The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it is disbursing a senior loan of EUR 3.4 million (USD 4.17 million) to Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA) Leasing, a subsidiary of ACBA, for on-lending to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Expanding M-Pesa Mobile Money to Europe, Vodafone Targets 35% of Romanians Without Bank Accounts
In Romania, UK-based telecommunications firm Vodafone has been expanding M-Pesa, its mobile money service that was first launched in 2007 in Kenya, from the pilot stage to a complete rollout.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Peru, Colombia, the Philippines Top 2014 Global Microscope on Microfinance Business Environment
According to the Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2014, a recent report by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Peru is the top country in enabling microfinance for the seventh consecutive year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $6.2m to Alter Modus for Disbursal as Micro-, Small Loans in Montenegro
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently issued a senior loan of EUR 5 million (USD 6.2 million) to Alter Modus, a Montenegro-based microfinance institution (MFI), for lending to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) within Montenegro.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management’s Vision Microfinance Funds Invest $11m in Microfinance Institutions in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, India
Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), an arm of Austria-based asset management group C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that it disbursed credits totaling approximately USD 11 million from its two Vision Microfinance funds, the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance and the Dual Return Fund-Vision Microfinance Local Currency, to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico and India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance Acquires Stake in Microfinance Institution Humo & Partners of Tajikistan
The Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance, a unit of Canada’s Desjardins Group, recently acquired shares in Humo and Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to support the expansion of the MFI in rural parts of the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $5m to Muganbank of Azerbaijan for On-lending to Rural Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently announced that it has established a partnership with Muganbank Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) (Muganbank), a retail and corporate bank in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, European Microfinance Network Announce 7th Edition of $62k Microfinance Good Practices Europe Award
Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, an Italian foundation that supports microfinance, and the European Microfinance Network, a Belgian nongovernmental organization (NGO), recently announced the seventh annual edition of the Microfinance Good Practices Europe Award, a series that aims to increase awareness about microfinance as a tool for alleviating poverty and promote the sharing of good practice among microfinance organizations in Europe.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD, OPEC Fund for International Development Lend $36m to Support Infrastructure and Rural Financial Support Programme in Armenia
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an agency of the United Nations that aims to alleviate poverty, has agreed to lend USD 11 million to the Republic of Armenia for a “Infrastructure and Rural Finance Support Programme,” a USD 52.8 million initiative that aims to create sustainable employment opportunities and higher incomes for people in “the business, financial and agricultural sectors” of the Armenian economy [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Bank (EIB) to Loan $31m to AccessBank Azerbaijan for On-lending to Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending bank of the European Union (EU), recently announced that it is extending an intermediated senior loan totaling EUR 25 million (USD 31 million) to AccessBank Azerbaijan, a microfinance bank (MFB) in Azerbaijan, for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) May Establish $200m Loan Facility for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Kazakhstan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, recently announced that it is in the final stage of consideration for the establishment of a “Kazakhstan MSME Framework,” a credit facility totaling KZT 36 billion (USD 200 million) for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
SPECIAL REPORT: Kompanion of Kyrgyzstan Wins $125k European Microfinance Award on Microfinance and the Environment for Pasture Land Management Training
The Kompanion Financial Group, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kyrgyzstan, was selected today from three finalists to receive the Fifth European Microfinance Award, which includes a cash prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 125,000). Pictured at the right are Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Olesya Paukova the development director of Kompanion upon her receipt of the award on behalf of the MFI.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Provides $12.5m to Fibabanka of Turkey to Support Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), will disburse a EUR 10 million (USD 12.5 million) senior loan to Fibabanka, a Turkish commercial bank, for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Issues Bonds Totaling $9.3m to Prasac of Cambodia, AccessBank Azerbaijan
Symbiotics Group, a Swiss for-profit provider of investment and business services, recently issued bonds totaling USD 9.3 million to Prasac, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), and AccessBank Azerbaijan, a microfinance bank (MFB) in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Considers $31m Investment in Green for Growth Fund (GGF) for Energy-Efficiency Financing
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral financial institution, is in the final stage of considering an investment totaling EUR 25 million (USD 31 million) in The Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a Germany-based fund that invests in energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF) Lends $5m to Muganbank of Azerbaijan for On-Lending to Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) for Energy Efficiency Projects
The Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), a Germany-based fund that invests in energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources, recently disbursed a senior loan totaling USD 5 million to Muganbank, a financial institution that offers retail and corporate banking services in Azerbaijan, to on-lend to finance energy-efficient measures to be taken by households and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Selling Georgian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Credo to Impact Investors AccessHolding, responsAbility, Triodos
VisionFund International, a subsidiary of US-based, Christian NGO World Vision International, recently received approval from the National Bank of Georgia to sell its stake in Microfinance Organization Credo, LLC (Credo), to “a consortium of social impact investors” including Access Microfinance Holding AG (AccessHolding), a holding company based in Germany that specializes in microfinance investments; responsAbility Investments AG (responsAbility), a company based in Zurich that primarily invests in developing economies; and Triodos Investment Management BV (Triodos), a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement International Desjardins (DiD) Loans $1m to Microfinance Institution Arnur of Kazakhstan
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a Canada-based nonprofit organization that focuses on providing technical support and investment to community financial institutions, recently granted a loan of USD 1 million to Arnur Credit, a Kazakhstan-based microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on agribusiness and individuals living in rural areas.