by Kenny Kline -

KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: AfriCap Microfinance Fund

Overview:
The AfriCap Microfinance Fund (AfriCap) is private equity fund that invests in microfinance related organizations that are committed to commercial viability.

Description:
AfriCap uses equity and quasi equity instruments with an aggregate exposure of $1.5 million per investment, with equity stakes ranging from 15 to 30 percent. AfriCap also offers a Technology Assistance Package through the AfriCap managed grant fund. AfriCap invests in a range of financial services companies, including micro-insurance, low-income housing, micro-leasing and money transfers.

by Laura Anderson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: European Investment Bank (EIB), Gates Foundation, and Dutch Development Agency to Provide Technical Assistance Grants to AfriCap Microfinance Fund and FinTech Africa

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it is providing a EUR 2 million (USD 2.6 million) grant to support the AfriCap Microfinance Fund through FinTech Africa, to fund capacity building for early-stage and greenfield microfinance institutions across Africa.  In addition to the EIB grant, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute a USD 5 million grant to FinTech Africa, the non-profit organization that manages AfriCap’s technical services facility, and the Dutch development agency, FMO, will provide a USD 0.75 million grant.

by Anthony Busch -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: AfriCap Microfinance Fund (AfriCap) of Mauritius Makes a $1.1m Equity Investment in Société de Financement de la Petite Entreprise (SOFIPE) of Burkina Faso

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reports in its list of recent transactions that AfriCap Microfinance Fund (AfriCap) made a USD 1.1 million equity investment in the newly established Société de Financement de la Petite Entreprise (SOFIPE), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Burkina Faso, on March 1st, 2008.

by Mary Fu -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: ACCION Gateway Microfinance Investment Vehicles Fund (GMIV) Invests in Lok Capital, AfriCap

ACCION International’s Gateway Microfinance Investment Vehicles Fund (GMIV) invested in Lok Capital, raising its total resources from USD 12 million to USD 14.5 million, and participated in the recapitalization of AfriCap Microfinance Investment Company, helping raise its total capital from USD 14 million to USD 50 million in its second round of investment.

by Elizabeth Nelson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: AfriCap Microfinance Fund Attracts Notable Investors Including Nordic MicroCap, BlueOrchard and Gray Ghost, Raises Capital to $50m

AfriCap Microfinance Fund, established in 2001 as the first African private equity fund dedicated to the microfinance industry, has closed a second round of investment, raising its capital from USD 14 million (Sh 910 million) to USD 50 million (Sh 3.25 billion). The Mauritius-based firm also announced that it has transformed into a private equity investment company and changed its name to AfriCap Microfinance Investment Company.

by the MicroCapital Team -

With $1 million Microfinance Investment from Africap Microfinance Fund, Union Trust Bank Becomes First Commercial Bank in Sierra Leone to Offer Microfinance Services

Thanks to a substantial investment from The Africap Microfinance Fund, The Union Trust Bank (UTB) will be launching a new microfinance unit this month, making it the first commercial bank in the country to initiate microfinance activities. The $1 million investment consisted of Subscription Redeemable Preference Shares. UTB will also be receiving more than $300,000 in technical assistance. UTB is the first indigenous bank in Sierra Leone. No further information regarding its financial performance is publicly available.

Continue reading “With $1 million Microfinance Investment from Africap Microfinance Fund, Union Trust Bank Becomes First Commercial Bank in Sierra Leone to Offer Microfinance Services”

by the MicroCapital Team -

A Successful Exit for Microfinance Investment: AfriCap Sells Stake in First Allied Savings and Loan of Ghana

Africap recently sold its stake in First Allied Savings and Loans (FASL) of Ghana to a strategic investor. The sale resulted in a 25% Internal Rate of Return on the original investment of $550,000 made in April 2004 for a 33% stake in FASL.
Continue reading “A Successful Exit for Microfinance Investment: AfriCap Sells Stake in First Allied Savings and Loan of Ghana”

by the MicroCapital Team -

AfriCap Microcredit Fund Makes Equity Microfinance Investment Worth Over $600,000 in Micro-lender Socremo in Mozambique

Micro-lender Socremo, Mozambique, has sold shares worth $620,000 to AfriCap Microfinance Fund (AfriCap). Socremo, established in 1998, is one of the largest microfinance providers in Mozambique with a gross loan portfolio of $4.2 million, total assets of $5.4 million, close to 6,000 borrowers, and 420 active savers, as reported in December, 2004. Socremo also reported total equity at $1.9 million, return on assets (ROA) as 1.8%, return on equity (ROE) as 5.0%, a debt to equity ratio of 185%, and a 10% profit margin at the end of 2004.

