second Rural Investment Funds (RIF I and RIF II) of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management. Launched in 2015, agRIF is intended to generate market-rate returns from investments in small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises as well as funders of small-scale farmers and rural micro- and small enterprises.

The first-time investors in agRIF include the Austrian government’s development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), which loaned the fund

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mowgli Mentoring to Engage Syrian Refugees in Jordan with Support from OeEB via Sanad

UK-based NGO Mowgli Mentoring recently secured funding from the Sanad Technical Assistance Facility, which is affiliated with the Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), to engage 15 Jordanian businesspeople in mentoring a like number of Syrian refugees looking to make their Amman-based businesses

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) Invests $11m in Sanad Fund for MSME for Lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Middle East, North Africa

Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), the development bank of Austria, has invested EUR 10 million (USD 10.7 million) in Sanad Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership that provides medium- and long-term debt and equity financing in the Middle East and North Africa.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) Syndicates $30m Loan to Microfinance Institution FINCA Azerbaijan Including $15m From Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB)

FINCA Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan-based subsidiary of the US-based nonprofit microfinance network Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) recently received a multi-currency, syndicated loan worth USD 30 million from the Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, with the participation of Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), the development bank of the Austrian government. Each institution will invest the equivalent of USD 15 million, and additional commitments totalling USD 10 million are expected from various international commercial investors and asset managers. The loan facility has a term of five years and the equivalent of USD 15 million of the principal is denominated in local currency [1]. 

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) to Invest $10m in Inecobank to Develop Small and Medium Enterprises in Armenia

Armenian microfinance bank Inecobank is set to receive a loan of USD 10 million through a joint agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and Austrian development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) in an effort to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Armenia.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Microfinance Investment Fund Based in Luxembourg, Signs its Largest Loan Agreement to Date, a $33m Senior Loan to Banca Intesa, Commercial Bank in Serbia, to be On-lent to Micro- and Small Enterprises (MSEs)

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund based in Luxembourg, has signed its largest loan agreement to date, a EUR 25 million senior loan, the equivalent of over USD 33.5 million, to Banca Intesa, a commercial bank in Serbia, which will be on-lent to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Austrian Development Bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank Makes $56m Equity Investment in Microfinance Investor European Fund for Southeast Europe

A new player to microfinance investment, Austria’s recently established development bank OeEB (Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank) announced it will invest EUR 33 million (USD 56 million) of equity capital in Luxembourg-based EFSE (European Fund for Southeast Europe). EFSE reports that the Austrian bank will invest in all three levels of risk offered by the fund, including A-Shares (senior capital), B-Shares (mezzanine capital) and C-Shares (first-loss). OeEB is the first EFSE investor with funds allocated to all of its risk levels.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Invests $6m in Peer-to-peer Lender Amartha from Inclusive Finance Fund, Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to Increase Group Lending to Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Indonesia

Amartha, a firm offering peer-to-peer lending and other services in Indonesia, recently gained access to USD 6 million in debt financing from the Belgian impact investing firm Incofin Investment Management in an attempt to boost access to financial services for women entrepreneurs in rural Indonesia. Two thirds of the total invested comes from the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), and the remainder is sourced from

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands’ FMO Arranges $68m Syndicated Loan for Lebanon’s LGB Bank, with Participation from OFID, OeEB

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently arranged a syndicated loan in the amount of USD 67.5 million for the Beirut-based Lebanon and Gulf Bank (LGB Bank) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon. The

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Completes $153m Syndicated Loan to Sri Lanka’s Commercial Leasing & Finance (CLC)

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently served as lead arranger and facility agent to finalize a USD 153 million senior secured syndicated loan for Sri Lanka’s Commercial Leasing & Finance (CLC).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) Syndicates $70m in Loans to BRAC for Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises with Participation from OFID, OeEB, BIO, Actiam, responsAbility

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership that aims to promote growth in developing economies, recently disbursed a USD 70 million five-year syndicated loan to BRAC, an NGO that was formerly known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and serves eleven countries as of 2015.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $4m to Advans Côte d’Ivoire for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, has announced that it will loan CFA 2 billion (USD 4.3 million) to Advans Côte d’Ivoire, a bank that was founded in 2012 to provide savings and lending services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda Receives $514k from Development Bank of Austria, “Partnership for Financial Inclusion” of International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation

The Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Rwanda, will receive a donation of USD 514,000 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Austria’s development bank, to support the provision of financial services – including mobile services – particularly to women and small-scale enterprises [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AccessBank of Azerbaijan Receives $60m Syndicated Loan from FMO, OeEb, PROPARCO

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), a Dutch development finance institution, recently notified MicroCapital that it has arranged a USD 60 million syndicated loan facility for AccessBank, a for-profit microfinance institution located in Azerbaijan.