MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lends $13m to Microfinance Institution Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala

Oikocredit, a cooperative based in the Netherlands, recently funded a 4-year loan of EUR 9.6 million (USD 13.1 million) in favor of Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI) Fundación Génesis Empresarial. Génesis CFO Jim López said that the loan will allow the MFI “to support more rural Guatemalans in advancing their development path and improving their quality of life” and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khan Bank of Mongolia Borrowing $120m from FMO, Atlantic Forfaitierungs, DEG, IIB, PROPARCO – Part for MSME Loans, Green Capacity

Khan Bank, which serves individuals and companies of all sizes in Mongolia, recently agreed to accept a borrowing package of USD 120 million arranged by Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership. FMO is funding

SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (the French Acronym for African Microfinance Week) in Progress in Rwanda Until October 22, 2021

Get an overview of the five-day SAM from the ADA press release or follow the proceedings on our Twitter feed!

This feature is part of a sponsored series on the SAM 2021, which is organized by the Luxembourgish NGO ADA, the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), with the support of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg and the Government of Rwanda. The event is taking place from October 18 to October 22 in Kigali, Rwanda. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and document each of the SAMs since 2015.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinvest of Moldova, FINCA Armenia Borrowing $10m from Invest in Visions for Microfinance

Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it is issuing the following loans on behalf of Germany’s Invest in Visions (IIV): EUR 7 million (USD 8 million) in two tranches to Microinvest of Moldova and USD 2.5 million to FINCA Armenia, a unit of US-based FINCA Impact Finance. AFI has disbursed the entire loan to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Guarantee Fund to Back Additional $25m in Lending by Oikocredit to Microfinance Institutions; Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); Women-led Businesses – Including in Agriculture, Renewable Energy Sectors

Oikocredit, a cooperative investor based in the Netherlands, recently signed an agreement valued at USD 25 million with the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF). The deal increases the parties’ 10-year loan guarantee volume to USD 43 million, allowing Oikocredit to increase its

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kestra Financial, TriLinc Global Collaborate to Expand Retail Access to Impact Investments

Two US-based firms, Kestra Financial and TriLinc Global, recently agreed to collaborate to give Kestra’s 1,800 registered representatives access to TriLinc’s impact funds, which have a total volume of USD 1.2 billion. TriLinc’s funds, which target low- and middle-income countries, seek

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SuperZop, Agri-commerce Platform in India, Nets $4m in Equity from Incofin, 1st-time Investor in Agricultural Technology

Incofin Investment Management, a Belgium-based investor in financial inclusion and agriculture in developing countries, recently agreed to invest USD 4 million from its India Progress Fund (IPF) in SuperZop, whose app helps “small retailers and restaurants buy staples directly from farmers and food processors.” Among the app’s functions is to use artificial intelligence to analyze the quality of grains

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Fund Issues Subordinated Loan to Humo for Microfinance in Tajikistan

C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it has disbursed a subordinated loan through its Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agents for Impact Loans $14m from IIV to Kinara Capital of India, BRAC Tanzania for Microfinance, SMEs

Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued the following loans on behalf of Germany’s Invest in Visions (IIV): EUR 8 million (USD 9.2 million) to India’s Kinara Capital and USD 5 million to BRAC Tanzania Finance Limited. AFI aims to bring together investors to make progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Kinara issues collateral-free loans to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The loans, which range in size from INR 100,000 (USD 1,300) to INR 3 million (USD 40,000), are intended for purposes such as working capital and asset purchases. Although the firm promises “digital first”

SPECIAL REPORT: SIDI Credits the SAM Investors’ Fair with Seeding Partnerships with Emerging MFIs in Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique

During the SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance – African Micro­­finance Week in French) in October, the 2021 Investors’ Fair will build on the 2019 Investors’ Fair, during which 120 microfinance institu­tions (MFIs) and 24 investors met in over 500 “speed-dating” sessions to explore whether they might be compatible partners. Of the MFIs, which represented 24 countries, about half were for-profit firms, and about half were organized as cooperatives or NGOs.

At the 2019 event, Altemius Millinga, the Managing Director of Tanzania’s Yetu Microfinance Bank, told MicroCapital that the Investors’ Fair “was the best part of the SAM because I was able to interact with investors, while at the same time sharing experiences immediately with other MFIs. The SAM gave me the opportunity to meet investors and make several preliminary proposals on funding; it was surely worth the investment!”

