The Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has announced disbursing a loan of EUR 600,000 (USD 600,000) to the Montenegro-based microfinance institution (MFI) Monte Credit. Monte Credit focuses on
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation Lends $860k to Salym for Microfinance in Kyrgyzstan
The Luxembourg-based Grameen Crédit Agricole (GCA) Foundation has reported providing a loan in local currency approximately equivalent to USD 860,000 to Salym Finance, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kyrgyzstan, with the aim
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Albania, Georgia, Vietnam Borrow $8m from C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed loans totaling USD 8 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Albania, Georgia and Vietnam through its Dual Return Funds. One of these loans was
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ASN Bank Lends EFSE $50m for Micro-, Small Enterprises; Households in Europe, Western Asia
ASN Bank, a retail banking member of the Netherlands’ de Volksbank, recently agreed to purchase EUR 50 million (USD 50 million) in notes from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), which provides investments and technical assistance to microfinance institutions and other lenders in Eastern and Southeastern Europe as well as Western Asia.
The director of ASN’s sustainable finance team, Yvonne van Hoof, explained, “Via this investment, we are ultimately able to improve the quality of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank Respublika of Azerbaijan Borrows $8m from EMF Microfinance Fund for On-lending to SMEs
Switzerland-based investing firm Enabling Qapital recently disbursed a subordinated loan of USD 8 million from its Enabling Microfinance Fund (EMF) to Bank Respublika, which focuses on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans Banca Transilvania $25m to Support Businesses in Romania Adjusting to War in Ukraine
The multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently lent EUR 25 million (USD 25 million) to Banca Transilvania (BT), a Romania-based bank, to on-lend to enterprises affected by the war in Ukraine. The loan is a part of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Agri-SME Finance: Navigating Volatility in the Wake of the War in Ukraine;” Published by IFAD, IFC, SAFIN
The authors describe the recent turmoil in global food markets and the resulting “worst food crisis in generations.” The war in Ukraine has had a major impact on markets in Russia and Ukraine, which together previously produced a quarter of the wheat and most of the sunflower oil sold worldwide. Meanwhile, increases in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, EFSE, GGF Lending $9m to Bank Lviv to Support SMEs in Ukraine in Adjusting to War
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution, is arranging a loan package of up to EUR 10 million (USD 10 million) for Ukraine’s Bank Lviv to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan fulfills part of a pledge by EBRD to invest EUR 1 billion (USD 1 billion) this year into the Ukrainian economy to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (I-AM) Loans $20m from Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds to MFIs in 8 Countries
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it lent a total of USD 20 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in China, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru and three other countries through its Dual Return Funds during July 2022. I-AM has
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $23m to TBC Bank, TBC Leasing to Boost Technology Investments by MSMEs in Georgia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development finance institution, recently committed loans to two members of Georgia’s Tbilisi Business Centre (TBC) Bank Group: one in local currency up to the equivalent of USD 20 million to TBC Bank and another of up to EUR 3 million (USD 3.1 million) to TBC Leasing. The purpose of the “medium- to long-term” loans is to enable micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Georgia to acquire technology that helps them meet EU standards of
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: DFC, Gazelle Finance Announce Technical Assistance Funding for SMEs Displaced from Ukraine to Georgia by War
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Georgia-based Gazelle Finance recently launched a facility to assist Ukrainian enterprises that have been displaced to Georgia as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. In particular, the funding is for technical assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). DFC CEO Scott Nathan noted the intent of the facility to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (I-AM) Loans $35m in 8 Countries via Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed a total of USD 35 million to microfinance institutions in Armenia, El Salvador, Panama, Uzbekistan and four other countries. While I-AM has not released the names of the latter countries or any of the borrowers, it did announce a recent local-currency loan to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Lends $15m to KMF to Boost Financial Inclusion for MSMEs, Post-Covid Growth in Kazakhstan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microlender in Kazakhstan. The loan is intended to boost its services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially in rural areas – to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $3.1m to KRK of Kosovo for Microfinance, Especially for Women Entrepreneurs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development finance institution, recently provided loan funds totaling EUR 3 million (USD 3.14 million) to Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves (KRK), a microfinance firm in Kosovo. The government of Sweden is supporting the loan with an unspecified amount of funding for grants and technical assistance. Of the loan package, one third is slated for women-owned businesses. The other portion
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Invests $7.5m in Evocabank of Armenia for MSMEs
Evocabank of Armenia recently gained access to USD 7.5 million from Switzerland-based Symbiotics to on-lend to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with goals including to boost market competition and job creation. Symbiotics sourced the funds from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC Raising Debt from Global Partnerships, Proparco; Seeking to Expand Microfinance Outreach, Including into 3 New Countries
To grow its microfinance operations, BRAC International, which operates in a range of African and Asian countries, recently launched a programme to source debt from multiple investors, the first of which are Global Partnerships, an investment fund manager based in the US city of Washington, and Proparco, a development finance institution backed by the French government. With the new funding, BRAC International aims to grow its client base, which is made up almost entirely of women, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 60 Decibels Microfinance Index Offers Impact Data from 18k Customers of 72 MFIs
Impact-measurement firm 60 Decibels recently released data it has assembled from 18,000 clients of 72 microfinance institutions (MFIs) that serve 25 million people in 41 countries. The report is based on a survey exploring changes in factors such as income, stress level, number of employees and ease of affording loan repayments, as well as levels of