AfriCap, which was incorporated in Mauritius in 2001, with an operational base in Dakar, Senegal, is a $15 million equity investment fund dedicated to the microfinance industry in Africa. The fund is designed to provide venture capital and active governance to a select number of emerging African microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are committed to commercial viability. As of July 2004, AfriCap reported total fund assets of $13.3 million and funds allocated to microfinance investments of $3.2 million. Additional Resources1) “AfriCap Microfinance Fund”

2) MIX Market: “AfriCap.”

3) Microcapital Blog, Dutch Triodos Family of Funds (Triodos-Doen, Triodos Private Fair Share, Hivos-Triodos) Makes Microfinance Investments Worth Over $6.7 Million in Loans to Seven Microcredit Institutions Worldwide, December 9, 2005

4) MIX Market: “SOCREMO – Banco de Microfinan̤as de Mo̤ambique.”

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $1.2m to DR Congo’s Hekima; Burkina Faso’s SOFIPE, ACFIME

The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed three-year loans to three microfinance institutions in Africa.

Hekima of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) borrowed USD 530,000 from GCAF. As of 2015, Hekima reports to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 3.6 million, loans of USD 2.3 million outstanding to 10,000 borrowers, and deposits of 890,000 held for 12,000 clients. The MFI’s mission includes “contributing to the economic, social and spiritual lives” of DRC’s people.

The Société de Financement de la Petite Entreprise (SOFIPE) of Burkina Faso borrowed the local-currency equivalent of

by Phoebe Rorke -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Young Africa Works Summit; February 16 – 17, 2017; Kigali, Rwanda

Event Name: Young Africa Works Summit

Event Date: February 16 – February 17, 2017

Event Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Summary of Event: This second iteration of this event will convene young agricultural entrepreneurs with leaders of NGOs and government agencies to address how young people

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Women Microfinance Clients Often Save More, Are More Loyal to Lenders

At today’s session on gender at European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg, panelists eschewed the idea that lenders have a moral obligation to serve a greater proportion of women. Instead, Anne-Marie Chidzero of South Africa and Anna Gincherman of the US-based Women’s World Banking (WWB) network both argued strenuously that lenders are leaving money on the table by failing to reach out to women.

by Matthew Fox -

MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Hosts “Understanding Failures in Microfinance” in Washington, DC on September 22, 2010

Event Name: Understanding Failures in Microfinance

Event Date: September 22, 2010

Event Location: Center for Financial Inclusion, Washington, DC, USA

by Kenny Kline -

KNOW A MICROFINANCE FUND: Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF)), Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P), Gray Ghost Fund, Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund

The following microfinance investment funds are profiled in this brief:

Fonds International de Garantie (FIG) (International Guarantee Fund (IGF))

https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Fonds+International+de+Garantie+%28FIG%29+%28International+Guarantee+Fund+%28IGF%29%29

Investisseur et Partenaire pour le Développement (I&P)

https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Investisseur+et+Partenaire+pour+le+Développement+%28I

Gray Ghost Fund

https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Gray+Ghost+Fund

Incofin Impulse Microfinance Fund

https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Incofin+Impulse+Microfinance+Fund

by Kenny Kline -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)

The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) is a strategic partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and provides professional assistance and technical support for these institutions. NMI’s investors have committed NOK 600 million (USD 100 million) for investment. There is an equal amount of public and private investment in the NMI. [1] Investors include Norfund (a development finance institution owned by the Government of Norway) and four private sector partners: Ferd, KLP, DnB NOR, and Storebrand.

by Jaclyn Berfond -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Gives USD 20m to World Bank to Establish Agriculture Finance Support Facility

The World Bank Group has announced the establishment of an Agriculture Finance Support Facility to support the expansion of rural finance in developing countries. The Facility is made possible by a USD 20 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through their Financial Services for the Poor program.