Ecobank, a Togo-based provider of banking services in 36 countries, is rolling out a pilot program with Switzerland-based NGO Terre des Hommes to deliver mobile savings services to children who work in the streets of the Togolese capital of Lome. To save money, the target youth sometimes bury it or
Category: Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nordic Microfinance Initiative Secures $105m in Commitments for NMI Fund IV from Norfund, IFU, Den Norske Bank, Ferd, KLP
The Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a Norway-based public-private partnership that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries, recently announced plans to launch its fourth fund, NMI Fund IV. The fund will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Applications of Kenya Pays OTI $2.75m for MediSmart Medical Information, Insurance Claims Management System
Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm operating across Africa, has advised On Track Innovations (OTI), an Israel-based provider of products such as cashless payment systems, on its recent sale of MediSmart, a medical information management platform focused on the East African market. Smart Applications International, a biometric technology firm based in Kenya, paid USD 2.75 million for MediSmart, which has annual revenues of approximately USD 1.5 million. According to Verdant Capital, “By enabling efficient patient identification and claims administration, MediSmart facilitates the broadest possible
SPECIAL REPORT: RCPB of Burkina Faso Improves Youth Training, Links with Solar Provider at SAM
Réseau à la Faîtière des Caisses Populaires du Burkina, a savings and credit cooperative with 180 locations in Burkina Faso, has sent several staff members to all three SAM conferences. In 
Dakar in 2015, they made contact with a provider of solar light kits that hold a charge for four days. RCPB now lends to women to purchase these kits, which can have a wide range of benefits, such as increased student study time and reduced indoor air pollution from burning kerosene.
Azaratou Sondo-Nignan (pictured), the deputy director of RCPB, was part of a delegation that presented at SAM on the institution’s youth loans. In addition to sharing its expertise with other organizations, the delegation brought back ideas that helped improve the training that RCPB’s young borrowers receive in support of their loans.
RCPB staff also heard from a representative of a firm in Niger that offers a system to control irrigation canals remotely. Ms Sondo feels this would
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 6th Sankalp Africa Summit; February 21-22, 2019; Nairobi, Kenya
This summit will focus on promoting social entrepreneurship and impact investing, which the event organizers describe as “using business as a tool to achieve social impact” while also generating profits. The themes for the first and second
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Verdant Capital Raises $7m in Debt for Ferme Agro-Pastorale Jambo – Farmer, Miller of Maize Flour in DRC
Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm operating across Africa, recently informed MicroCapital that it has raised loan funds totaling USD 7 million for Ferme Agro-Pastorale Jambo, which grows and mills maize flour in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The identities of the investors remains confidential. In March 2018, Ferme Jambo brought Jambo Breakfast Meal to market in the Greater Katanga region, where 70 percent of flour is
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Safaricom of Kenya Adds “Fuliza” Overdraft Feature to M-Pesa Mobile Money Service
Safaricom, a Kenya-based telecommunications company, recently debuted an overdraft feature called “Fuliza,” which allows customers of the firm’s M-Pesa mobile banking service to withdraw money from their accounts even when they have a zero balance. The overdrawn amount must
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Ghana Restores Losses to Customers of Failed Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), but $150m of Savings Remain “in Jeopardy” in Advance of Deposit-insurance Rollout
After the collapse of approximately 100 licensed microbanks in Ghana over four years, the country’s central bank, the Bank of Ghana, has announced it will refund deposits of up to GHS 10,000 (USD 2,000) per retail
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Produce Firm El Roda Benefits from Trade and Competitiveness, SEMED Youth Employment Programmes Entering Egypt
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently agreed to lend El Roda, an Egyptian producer and exporter of fruits and vegetables, an unspecified amount of funding to expand its packing facility and purchase additional grape varieties and cultivation machinery such as irrigation equipment. The company
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: RemitFund to Collect Donations for African Diaspora Investment Fund (ADIF) as Percentage of Remittances Sent to Africa
RemitFund, a Belgium-based nonprofit seeking to foster economic development in Africa, is about to launch its African Diaspora Investment Fund (ADIF) to support the creation of employment opportunities for highly skilled workers in Africa. Part of the intent of the fund is to combat “brain drain,” whereby talented people from struggling communities leave for opportunities elsewhere.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Digitizing Agricultural Payments: Lessons from Uganda’s Coffee Value Chain,” Published by CGAP, UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
This is a summary of a paper by Amani M’Bale, Rashmi Pillai and Nathan Were; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and UNCDF; June 2018; 40 pages; available at
https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/researches/documents/Working-Paper-Digitizing-Agricultural-Payments-June-2018.pdf
This paper focuses on the digitization of payments in Uganda for the coffee industry, which accounts for 20 percent of the country’s GDP. Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P), a program of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), worked with Ugandan
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services, Mercy Corps to Study Feasibility of Shariah Financial Products in Ethiopia
US-based NGO Mercy Corps recently hired Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services (IFAAS), a UK-based consultancy, to support financial inclusion efforts in Ethiopia by conducting a “comprehensive assessment of the Ethiopian financial industry, including banking, insurance and microfinance.” The goal is to use the results to address economic and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Lends $7m to Attijari Leasing for MSMEs in Tunisia
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-domiciled investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency, recently loaned EUR 6 million (USD 6.9 million) to Attijari Leasing, a Tunisia-based firm, to fund energy-efficiency improvements for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in Tunisia. Attijari Leasing, which is controlled by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) Local-currency Equivalent of $687k
The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCA) has told MicroCapital that it lent Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ), an affiliate of UK-based Agora Microfinance Partners, local currency approximately equivalent to USD 687,000. AMZ offers loans and insurance services – including
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA Zambia Borrows $1.5m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Microfinance Lending
The Zambian subsidiary of US-based FINCA Impact Finance has borrowed local currency approximately equivalent to USD 1.5 million from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation for on-lending in Zambia. FINCA Zambia aims to
SPECIAL REPORT: Introduction at SAM Leads to Investment in ID Ghana by Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
Philippe 
Guichandut (pictured), the Head of Inclusive Finance Development at the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, has been at all three SAMs. The majority of the foundation’s 76 partners are in sub-Saharan Africa, and Mr Guichandut has found that “SAM is the best place to meet our existing and potential partners.” He adds, “Around the SAM, we always take the opportunity to gather our partners, [which] is the best way to have exchanges of experience among our partners and give them the opportunity to attend some training sessions either organized by ourselves or the SAM.” Leading and attending workshops at SAM has been key for Mr Guichandut’s team “to share our own experience and promote themes that are relevant for us, especially in the fields of agri-microinsurance and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: ICT4D (Information and Communications Technology for Development); April 30 – May 3, 2019; Kampala, Uganda
This event will focus on how technology can help meet the UN’s sustainable development goals. Although this year’s session titles have not yet been released, they will address topic areas such as Digital Financial Inclusion, Agriculture & Environment,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution (MFI) Kafo-Jiginew of Mali Borrows $3.4m from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation
Kafo-Jiginew, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Mali, has borrowed EUR 3 million (USD 3.4 million) from the Luxembourg-based Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation to support microlending in Mali. Kafo-Jiginew, which is organized as a credit union, seeks to