Quona Capital Management, which is based in the US city of Washington, recently announced that it has raised USD 141 million from multiple investors for the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund (AFIF), a fund backed by the US-based nonprofit Accion and managed by Quona Capital. The participating funders are US-based corporates including JP Morgan Chase & Co., MasterCard, Prudential Financial
Category: Investment Funds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TriLinc Approves $36.8m in Term Loans, Trade Finance for SMEs in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia
TriLinc Global Impact Fund (TriLinc) recently announced that it has approved the disbursal of USD 36.8 million to fund term loans and trade finance transactions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The term loans will be disbursed to 10 different companies
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution ASA Philippines to Issue $40m in Bonds to Expand Lending for MSMEs
ASA Philippines, a microfinance NGO, recently announced it will issue PHP 2 billion (USD 40 million) in bonds to fund new and existing projects through 2021. One of these is lending to women entrepreneurs in amounts from PHP 6,000 (USD 119) to PHP 10,000 (USD 199) with a flat interest rate of 15 percent for six months.
SPECIAL REPORT: Raising Funds for Non-bank Financial Institutions in Africa
The non-bank financial institution (NBFI) sector, often referred to as the alternative finance sector or the shadow banking sector, around the world is largely dependent on the institutional market for funding. By regulation, NBFIs in most markets are prohibited from gathering deposits or restricted from transactional banking services, which are critical to attract deposits. In most markets, banks themselves are reluctant to lend to NBFIs, given the potential long-term competitive threat. For example, Capitec of South Africa and Equity Bank of Kenya, which are now very much fully-fledged banks, have roots as NBFIs. In South Africa, the deepest and broadest market in Africa, NBFIs have been largely focused on borrowing from the domestic market.
This is not without risks given, for example, the significant reversal in domestic investor sentiment following the collapse of African Bank in August 2014. African Bank’s largest peer, Capitec, was less affected because
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $18m in Eurasia, Latin America, Zambia
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 17.5 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD, DiD Renew Cooperation in Cameroon via Youth Agropastoral Entrepreneurship Promotion Program (PEA-Youth)
Développement international Desjardins (DiD), an arm of Canada’s cooperative Desjardins Group, recently announced it has received additional funding from the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) continue participating in the Youth Agropastoral Entrepreneurship Promotion Program (PEA-Youth) in Cameroon through 2018. PEA-Youth supports rural
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Lends $52.5m to Climate Investor One for Hydro, Solar, Wind Energy Projects in Africa, Asia
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced it will loan USD 52.5 million in two transactions to Climate Investor One (CIO), a facility managed by Netherlands-based Climate Fund Managers. The objective of the loan is for CIO to aid in the development
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab Sells Equity Stake in Clip, Provider of Payment-card Readers to Retailers in Mexico
Accion Venture Lab, an investment vehicle of US-based NGO Accion, recently sold its stake in Clip, a company that provides Mexican businesses devices that plug in to smartphones, allowing them to accept payments via credit and debit cards. Clip, which has offices in the US and Mexico
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Wake of 2016 Earthquake, Ecuadorean Microfinance Institution D-Miro Leveraging $2m in Equity from The Mission Alliance to Restructure $80m in Debt
Alliance Microfinance, an NGO owned by The Mission Alliance of Norway, recently committed USD 2 million in equity to assist Banco D-Miro of Ecuador in renegotiating USD 80 million in loans to achieve “reduced interest expense and extended amortization.” The Mission Alliance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Lending $3m to Philippines’ Microfinance Institution One Puhunan
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced that it will disburse a loan of USD 3 million from the Dutch government’s MASSIF Fund to the Microfinance Philippines Financing Company, which is also known as One Puhunan. The microfinance institution
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thailand’s Group Lease Acquires 30% Equity Stake in Sri Lanka’s Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF) for $70m
Group Lease Public Company Limited, which is listed on the Thailand Stock Exchange, recently acquired a 29.99-percent stake in Commercial Credit and Finance (CCF), which is traded on Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange, for LKR 10.6 billion (USD 70 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Garanti Leasing Borrowing $26m from EFSE to Finance Micro-, Small Enterprises in Turkey
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, recently announced it is lending EUR 25 million (USD 26.5 million) to Garanti Leasing, a subsidiary of Turkey-based Garanti Bank, to facilitate increased support for micro- and small enterprises in Turkey. Garanti Leasing plans to utilize half
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Chilean Credit Reporting Firm Destacame Raises Seed Equity from Accion Venture Lab to Expand into Mexico
Destacame, a Chile-based credit scoring firm, recently announced that it has closed its seed round of financing, which was led by Accion Venture Lab, a USD 10 million investment vehicle of US-based NGO Accion. The funds are slated to allow Destacame
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Arise – Founded by Norfund, FMO, Rabobank to Invest in African Financial Services Providers – Buys 28% Equity Stake in Ghana’s CAL Bank from DPI
Arise, an investment company recently launched in South Africa by three European institutions, has paid an undisclosed price to acquire 27.7 percent of the shares of CAL Bank, a publicly traded financial institution in Ghana. Arise bought the stake from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microbank LOLC (Cambodia) Authorized to Offer Leasing Services
LOLC (Cambodia) Plc, a microfinance institution (MFI) that is 60-percent owned by LOLC Micro Investment of Sri Lanka, recently received approval from the National Bank of Cambodia to offer leasing services. It is reportedly the first MFI to gain such permission. Beginning in March, LOLC (Cambodia) expects to offer both businesses and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Syndicates $44m in Debt from BIB, Incofin, MicroVest, Symbiotics for KazMicroFinance (KMF) of Kazakhstan
KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microfinance institution operating in Kazakhstan, recently borrowed USD 44 million syndicated by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) in an effort to enable KMF to expand its lending to small businesses. Of the total, IFC is providing USD 5 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Muthoot Raises $20m in Equity from Creation Investments Amidst Plans to Open 500 New Microfinance Branches
Creation Investments Capital Management, a US-based alternative investment company, recently announced that it has placed an equity investment of USD 20 million in Muthoot Microfin Limited, a unit of Indian conglomerate Muthoot Pappachan Group. Muthoot Microfin
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Investing $15m in Equity in Sanad Fund for MSME for On-lending in the Middle East, North Africa
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced that it will place equity of USD 15 million in the debt sub-fund of the Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), which disburses “medium- and long-term” loans to financial institutions that serve MSMEs