Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), is reportedly seeking to increase its customer base by 1 million by 2014 and has raised INR 20 crores (USD 3.8 million) in capital from three of its investors: Aavishkaar Goodwell, a for-profit, Indian-Dutch joint venture; Lok Capital, a Mauritius-based microfinance investment vehicle; and the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), an India-based housing finance company.
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Arab Microfinance Network Sanabel Appoints Sahar Tieby as Executive Director
On January 30, 2013, Sanabel, an Egypt-based nonprofit network of microfinance institutions in Arab countries, announced Sahar Tieby as its new executive director, succeeding Ranya Abdel-Baki, Sanabel’s executive director since October 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $5m in Local Currency to Converse Bank of Armenia to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral institution based in London, England, is providing a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 5 million (approximately AMD 2 billion) to Converse Bank CJSC, a closed joint stock company in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIF Joint Action to Support Microfinance Institutions (JASMINE) Offers Technical Assistance to European Microcredit Providers
The Joint Action to Support Microfinance Institutions (JASMINE) program, a joint initiative by the European Investment Fund, the European Parliament and the European Commission, has put out a call for expressions of interest to European microcredit providers wishing to benefit from its technical assistance program in 2013.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Property Microinsurance in Colombia, Portfolio Reviews for Microfinance Funders, Microfinance Rating Comparability
“MILK Brief #18: Doing the Math with Property Microinsurance in Coastal Colombia;” by Barbara Magnoni and Derek Poulton; published by Microinsurance Centre; October 2012; 2 pages; available at: http://www.microinsurancecentre.org/milk-project/milk-docs/doc_details/914-condensed-milk-18-doing-the-math-with-property-microinsurance-in-coastal-colombia.html
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Campaign Launches Certification of Microfinance Institutions Regarding Client Protection
The Smart Campaign, a consumer-protection initiative launched in 2010 by US-based nonprofit Accion, recently released a Client Protection Certification Program that aims to verify that financial institutions serving the world’s poor people are focused on the fair treatment of clients.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Paying $2m for Stake in Arm of Cambodia’s ACLEDA Bank Being Established in Myanmar
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to disburse USD 2 million to ACLEDA Bank, a Cambodia-based commercial bank, to set up a microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Loans $1.35m to LandesLease of Albania to Support Small and Medium-sized Enteprises (SMEs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, has provided a five-year loan of EUR 1 million (USD 1.35 million) Albanian leasing company LandesLease.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Citi, Visa Announce Launch of Financial Inclusion 2020 Initiative, to Convene Forum in London in October
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), established in 2008 as a branch of the US-based nonprofit Accion, together with US-based financial service providers Citi and Visa, recently announced the launch of Financial Inclusion 2020 (FI2020), an initiative designed to promote increased financial access for people worldwide.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Loans $7m to Georgia’s Kor Standard Bank for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan USD 7 million to Kor Standard Bank (KSB), a financial institution in the republic of Georgia, to increase funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pakistan’s Tameer Microfinance Bank Lists Term Finance Certificates Worth $10m on Karachi Stock Exchange
Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited (TMFB), a commercial bank in Pakistan that is majority-held by Norwegian mobile firm Telenor, recently issued two term finance certificates (TFCs) each worth PKR 500 million (USD 5 million) on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in an effort to raise capital.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Telenor Participates in Launch of MicroEnsure Asia, Opportunity International Sells Stakes in MicroEnsure to International Finance Corporation (IFC), Omidyar Network
MicroEnsure, a microinsurance intermediary founded by US-based nonprofit Opportunity International, has partnered with Telenor Group, a Norwegian mobile communications company, to launch MicroEnsure Asia, which will provide insurance products to Telenor’s business units in Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Global Agriculture and Food Security Program Invest $10m in Root Capital for Farmers in Africa, Latin America
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group, and the private-sector office of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a multilateral mechanism established by the G20 group of 20 large economies, have announced that each of the organizations will invest USD 5 million in Root Capital, a US-based nonprofit social investment fund.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s IFMR Capital Pools Loan Assets from 8 Microfinance Institutions, For Trading on Bombay Stock Exchange
IFMR Capital, an affiliate of the Indian nonprofit Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), a private trust that aims to provide Indian enterprises with access to financial services, recently listed a securitized debt instrument on the Bombay Stock Exchange that pooled loan assets from eight microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: YouthStart Supports Opening of 40,000 Savings Accounts, Grants $640k to Faitiere des Unites Cooperatives d’Epargne et de Credit du Togo (FUCEC)
YouthStart, a program that aims to increase access to financial services for low-income youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, recently reported that approximately 40,000 young people in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda have opened savings accounts with YouthStart’s partner institutions and deposited approximately USD 550,000 into those accounts since September 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, European Microfinance Network Announce Fifth Edition of $67k Giordano Dell’Amore Microfinance Good Practices Europe Award
Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, an Italian foundation that supports microfinance, and the European Microfinance Network, a Belgian nonprofit with 99 members, have announced the fifth annual edition of the Giordano Dell’Amore Microfinance Good Practices Europe Award, which seeks to elevate the profile of best practices among actors in the European microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Thai Government to Add $2.6b to Village and Urban Revolving Fund
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reportedly has announced that the government plans to inject USD 2.6 billion of capital into the country’s Village and Urban Revolving Fund (VF), a government-backed program designed to stimulate the economy.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Loans $6m in Local Currency to IMON International of Tajikistan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, has provided a four-year loan of TJS 29 million (USD 6.08 million) to Tajik microfinance institution (MFI) IMON International.