The Directorate for Development and Cooperation (Lux-Development), an agency of the government of Luxembourg, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s lending institution, recently unveiled MicroMED Tunisia, a EUR 4 million (USD 5.2 million), five-year initiative intended to aid the development of the microfinance sector in Tunisia.
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Appui au Developpement Autonome, BSB, Confederation des Institutions Financieres Partner on Microinsurance in West Africa
Appui au Developpement Autonome (ADA), a Luxembourg-based nonprofit organisation, recently partnered with Confédération des Institutions Financières (CIF), a Burkina-Faso-based association of six West African savings cooperatives, to implement microinsurance projects across five countries in West Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP) Deposit Taking Microfinance Institution of Kenya Looking to Raise $18.5m in Share Capital
Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP), a deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI) in Kenya, is looking to raise KES 1.6 billion (USD 18.5 million) in share capital for expansion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments Loans $8m to Prasac of Cambodia, $1m to ASKI of the Philippines
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a for-profit Swiss fund manager, recently disbursed USD 8 million in debt to Prasac, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peru’s Grupo ACP Receives Approval to Convert Microfinance Institution Forjadores de Negocios of Mexico into Banco Forjadores
Grupo Accion Comunitaria del Peru (ACP) Inversiones y Desarrollo, a nonprofit holding company based in Peru, recently received the approval of Mexican banking regulators to convert Forjadores de Negocios SA, its Mexican microfinance institution (MFI), into Banco Forjadores, which is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2013.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Kenya Licenses Century Deposit Taking Microfinance (DTM)
Century Deposit Taking Microfinance (DTM), a newly established microfinance institution (MFI) based in Nairobi, was recently licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya to operate nationwide.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Zambia Urges Microlenders to Move Away From Consumption-Related Lending at Launch of Microfinance Zambia
The Bank of Zambia (BOZ), the country’s apex financial institution, has recently called for microfinance institutions operating in the country to embrace lending to productive sectors in the economy as distinct from lending for consumer- related purposes, which is estimated to account for about 90 percent of the amount loaned in the country’s microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund II Loans $2.6m to Kenya Women Finance Trust, Incofin Investment Management to Finance Technical Assistance Project for AB Bank Zambia
The Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT), a Kenyan deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI), recently received a EUR 2 million (USD 2.6 million) loan from Incofin’s Rural Impulse Fund (RIF) II, a Belgian microfinance investment vehicle (MIV).
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Hanson Wade Offers Impact Investing Summit, Washington DC, USA, November 26-28, 2012
Event Name: Impact Investing Summit: Advanced Investment Strategies for the Bottom of the Pyramid
Event Date: November 26-28, 2012
Event Location: Washington DC, USA
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution AccessBank of Azerbaijan Launches Credit Cards
AccessBank, a microfinance bank in Azerbaijan, began offering credit cards to its customers on October 10, 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya Women Finance Trust, Samsung to Market Phones, Mobile Banking to Women in Kenya
The Kenya Women Finance Trust – Deposit Taking Microfinance (KWFT-DTM), a subsidiary microfinance institution (MFI) of Kenya Women Holdings, has partnered with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics to market mobile banking to low-income women in Kenya.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Social Investments Loans $1.5m to AccessBank Tanzania, $1.3m to EKI of Bosnia and Herzegovina
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned USD 1 million through the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), one of the microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) it manages, to AccessBank Tanzania, a commercial bank established as part of Germany’s AccessHolding in 2007.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Capital Gestion Microfinance Fund Recognized by Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency
Capital Gestion Microfinance Fund, which is managed by Banque de Luxembourg Investments, has obtained a “Microfinance Label” from the Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) certification organization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 15 Caribbean Microfinance Institutions to Benefit from $2m Phase Two of Caribbean Microfinance Capacity Building Project (CARIB-CAP II)
Fifteen microfinance institutions in the Caribbean have recently become beneficiaries of a USD 2.7 million technical cooperation fund that will provide customized staff training programmes.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ResponsAbility Funds Invest $2m in ProEmpresa of Peru, $1.5m in COAC Progreso of Ecuador
ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed the local-currency equivalent of USD 1.3 million in debt to ProEmpresa, a Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI), through the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), one of the microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) it manages.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Backs Housing Microfinance in Peru with $45m Investment in BBVA Continental
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, and BBVA Continental, a commercial bank in Lima, Peru, recently entered into a USD 75 million loan agreement to boost renewable energy and mortgage financing in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MF Banka Receives $5.2m from European Bank of Reconstruction and Development for Small Businesses in Bosnia, Herzgovina
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based funder of institutions that support micro- and small businesses, recently disbursed EUR 4 million (USD 5.18 million) to MF Banka, a subsidiary bank of Bosnian and Herzegovinian microfinance institution (MFI) Mikrofin.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $19m to Sekerbank of Turkey
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), which is advised by German firm Finance in Motion, recently disbursed a subordinated loan of approximately EUR 15 million (USD 19.4 million) to Turkish commercial bank Sekerbank.