FEFISOL, an Africa-focused fund launched by SIDI, has had a presence at all four of the SAM Investors’ Fairs to date, and its repre­sentatives will return this year. The CEO of SIDI, Dominique Lesaffre, reports that his institution has leveraged the Investors’ Fair not only to develop relation­ships with “successful institutions such as Centenary Bank in Uganda or Kafo Jiguinew in Mali – with their massive social-financial outreach – but also with emerging MFIs such as Microbanco Confiança of Mozam­bique, Ishaka of Burundi and Buusaa Gonofaa of Ethiopia.”

Edmund Higenbottam, the Managing Director of Verdant Capital, also

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week – Online November 17-19, 2021 – Registration Now Open

Despite the pandemic, European Microfinance Platformthe European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) once again presents one of its flagship activities, European Microfinance Week (EMW), online this November. While the detailed agenda has not yet been released, it will include the presentation of the EUR 100,000 European Microfinance Award, as always. Over three days, last year’s EMW included 130 speakers reaching 500 attendees via the internet. Registrations fees vary from EUR 40 to EUR 200. More details appear at https://registration.european-microfinance-week.eu/website/27793/.

This notice is part of a sponsored series on EMW, the next iteration of which will occur online from November 17 through November 19, 2021. This event is held annually by e-MFP, a Luxembourg-based network with approximately 130 members. MicroCapital has been engaged to cover the event each year since 2012.

Additional Resources

European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) information on European Microfinance Week 2020
http://www.e-mfp.eu/european-microfinance-week-2020

MicroCapital coverage since 2012 of European Microfinance Week, including each European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TriLinc Nets $18m from BlueOrchard to Lend to SMEs Via Global Sustainable Income Fund II

Through its TriLinc Global Sustainable Income Fund II (TGSIF II), US-based TriLinc Global is slated to invest USD 18 million raised by BlueOrchard Impact Investment Managers, a member of the UK-based Schroders Group. The funding is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in the

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $16m to MFIs in Armenia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Tajikistan

C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it loaned a total equivalent to USD 16 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia, Armenia, Costa Rica, Panama and Tajikistan from its

SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience for Microfinance Clients – the SAM 2021 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22

MicroCapital: How will the theme resilience be addressed during the SAM 2021?

Yombo Odanou: The EU has defined resilience as “the capacity of an individual, household, community, country or region to resist, adapt and recover quickly from crises and shocks.” The dual climate and COVID-19 crises and their effects on the global economy are forcing institutions to find new ways to take advantage of this austere environment.

Christophe Hebting: We believe the discussions at the SAM can build the resilience capacity of all actors in the inclusive finance sector. This includes addressing questions such as: How can resilience be increased through structural change? In the face of climate change? Through technological innovations?

MC: How are you addressing concerns attendees may have regarding the potential transmission of COVID-19 during the event?

YO: Since the beginning of this pandemic, MAIN has initiated actions to enable its members to minimise the risk of infection, allowing them to continue

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deetken Impact Invests in Pro Mujer Mexico – Provider of Education, Healthcare, Microfinance – Through Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund

Canada-based asset management company Deetken Impact and US-based nonprofit women’s development organization Pro Mujer recently announced they are making an investment in Pro Mujer Mexico from the investment vehicle they co-manage, the Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund. The parties to the transaction wish

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investing World Forum; September 23-24, 2021; London, UK, with Virtual Option

The Impact Investing World Forum (IIWF) is focused on investments that are in line with concerns such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The event will feature speakers from

SPECIAL REPORT: SAM 2021 to Take Place in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22; “One Is Not Born Resilient But Becomes Resilient: Fostering Inclusive Finance to Better Overcome Crisis!”

From ADA: It’s official! The largest event in inclusive finance on the African continent, the long awaited African Microfinance Week (AMW 2021), will take place in Kigali, in the land of 1,000 hills and mountains: Rwanda. From October 18 to October 22, 2021, the SAM will address the theme of resilience, a concern that is all the more important in these particular times.

This notice is the first in a

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WorldBusiness Capital Loans $15m to Asirvad Micro Finance to Support Rural Women Entrepreneurs in India, with Backing from DFC

Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, a microlender in India, recently accepted a loan of USD 15 million from WorldBusiness Capital, a US-based finance company. The seven-year loan, which is guaranteed by the government-backed