The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based nonprofit that provides financial services to microfinance institutions, recently notified MicroCapital that it has disbursed a one-year loan of USD 396,000 to Mali-based microfinance institution (MFI) Soro Yiriwaso, its third loan to Soro Yiriwaso to date.
Category: Deals
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya-based Gulf African Bank, African Guarantee Fund Partner to Lend $1.2m to Small, Medium-Sized Businesses
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF), a Kenya-based organization backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) that aims to increase financial access in Africa by underwriting commercial bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reportedly has agreed to guarantee an unspecified portion of KES 100 million (USD 1.2 million) to be loaned by Gulf African Bank (GAB), a Kenya-based bank offering Shari’ah-compliant products and services, to SMEs in Kenya.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asusu SA, West African Development Bank Sign $6.3m Loan Agreement to Enable Refinancing of Agro-industry Loans in Niger
Asusu SA, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Niger, reportedly has signed an XOF 1 billion (USD 6.3 million) loan financing agreement with the West African Development Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ahon sa Hirap Incorporated, Philippine Social Security System to Expand Coverage to 25,000 Women Entrepreneurs
The Social Security System (SSS), the Philippines’ state-owned pension fund for private sector employees, reportedly has announced a new agreement with Philippines-based microfinance institution (MFI) Ahon Sa Hirap Incorporated (ASHI) to expand SSS coverage to 25,000 female ASHI borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nine Indian Impact Investment Companies Forming “Indian Impact Investor Council”
Nine companies that specialize in impact investment reportedly will be establishing the “Indian Impact Investor Council” (IIIC) to establish guidelines helping investment companies in India regulate their efforts to meet social goals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Disburses Tranches of $1.8m in Loans to African Microfinance Institutions GRAINE of Burkina Faso, CAURIE of Senegal
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based nonprofit that provides financial services to microfinance institutions (MFI), recently notified MicroCapital that it disbursed the second of three tranches of a loan totaling XOF 244 million (USD 487,600) to the MFI Groupe d’Accompagnement à l’Investissement et à l’Epargne (GRAINE), which serves 40,000 women in Burkina Faso, primarily in remote areas.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to Loan $77m to UniCredit Bank Serbia for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral finance institution, recently announced it will lend EUR 60 million (USD 76.9 million) to UniCredit Bank Serbia, a subsidiary of Italy-based financial services company UniCredit Group, for on-lending to private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration, Venture Capital Trust Fund Establish Centre for Impact Investing
Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), an initiative of the government of Ghana to provide low-cost capital to private businesses, reportedly has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government-run business school Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), establishing a Centre for Impact Investing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC to Loan $50m to BanBif of Peru to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it would loan USD 50 million to Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (BanBif), a Peruvian commercial bank, in an effort to double the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) served by the bank by 2017.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $370k to Microfinance Institution Chamroeun of Cambodia
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based nonprofit that provides financial services to microfinance institutions, recently notified MicroCapital that it approved a three-year, local-currency loan equivalent to approximately USD 370,000 to Chamroeun, a Cambodian microfinance institution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $6m to Mikrofin Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Inecobank of Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), has recently disbursed a loan of EUR 4 million (USD 5.2 million) to Mikrofin Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina and AMD 375 million (USD 911,600) to Inecobank of Armenia [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Atlantic Bank of Belize Extend Effort to Improve Access to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises, Increase Portfolio to $35m by 2014
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Atlantic Bank, a Belizean bank majority-held by Sociedad Nacional de Inversiones, SA of Honduras, recently launched the second phase of a project with the aim of improving access to financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belize with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Union Commit $25m to Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (KyrSEFF)
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently launched the Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (KyrSEFF), a USD 20 million credit line supporting energy efficiency projects for households and private enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management Loans $13m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in South America, Eurasia Including FINCA Armenia
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an Austria-based firm that invests in microfinance and other sectors, recently notified MicroCapital that it loaned the equivalent of USD 13 million during April 2013 through two of the funds that it manages to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, the Philippines, Russia and Tajikistan. Of this amount, USD 7.5 million was issued in local currency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) to Loan $16m to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank of Armenia
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), has notified MicroCapital that it recently disbursed two loans totaling the equivalent of USD 16 million to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia-Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), a microfinance bank partially owned by French bank Credit Agricole.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Opens $112m in Credit Lines to Société Générale Expressbank, Sogelease Bulgaria for On-lending, Leasing to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to loan up to EUR 85 million (USD 111.5 million) to two units of French-based Société Générale Group to finance the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Japan, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Daiwa Issue $97m in Microfinance Bonds Denominated in South African Rand
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently issued ZAR 884 million (USD 97.1 million) in microfinance bonds to Japanese retail and institutional investors in an effort to expand financial access to poor people in developing countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog, Kinnevik Invest $7m in Mobile Microinsurance Provider Bima
LeapFrog Investments, a Mauritius-based investor in insurance providers operating in emerging markets, recently announced plans to invest USD 4.3 million to take a stake of undisclosed size in Bima, a Sweden-based mobile microinsurance provider that operates in emerging markets in Africa and Asia.