Crédit du Maroc, the local member of the France-based Crédit Agricole Group, recently gained access to loan funding of up to EUR 20 million (USD 21.6 million) from the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to on-lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Morocco. EBRD sourced
Category: Investment Funds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: El Salvador to Borrow $20m from IDB to Benefit 2k Micro-, Small Businesses; Including 20% Owned by Women
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral institution whose membership comprises 26 countries, recently approved a loan of USD 20 million to El Salvador to provide 2,000 micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) with “access to credit under better term[s].” Banco de Fomento Agropecuario de El Salvador (BFA),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GAIN, Incofin, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building Nutritious Food Financing Facility (N3F) to Invest in SMEs Producing, Distributing Foods in Africa; Irish Aid, Rockefeller Foundation Commit Funding
The Switzerland-based, nonprofit Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) recently launched a partnership with Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management to create the Nutritious Food Financing Facility (N3F), which is intended to boost access to healthy food in sub-Saharan Africa. It will engage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in “food value chains by
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The Economist: Investing for Impact “2020 Vision;” New York, New York, USA; February 13, 2020
For details on this event, please refer to https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-event-the-economist-investing-for-impact-2020-vision-new-york-new-york-usa-february-13-2020/.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OoEB, BNP Paribas, SPF, SPOV, vdk Invest $76m in Incofin’s agRIF Fund for Smallholder Farmers, Other Rural Entrepreneurs
A group of investors recently committed to loan a total of USD 76 million to agRIF, the successor to the first and second Rural Investment Funds (RIF I and RIF II) of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management. Launched in 2015, agRIF is intended to generate market-rate returns from investments in small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises as well as funders of small-scale farmers and rural micro- and small enterprises.
The first-time investors in agRIF include the Austrian government’s development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), which loaned the fund
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Finaktiva Raises $9m in Debt, Equity to Expand Fintech Lending in Colombia
Finaktiva, a Colombia-based online credit provider, recently raised USD 9 million from a group of investors led by Netherlands-based Triodos Bank and Switzerland-based investment firm AlphaMundi.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Invest in Visions’ IIV Mikrofinanzfonds Loans $11m to Microfinance Institution ASA International India
Mikrofinanzfonds, a fund managed by Germany’s Invest In Visions (IIV), recently loaned EUR 10 million (USD 11 million) to ASA International India, a microlending unit of ASA International. ASA India was founded in 2008 and serves
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Launches, Combining Efforts of OPIC, USAID’s DCA with Investment Cap of $60b to Focus on Low-income, Lower Middle-income Countries
The government-backed US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently launched with goals to “help businesses expand into emerging markets, foster growth and improve lives in the developing world, while reinforcing US foreign policy and national security interests.” DFC is taking over the work of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which had similar goals and an investment cap of USD 29 billion, and the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Issues $20m Credit Line to Ipoteka Bank of Uzbekistan to Increase Microfinance, SME Lending
Micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Uzbekistan are due to gain increased access to financing via a loan in the amount of EUR 18 million (USD 20 million) provided by the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Uzbekistan’s Ipoteka Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Loans $1.7m to EFC Zambia, Provider of Housing, Microenterprise Loans
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has loaned local currency approximately equivalent to USD 1.7 million to Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) Zambia, a microfinance institution offering loans and savings services, mainly in urban areas. Founded in 1996, the microbank offers loans for working capital, invoice
SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP Investors Action Group Wrestles with Measuring Microfinance Client Outcomes in Alignment with UN’s SDGs
Members 
of the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) Investors Action Group met at last week’s European Microfinance Week to review their progress on developing methods for reporting client outcomes in terms of meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Cécile Lapenu from Cerise explained that the action group is working to: (1) identify investors’ expectations regarding reporting on outcomes; (2) review existing impact reports and websites to identify the metrics now in use; (3) conduct field tests of selected indicators; and (4) document the results to serve as guidance for moving forward.
The group is now soliciting data from investors on their current data collection practices. This includes if and how they collect data from: (1) the financial services providers (FSPs) they invest in; and (2) directly from those FSPs’ clients.
