MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Disburses $10m to Microfinance Institutions for On-lending in Indonesia, Myanmar

The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently announced it has disbursed loans in local currency to three microfinance institutions (MFIs) active in Indonesia and Myanmar. GCA Foundation loaned the

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: City Express Markets, Money King Platform Receive Remittance Licenses from Central Bank of Myanmar

The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) recently granted licenses to City Express Myanmar and Money King that allow them to perform international money transfers. The service is intended only for people from Myanmar who work in other countries

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MB Investment, NSP Asia Launch Myanmar Credit Bureau

MB Investment Limited, an entity created in 2015 by the Myanmar Banks Association, and NSP Asia Investment Holding, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Credit Bureau Asia (CBA), recently launched the Myanmar Credit Bureau (MMCB). While the firm has begun by serving only banks, it plans to bring on microfinance institutions and

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,

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Easy Microfinance of Myanmar Offering Digital Loan Payments, Agent Services via Ongo

Easy Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, recently began offering two repayment channels powered by Ongo, a digital payment service provider in the country. This allows the MFI’s borrowers to make loan repayments through the Ongo app and at Ongo agent locations. This development comes amid increased demand for

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $15m to PGMF of Myanmar for Microcredit, COVID-19 Relief

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a public-private partnership also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a five-year loan of USD 15 million to Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF), a microfinance institution in Myanmar. The goal is to support microenterprises facing escalating income inequality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization’s “commitment to invest in business with women

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Maha Agriculture Borrows $6m from FMO for Digital Microfinance in Myanmar

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan of USD 6 million to Myanmar-based microfinance institution (MFI) Maha Agriculture Public Company Limited to be on-lent as microloans in rural Myanmar. The goal of the loan is to support small-scale farmers

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Proximity Finance Raises $14m in Equity from Finnfund, Nordic Microfinance Initiative, Proparco to Support Farmers in Myanmar

Proximity Finance, a unit of Myanmar-focused social enterprise Proximity Designs, recently agreed to a package of equity investments totaling USD 14 million in equal shares from three European institutional investors, Proparco (Promotion et Participation pour la Coopération Économique), the Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) and Finnfund. The deal, which is pending regulatory approval, would support Proximity Finance’s services to small-scale, rural farmers in Myanmar, including plans to disburse 1.5 million loans within four years and expand

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wave Money – Joint Venture of Telenor, Yoma – Raises $74m in Equity from Ant Financial for Mobile Money in Myanmar

Ant Financial Services Group, a member of the China-based Alibaba Group that operates the online payment service Alipay, recently agreed to invest USD 73.5 million in Wave Money, a joint venture of the Telenor Group and the Yoma Group that provides digital financial services in Myanmar. Ant Financial will take a “substantial minority stake” in Wave Money, which seeks

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand-based Thitikorn Buying Microfinance Institution Myanmar Financial International Limited (MFIL)

Thai vehicle-finance firm Thitikorn recently secured agreement from the shareholders of Myanmar Financial International Limited (MFIL), a microfinance provider in Myanmar, to buy the company for no less than two times its audited book value.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest In Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Refinances Alliance Myanmar with $3m Loan for Rural Microfinance

Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV) recently disbursed a loan of USD 3 million from its fund IIV Mikrofinanzfonds to Alliance Myanmar, a microfinance institution in Myanmar. Alliance Myanmar is using the funds to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.8m to Proximity, Chamroeun for Microfinance in Myanmar, Cambodia

The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently issued the following loans: (1) MMK 3 billion (USD 2 million) to Proximity Designs, a US-registered NGO that operates exclusively in Myanmar; and (2) USD 1.8 million to Chamroeun of Cambodia to help

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hayman Microfinance, Ongo Launch Digital Loan Repayment Service in Myanmar

Hayman Capital (Microfinance) Company Limited, a licensed deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, recently partnered with Ongo, a local digital payment service provider, to launch an electronic loan repayment system for its 110,000 customers, of whom 70 percent reside in rural areas and 77 percent are women. The service allows clients to repay their loans via

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hayman Microfinance of Myanmar Borrows $14m from AGD Bank, BlueOrchard Finance, Maybank, Symbiotics

Hayman Capital (Microfinance) Company Limited, a licensed deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, recently received loans totaling USD 13.75 million to support microlending in the Ayeyarwaddy, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Sagaing and Yangon regions. The MFI is a fully owned subsidiary of Hayman Capital Private Limited, a Singapore-based investment and financial holding group.

The first of Hayman Microfinance’s loans was a 3-year contract of

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $2.4m to Vision Fund Myanmar, Phare Performing Social Enterprise of Cambodia

The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently issued loans of EUR 1.8 million (USD 2.0 million) to VisionFund Myanmar, a member of VisionFund International, and the equivalent of USD 367,000 to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MCE Social Capital Funding $3.3m Loan from Yoma Bank to Proximity Finance for Microfinance in Myanmar

Myanmar-based Yoma Bank recently agreed to lend MMK 5 billion (USD 3.32 million) to Proximity Finance, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in Myanmar. MCE Social Capital, a US-based NGO, is funding

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution VisionFund, UK Department for International Development (DFID) to Expand Mobile Banking in Rural Myanmar

VisionFund Myanmar, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating within the nonprofit VisionFund International, is partnering with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) on a USD 1.7 million project to expand mobile banking in Myanmar. The effort is intended to provide

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Majuven, Bod Tech Ventures Invest Equity in Motorbike, Payroll Lender Daung Capital of Myanmar

Singapore-based venture capital firms Majuven and Bod Tech Ventures recently invested unspecified amounts of equity in Myanmar-based financial technology (fintech) lender Daung Capital as part of its Series A funding round, valuing the company at SGD 16.5 million (USD 12 million). Founded in 2018, Daung Capital lends to