The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, will provide a senior loan of RMB 500 million (USD 80 million) to Ant Credit, the business-lending division of Ant Financial Services Group, which is an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba [1]. The funds will be used to provide credit lines to Chinese women who have online business. Ant Credit will on-lend these funds via the internet after assessing potential borrower’s “transactional and behavioral data” from their online business. The funds will be provided through the Goldman Sachs “10,000 Women” Program, which was launched in 2008 to teach business skills and facilitate access to capital for 10,000 women living in low- and moderate-income countries [2].
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satin of India Borrows $10m over 8 years from WorldBusiness Capital, Facilitated by IFMR Capital
Satin Creditcare Network Limited, a microfinance institution based in Delhi, India, recently borrowed INR 628 crore (USD 10 million) from WorldBusiness Capital (WBC), a US-based lender to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TBC Bank to Acquire ProCredit Bank Georgia’s Microcredit Portfolio
TBC Bank, a commercial bank that was founded in 1992 in Georgia as the Tblisi Business Centre, reportedly will acquire the microcredit portfolio of ProCredit Bank Georgia (PCBG), a financial institution that is majority-owned by Germany-based ProCredit Holding. As of January 2015, PCBG’s gross microloan portfolio amounted to GEL 39.3 million (USD 19.2 million). These loans, defined as those smaller than EUR 10,000 (USD 11,300), represent 5 percent of PCBG’s total loan portfolio. The purpose of the move is to allow PCBG to concentrate on the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1].
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 2015 Mifos Summit, March 10-13, 2015, Grand Excelsior Hotel, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Event Name: 2015 Mifos Summit
Event Date: March 10 – March 13, 2015
Event Location: Grand Excelsior Hotel Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Winter Meeting; February 10, 2015; New York City, USA
Event Name: Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Winter Meeting
Event Date: February 10, 2015
Event Location: Grand Hyatt New York at Grand Central Terminal, New York, New York, USA
Cost: There is no fee to attend the event, although participants may attend by invitation only.
Summary of Event: The attendees will discuss current world development challenges, such as how to sustainably connect small-farmers with markets, the implementation of long-term investment strategies to build resilient health services, how to decrease skills gaps in the marketplace and methods for protecting and managing water resources. Members will be encouraged to create collective action plans around specific development challenges.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vikram Akula Buys 26% Stake in India’s Vaya Finserv
Vikram Akula, the founder and former chairman of Indian group-lender SKS Microfinance, recently bought 26-percent stake in the start-up Vaya Finserv. Launched in 2014, Vaya Finserv has plans to acquire a “small finance bank” license, which will it will use to provide credit to individuals in India who have been rejected by traditional banks, primarily women’s self-help groups.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $45.3m to Union bancaire pour le commerce et l’industrie (UBCI) of Tunisia for On-lending to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, has announced that it will loan EUR 40 million (USD 45.3 million) to Union bancaire pour le commerce et l’industrie (UBCI), the Tunisian commercial banking subsidiary of BNP Paribas, a French financial group.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, EBRD Loan $10m – Part in Local Currency – to Bai Tushum of Kyrgyz Republic for On-lending to Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG), a German development finance institution offering long-term project and company financing, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, have announced that the two institutions will collectively loan the equivalent of USD 10 million to Bai Tushum Bank (BTB), a provider of microfinance services in the Kyrgyz Republic.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Launch $78m Program to Support Small, Medium-sized Enterprises in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine
The European Union (EU) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution headquartered in London, have announced a joint program to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Movistar, MasterCard Collaborate to Launch Mobile Money Service “Tu Dinero Móvil” in Peru
Movistar, the Spanish mobile phone operator owned by Telefónica S.A., and MasterCard, the US-based payments and technology company, recently launched “Tu dinero móvil” (Your mobile money), which reportedly is the first electronic money service operating in Peru [1]. The service will allow Movistar’s 16 million mobile users in Peru to perform financial transactions such as depositing and withdrawing money, refilling mobile balances and purchasing goods in the 65,000 establishments in Peru that are affiliated with MasterCard [2].
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Financial Services for the Poor: Lessons and Implications of the Latest Research on Credit; February 27, 2015; Washington DC, USA
Event Name: Services for the Poor: Lessons and Implications of the Latest Research on Credit
Event Date: February 27, 2015
Event Location: Preston Auditorium, World Bank Headquarters, Washington DC
Cost: The event is free of charge, however advance registration is necessary.
Summary of Event: This conference will present the findings from randomized evaluations that evaluate the impacts of microfinance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Mongolia and Morocco. Attendees also will explore tools intended to increase the outreach and impact of financial services for low-income people.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Social Performance Task Force Social Investor Working Group Meeting; March 11-12, 2015; Luxembourg
Event Name: Social Investor Working Group Meeting
Event Date: March 11 – March 12, 2015
Event Location: European Investment Bank (EIB) Headquarters, Luxembourg.
Cost: The event is free of charge, however the proceedings on March 11 are only open to task force members. The sessions on March 12 are open to all investors.
Summary of Event: Conference attendees will discuss topics such as managing social risks; the “Universal Standards for Social Performance Management”; and the fourth iteration of the social performance indicators (SPI4), which have been developed by France-based network Cerise (Comité d’Echanges de Réflexion et d’Information sur les Systèmes d’Epargne-crédit).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Investment Management Disburses Loans to Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Lenders in Cambodia, Colombia, India, Jordan, Uzbekistan
Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently disbursed loans of undisclosed amounts to Annapurna Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI); Asociacion Fondo de Desarrollo (FDL), an MFI in Nicaragua; Crezcamos, a Columbian MFI; Hamkorbank, a commercial bank in Uzbekistan; Intean Poalroath Rongroeurng (IPR), an MFI in Cambodia; Intellegrow, a nonbanking financial company (NBFC) serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India; and Vitas Jordan, an Amman-based MFI [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Loans $1.2m to Oxus DRC, DRC’s Hekima, Burkina Faso’s ACFIME
The Grameen Crédit 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 issued the following three loans: (1) EUR 630,000 (USD 732,000) over a two-year period to Oxus DRC, a for-profit MFI based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that was launched in 2013 by the France-based Oxus Group; (2) EUR 271,000 (USD 314,000) over a three-year period to Hekima, a nonprofit specialising in providing group loans to “economically active” poor people in eastern DRC; and (3) EUR 198,000 (USD 230,000) over a three-year period to Agence Communautaire pour le Financement de la Micro Entreprise (ACFIME), a microfinance institution serving low-income populations in Burkina Faso [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Utkarsh Micro Finance, Advans SA Land $24m in Equity from CDC, Lok Capital, Aavishkaar Goodwell India, International Finance Corporation, Norwegian Microfinance Initiative
The Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), a development finance institution owned by the UK government, has announced that it has made an equity investment of USD 11 million in Utkarsh, a northern Indian microfinance institution (MFI) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion in East Africa Launched with $19m Donation from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
MasterCard, a US-based global payments and technology company, recently announced that it is launching the MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion, which is intended to generate new ideas and financial tools to promote financial inclusion in East Africa via a three-year grant in the amount of USD 11 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that supports innovations in health, education and other fields.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $7m to TuranBank of Azerbaijan to Fund Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Rural Enterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently announced that it will loan USD 7 million to TuranBank Open Joint Stock Company (TuranBank), a retail and corporate bank in Azerbaijan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Loans $200m to Yes Bank of India to Fund Women’s Self-Help Groups, Small-Scale Farmers
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution based in the Philippines, has recently approved a loan of up to USD 200 million to Yes Bank Limited, an Indian commercial bank based in Mumbai.