Ms Lapenu argued that factors such as client satisfaction do not
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Rethinking Climate Finance,” published by BlueOrchard
Rethinking Climate Finance; by Maria Teresa Zappia, Veronika Giusti Keller and Stefano Battiston; published by BlueOrchard; 34 pages; available at http://www.blueorchard.com/wp-content/uploads/BlueOrchard-Academy-study_Rethinking-Climate-Finance-1.pdf
In this report, the authors argue for the increased use of “climate finance” to address climate-change risks. Climate finance refers to “financial investments directed toward mitigating climate-change effects
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CBSI, SINPF Launch LoMobile, Offering Digital Access to youSave Accounts for Self-employed Workers in Solomon Islands
The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) and the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF), a government-backed retirement trust, recently launched LoMobile, a digital savings channel that allows SINPF account holders to
SPECIAL REPORT: Are MFIs Making Child Labor Worse? Willing to Test a Risk-assessment Prototype? How Can Schools Boost Child Protection? Why Buy Disposable Sanitary Pads When You Can Sew Reusable Ones?
During Thursday’s “Risky Business” session at European Microfinance Week, Patricia Richter of the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) led the audience through a poll of audience members’ personal work histories and how they think microfinance institutions (MFIs) can help reduce child labor. The audience voted that MFIs should do more to “raise awareness among clients and households” about the issue. The ILO’s Minimum Age Convention of 1973, which has been ratified by 172 countries, specifies the youngest acceptable ages for various types of work, ranging from 12 years old for fewer hours of light work in developing countries to 18 years old for hazardous work in any country.
The motivations for adults to engage children in age-inappropriate work include: (1) the family’s need for more income; (2) social norms that encourage child labor or the passing down of skills from parents to young children; (3) insufficient educational opportunities; (4) market demand for
SPECIAL REPORT: MFR Launching Atlas Platform to Unify Data on Financial Performance, Social Performance, Pricing, Client Protection: a Preview at European Microfinance Week
Today, on the opening day of European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg, Lucia Spaggiari and Aldo Moauro of MicroFinanza Rating (MFR) described Atlas, a platform for collecting and analyzing data on microfinance. Atlas offers data on financial performance, social performance, pricing and client protection. The data sources include a range of data types from MFR, as well as pricing data from the now-closed NGO MicroFinance Transparency. These cover about 550 financial services providers (FSPs), including microbanks, financial technology (fintech) lenders, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Africa, Asia, Latin America Borrow $42m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund, Including ASA International’s Institutions in Ghana, Uganda
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the ASA International network, those in Ghana and Uganda, recently accepted local-currency loans from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency sub-fund of Austria-based C-Quadrat Asset Management. That sub-fund, together with the Dual Return Vision Microfinance sub-fund issued a total equivalent to USD 42 million during October. The other borrowing MFIs are located in Cambodia,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Through 1st Bond Issue, VisionFund Raises $14m for Microfinance for Women, Farmers
VisionFund International (VFI), which is owned by US-based NGO World Vision, recently issued a bond package in Australia, raising AUD 20 million (USD 13.8 million) to fund microloans, mainly for farmers and non-farming female entrepreneurs who live in poverty. This is the first-ever bond issue by VFI, and the bonds carry a term of 5 years and pay interest of
SPECIAL REPORT: Solar Kits for Reselling Power, Internet Access; Staff Training by Subscription; Free Business Planning Software on Offer as 30 Firms Showcase Inclusive Finance Products at SAM Innovators’ Village (Part Two)
Thirty 
organizations shared their latest products during the Innovators’ Village at the SAM conference held recently in Burkina Faso. Among these was Qotto, a provider of kits that bring solar power and internet to off-grid households. The kits include battery packs and can be used to run appliances such as lamps, televisions and telephone chargers. The system includes an app for tracking usage and allowing Qotto and the owner to share revenue from selling phone recharges or wireless internet access to neighbors.
Eclectics International offers a core banking system for financial services providers (FSPs) that was designed “by Africans for the African market.” Its features allow for loan disbursal via mobile money, as well as integration with