The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology Foundation (LHoFT), a public-private partnership, is hosting the fifth iteration of its Catapult: Inclusion Africa event. The aim is to support financial inclusion in Africa through financial technology (fintech) by connecting 10 winning companies to “microfinance institutions, investors and industry experts….” To be eligible,
Category: Africa
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Strategies to Optimise MSME-centred Supply Chain Finance Solutions: A Study of Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria;” by Adebiyi Fajemisin, Anifat Ibrahim and Raliat Sunmonu; Published by Accion
This report describes how several supply chain finance (SCF) solutions were deployed with the intent of benefiting micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria. The authors deem these countries particularly “promising markets for MSME-led digital financial inclusion,” and they argue that SCF can provide
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $1m to VisionFund Senegal for Microfinance Lending
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation recently announced a local-currency loan worth the equivalent of EUR 1 million (USD 1 million) to VisionFund Senegal, which is controlled by the US-based, Christian nonprofit World Vision International. VisionFund Senegal provides
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
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Loans $3.1m to Microfinance Institution Baobab Burkina Faso
The unit of France-based Baobab Group that operates in Burkina Faso has accepted a local-currency loan equal to EUR 3.1 million (USD 3.1 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation. Baobab Group offers microbanking, solar-powered devices and tablets in eight African countries as well as China. Its outstanding loans total
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF Announces Funding, Guarantees, Technical Assistance for Enterprises Reducing Environmental Impacts of Agriculture, Energy, Forestry in DRC
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently launched two new funding instruments to provide financial and technical assistance for enterprises that help address deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 95 percent of households rely on wood for cooking. One instrument, Investments Aimed at Quantifiably Reducing the Consumption of Wood Energy in DRC, offers technical assistance and grants valued at
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Global Findex Database: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19;” by Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar
This report presents findings from a World Bank survey of approximately 125,000 adults in 123 emerging markets regarding financial inclusion. The survey was conducted during 2021 and follows analogous surveys performed in 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Account ownership among respondents in all regions has been growing rapidly, from 51 percent in 2011 to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Lending $124m to Absa to Increase Access to Housing in South Africa
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently agreed to loan Absa Group Limited up to ZAR 2 billion (USD 124 million) to increase access to housing loans for “thousands” of low- and middle-income families in South Africa. In addition to its home country of South Africa,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Patrick Gold Microfinance Launches Digital Banking Platforms GetriPay, GetriSave in Nigeria
Patrick Gold Microfinance Bank, a Nigerian financial institution, recently launched the GetriPay and GetriSave digital banking platforms. GetriSave allows users to earn up to 13 percent interest on savings plus monthly loyalty rewards. GetriPay offers: (1) no-cost withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATMs), including an unlimited number of such transactions from Zenith Bank ATMs; (2)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lending $2.7m to Africa Negoce Industries, Buyer of Cashews from Smallholder Farmers in Benin
The Dutch cooperative lender Oikocredit recently granted a line of credit with a cap of EUR 2.7 million (USD 2.7 million) to Africa Negoce Industries (ANI) a trader and processor of almonds, cashews and coal in Benin. ANI plans to use the credit to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC, Citibank Invest $300m in Access Bank for SME Financing in Nigeria
The US government’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently deployed USD 280 million in favor of Nigeria’s Access Bank to support about 4,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on women-owned and “climate-change focused” businesses. US-based Citibank is
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: Airtel Africa Establishes Smartcash Payment Service Bank to Offer Payments, Remittances, Deposit to Individuals, Enterprises in Nigeria
Airtel Africa, a UK-based mobile money company active in Africa, recently launched Smartcash Payment Service Bank (PSB), to expand the range of financial services it offers in Nigeria. The move follows Airtel Africa having received a “super-agent” licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, enabling the company to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: I&M Bank of Kenya Secures $15m Guarantee from FMO to Support MSME Growth
Investment and Mortgages (I&M) Bank, a subsidiary of Kenya-based I&M Group, recently signed an agreement with Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, whereby FMO will deploy a guarantee from its Nasira risk sharing facility to encourage USD 15 million in lending by I&M Bank to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ElectriFI, Oikocredit Invest $8m in Equity in Solar Panda to Expand Electricity Access for Off-Grid Communities in Kenya
The government-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI) and Dutch cooperative investor Oikocredit recently announced equity investments in Solar Panda, a Canada-based provider of solar technology to households in Kenya. The goal of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BII Lending $20m to Moove, Financier of Ride-hailing, Delivery Vehicles in Africa
British International Investment (BII), the UK government’s development finance institution, recently announced a four-year structured debt package of USD 20 million for Moove, a Nigeria-based financial technology (fintech) firm that helps drivers in Africa acquire motorcycles, cars and trucks to work for passenger and delivery driving services. Moove plans to use the proceeds to buy fuel-efficient cars for drivers in Nigeria to acquire through payments made over periods of up to four years. Moove’s vehicle financing packages include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Supporting Technical Assistance for Banque Misr on Financial Inclusion for SMEs, Post-COVID Growth in Egypt
Banque Misr, a financial institution owned by the government of Egypt, recently agreed to work with the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) on technical assistance efforts to: (1) enhance Banque Misr’s risk management and company-wide best practices regarding lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and (2) create new financial services through which Banque Misr can support
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