The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it has made an equity investment of USD 300 million in Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), a bank backed by the government of China.
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Acquires 15% Equity Stake in Myanmar-based Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fullerton Finance for $1.2m
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it has made an equity investment of USD 1.2 million in Fullerton Finance (Myanmar) Company Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) that lends to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income individuals in Myanmar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $10m to Banco de Ahorro y Crédito ADOPEM for On-lending to Microentrepreneurs in Dominican Republic
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to increase economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it will loan DOP 450 million (approximately USD 10 million) to Banco de Ahorro y Crédito ADOPEM, a microfinance institution (MFI) in the Dominican Republic that was formerly known as Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Harvard Business School to Offer Joint Education Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance, Applications Due by December 31, 2015
The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), an affiliate of the US-based nonprofit Accion that aims to promote universal financial access, and the Harvard Business School (HBS) have announced that they will offer a joint executive education program entitled ‘Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance’.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ACTIAM-FMO SME Finance Fund Closes at $162m with New Investment from Pensioenfonds Vervoer; Increased Investments from Spoorwegpensioenfonds, Stichting Pensioenfonds Openbaar Vervoer
The ACTIAM-FMO SME Finance Fund, which is managed by Actiam, a Netherlands-based asset manager, and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently closed at approximately EUR 150 million (USD 162 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Lends $9m to Kyrgyzstan’s Kompanion; $5.4m to Morocco’s Albaraka to Finance Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lent the local-currency equivalent of USD 9 million to Kompanion Financial Group, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kyrgyzstan, and EUR 5 million (USD 5.4 million) to Albaraka, the first Moroccan MFI to partner with EBRD [1] [2].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance Egypt Summit, March 23-24, 2016, Cairo, Egypt
Event Name: Microfinance Egypt Summit
Event Dates: March 23-24, 2016
Event Location: The Nile Ritz-Carlton Cairo, Egypt
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Bank (EIB) Lends $9.8m to Kenya’s Faulu Microfinance Bank to Finance Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending institution of the European Union (EU), recently lent Faulu Microfinance Bank (Faulu MFB), a Kenya-based microfinance institution (MFI), KES 1 billion (USD 9.79 million) under EIB’s East African Community Microfinance Facility [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank India (RBI) Eases Microfinance Interest Rate Norm to Allow Cheaper Loans to Members of Scheduled Castes (SC) Earning Less than $2.50 Per Day
The Reserve Bank India (RBI), the nation’s central banking authority, has eased the maximum allowance of a variance of 4 percent between minimum and maximum interest rates on loans by microfinance institutions (MFIs) in order to encourage the provision of cheaper loans to those members of Scheduled Castes (SC), historically disadvantaged people in India, who earn less than double the international poverty line defined by the United Nations (UN) as USD 1.25 per day.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Commission (EC) Launches EaSI-MicPro, a New Online Information on Microcredit Providers
The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), recently launched EaSI-MicPro, a new online platform where microcredit providers can present information about their operations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Commission, European Investment Fund (EIF) to Guarantee $261m through European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), Supporting 20,000 Microenterprises via Romania’s Nextebank, 5 Western European Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body; the European Investment Fund (EIF), an EU-affiliated provider of finance to organizations that lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and six European microfinance institutions (MFIs) recently signed guarantee agreements under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), an initiative that supports “the modernisation of employment and social policies,”[3] job mobility, microfinance, microenterprises and social inclusion in the European Union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank, Small Farmers Development Bank, Nepalese Government Commit $18m for Reconstruction after Earthquakes in Nepal, Including $7m for Microfinance
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution based in the Philippines; the Small Farmers Development Bank, a wholesale provider of credit to agricultural cooperatives and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Nepal; and the Nepalese government reportedly approved a financial assistance package of USD 17.8 million for reconstruction, relief and preparedness for future disasters in Nepal following the earthquakes that hit the country in April and May 2015.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Syndicates $135m Loan to Agribusiness Company Vicentin of Argentina
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it will syndicate a loan of USD 135 million to Vicentin, an Argentinian agribusiness company, to support its export business.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Appoints Nepal’s White Lotus Centre to Manage Business Oxygen Private Equity Fund to Invest in Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to support economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it has appointed White Lotus Centre Private Limited, a Nepalese advisory firm which specializes in “private sector development, public communications and project management”[2], as the fund manager for Business Oxygen, a private equity fund in Nepal that was founded in 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $30m to Georgia’s Bank Republic for On-lending to Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that aims to support economic growth in developing countries, recently announced that it will provide a loan of USD 30 million to Bank Republic, which serves retail and corporate customers in Georgia as a subsidiary of the French financial services provider Société Générale.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $437k in Local Currency to Microfinance Institution (MFI) GRAINE of Burkina Faso
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a local currency, two and a half-year loan equivalent to EUR 385,000 (USD 437,000) to Groupe d’Accompagnement a l’Investissement et a l’Epargne (GRAINE), an MFI in Burkina Faso.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Extend Small Business Initiative to Turkmenistan
The European Union (EU) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, have announced the extension of the Small Business Initiative, a program that provides loans and technical assistance to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to Turkmenistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International, ReGrow West Africa, Tata Communications Make Commitments at 11th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting
At the recent eleventh annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the US-based Clinton Foundation, 123 new commitments to “alleviate poverty, create a cleaner environment and increase access to health care and education” were announced, including [1]: