Swedfund, the Swedish government’s development finance institution, recently pledged an investment of USD 12 million to the Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which was launched by SunFunder, a Kenya-based financier of solar energy firms in developing countries. SET is a nine-year, USD 70 million debt fund that aims
Category: Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Retail Capital Raises $6.8m for Merchant Cash Advances to SMEs in South Africa
Retail Capital, a provider of cash advances and asset financing to small businesses in South Africa, recently signed on to a credit line of ZAR 110 million (USD 6.8 million) arranged from an unspecified international investor by Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm. Verdant Capital reports that, since the COVID-19 pandemic, about 90 percent of Retail Capital’s clients have been authorized to
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Never Waste a Crisis: How Sub-Saharan African Insurers Are Being Affected by, and Are Responding to, COVID-19;” by Lucia Schlemmer, Kate Rinehart-Smit, Jeremy Gray
This paper analyzes the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the insurance market in sub-Saharan Africa and the effectiveness of the responses of insurers, brokers and regulators. The authors conducted 32 interviews with representatives of insurers, insurance technology (insurtech) firms, reinsurers, and insurance and broker associations across 18 markets in the region to assess: (1) the impact that the pandemic has had on insurers’ daily internal operations; (2) the impacts on new product development and how the insured move through current processes; (3) the impact on insurers’ and customers’ finances; and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank of Ethiopia Permitting MFIs to Transform into Banks, Banks to Borrow from Foreign Financial Institutions
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the country’s central bank, recently announced it has passed directives allowing the following: (1) microfinance institutions to transform into banks; and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MoneyGram International, Airtel Africa to Offer Mobile Remittances
MoneyGram International, a US-based money-transfer company serving 200 countries, is partnering with Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of India-based telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel, to allow 19 million users of the Airtel Money service in 12 countries to receive MoneyGram remittances directly into their mobile wallets. These funds then can be withdrawn at Airtel Africa service locations
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DMA, UNCDF to Connect Farmers in Tanzania with Agricultural Inputs, Buyers, Digital Financial Services
Through a performance-based contract, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is funding Tanzania-based Digital Mobile Africa (DMA), to offer farmers in the Kigoma region of Tanzania online access to agricultural input retailers, crop buyers and financial services providers. DMA’s online portal is integrated with multiple mobile network operators (MNOs) and offers financial services under the license of the Tanzanian Postal Bank. These financial services include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $3.5m for Microfinance, SMEs Via ACEP Burkina Faso
The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which also is known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently disbursed a loan of EUR 3 million (USD 3.5 million) to Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) Burkina Faso to support its lending to microenterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). FMO sourced the funding from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Loans $50m to Diamond Trust Bank Kenya to Support SMEs Challenged by COVID-19
To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, recently issued a loan of USD 50 million to Nairobi-based Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB Kenya). The targeted sectors include
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Lends $47m to CaixaBank to Support SMEs in Morocco Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
CaixaBank, a Spanish retail bank, recently accepted a loan of approximately MAD 430 million (USD 46.8 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution that has been investing in Morocco since 2012. CaixaBank is to use the funding to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIO Investing $1.5m in FINCA Malawi for Microfinance, SME Lending
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, a government-backed institution also known as BIO, recently began disbursing funds as part of a four-year loan of USD 1.5 million to FINCA Malawi, a microfinance institution (MFI) owned by the US-based firm FINCA Impact Finance. The microbank will use the funds for on-lending via its 23 branches and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: As Bank of Ghana Intervenes Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Concerns of Failure, Profiteering Among Microfinance Institutions
The Bank of Ghana, the central bank of the country, recently introduced a series of measures to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on microfinance institutions (MFIs). Many MFIs are struggling with liquidity for various reasons including that many have granted their borrowers repayment moratoria of up to 6 months. Citing a recent report from the Bank of Ghana, Samuel Darko, a local researcher, warns that a “liquidity stress-test conducted for the sub-sector shows minimal survival rate for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AXA, FMO, Mirova, Novastar Funds Invest $28m in Equity in Komaza Group for Tree Planting by Rural Farmers in Africa
Four investors recently agreed to place equity totaling USD 28 million in the Komaza Group, a Kenya-based forestry company. Komaza plans to harness the funding to continue its work with smallholder farmers in Africa to use their idle land for growing trees.
Tevis Howard, Komaza’s Founder and CEO explains, “At Komaza, our vision is to become Africa’s largest forestry company, by partnering with farmers to provide a sustainable and hyper-scalable domestic supply of wood. As a result, farmers get a climate-resilient, zero-risk, source of wealth creation for their families, and investors get commercial returns, all while
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAURIE Microfinance of Senegal Borrows $1.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, Mostly for Rural Women
Coopérative Autonome pour le Renforcement des Initiatives Économiques par la Micro finance (CAURIE-MF), a microfinance institution in Senegal, recently borrowed the approximate equivalent of USD 1.4 million from the Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg. Based in the city of Thies, CAURIE-MF serves about 80,000 women, including 48,000
SPECIAL REPORT: Stakeholders Fearful, But with Tentative Hope Too in e-MFP’s Just-published “COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass”
The
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) has published the COVID-19 Financial Inclusion Compass, a special edition of the Compass series specifically focused on the current challenges, medium-term priorities, concerns, opportunities and forecasts for a sector facing probably the greatest crisis in its modern history.
The world – the financial inclusion sector included – is in the midst of twin crises: (1) a novel and highly contagious virus with no vaccine or cure that shows no signs of abating; and (2) a genuinely global recession as a result of the unavoidable containment measures put in place. The situation is uncertain and dynamic. Six months from now, the landscape will
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: Refugee Youth from South Sudan Build Skills to Benefit from Microfinance Lending in Uganda: Agricultural, Financial, Social
This 3-minute video shows how ICCO Cooperation, War Child and ZOA are partnering to help youth “improve their social and economic wellbeing through psychosocial and livelihoods support in Africa’s biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi.”
This post is part of a monthly series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Orange, NSIA Establish Orange Bank Africa in Côte d’Ivoire, Offering Mobile Banking Services, Eyeing Expansion in West Africa
France-based telecommunications company Orange recently partnered with NSIA Group, a firm in Côte d’Ivoire that specializes in bancassurance, to establish Orange Bank Africa in the city of Abidjan. Orange Bank Africa offers both microcredit and savings services through mobile phones via the Orange Money service. The minimum loan size is XOF 5,000 (USD 9), and the minimum deposit transaction is XOF 1,000 (USD 2). Savings balances up to XOF 10 million (USD 18,000) earn an annualized interest of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Most Refugee, Host Savings Groups in 2 Uganda Districts Continue Meeting, Saving Despite Loss of Income Due to Pandemic
VisionFund Uganda, a microfinance institution (MFI) subsidiary of VisionFund International, recently conducted a survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on refugee and host-community savings groups. The 417 respondents are members of savings groups in the Yumbe and Obongi districts of Uganda, to which many refugees from South Sudan have relocated. The results are divided into
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “COVID-19 Crisis Through a Migration Lens,” by Dilip Ratha et al, published by World Bank Group
This paper explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on past and potential future trends in international economic migration and remittances. The first section focuses on the general impact of the pandemic, considering topics such as changes in the earnings of migrant workers, declines in remittance flows and policy responses. The second section delves into the cost of remittances and migration patterns in six regions: