The Luxembourg Ministry of Finance, the UK-based Schroders Group and its Switzerland-based unit BlueOrchard Finance recently agreed to initiate a fund to raise public and private capital to promote “climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and the protection of water and biodiversity.” Finance Minister Yuriko Backes stated that the plan “supports sustainable investments and contributes to resilient economies in emerging markets.” BlueOrchard will serve as
Category: Key Players
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADB Lends $15m to KMF to Boost Financial Inclusion for MSMEs, Post-Covid Growth in Kazakhstan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, recently agreed to lend USD 15 million to KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microlender in Kazakhstan. The loan is intended to boost its services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially in rural areas – to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MSME Clients of Sudameris Bank to Benefit from $15m Bond Issued by IDB Invest in Paraguay
IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently arranged a bond in the amount of PYG 100 billion (USD 15 million) to fund “medium- and long-term” lending in local currency by Paraguay’s Banco Sudameris to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The bond is priced at 7.9 percent and was intermediated by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Loans $3.1m to KRK of Kosovo for Microfinance, Especially for Women Entrepreneurs
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral development finance institution, recently provided loan funds totaling EUR 3 million (USD 3.14 million) to Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves (KRK), a microfinance firm in Kosovo. The government of Sweden is supporting the loan with an unspecified amount of funding for grants and technical assistance. Of the loan package, one third is slated for women-owned businesses. The other portion
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SIDI, Alterfin Announce First Close of FEFISOL II Fund at $23m to Support Rural Microfinance, Smallholder Farmers in Africa
France-based investment firm Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement et l’Investissement (SIDI) and Belgium-based cooperative Alterfin recently announced a new investment vehicle, Fonds Européen de Financement Solidaire (FEFISOL) II, whose first close includes investments totaling EUR 22 million (USD 23 million). The goal of the new fund is to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends Soafiary $3.6m to Boost Direct Sourcing from Smallholder Farmers in Madagascar
The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently extended a loan of EUR 3.5 million (USD 3.6 million) to Soafiary, an agribusiness in Madagascar, to support the firm’s effort to “grow sustainably and reorient [its] business model, by increasing from 30 to 70 percent its direct sourcing from small-scale farmers,” potentially increasing grower incomes by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC, USAID, African Union’s AUDA-NEPAD Partner to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria
The US Agency for International Development (AID) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently joined with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to provide loan guarantees to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria. The goals of the partnership are to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Quizrr, Ulula, Wagely Supporting Financial, Digital Literacy for Garment Workers in Bangladesh
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently committed approximately USD 556,000 to support pilot training programs for workers in the Bangladeshi garment industry. The funding will pay for technical assistance and performance-based grants for three firms seeking to promote financial and digital literacy skills and hence financial and digital inclusion for 135,000 individuals working in the sector, mostly women. UNCDF’s implementing partners for the project are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends India’s Uttarakhand State $105m for Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) to Address Incomes, Climate Resilience, Out-migration
The government of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently partnered to launch the Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) with the objective of reaching 560,000 households by “supporting smallholder farmers, agricultural laborers, and micro and small agribusinesses to start and expand competitive businesses” including by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Loans $9m to Acleda Bank via IFC Syndication to Support SMEs in Cambodia, with Focus on Women Entrepreneurs
US-based asset manager MicroVest is lending USD 9 million for five years to Acleda Bank, a publicly traded firm that operates in three countries, to support Acleda’s provision of financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia, particularly those owned by women. The investment is part of a syndication for Acleda by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) that is to include up to USD 100 million each from IFC and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Compartamos Borrows $50m from IDB Invest to On-lend to Micro-, Small Enterprises in Mexico, Focusing on Female-run Enterprises
IDB Invest, the private-investment member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently announced a local-currency loan totaling the equivalent of USD 50 million to Banco Compartamos, one of the seven units of Mexico-based Gentera. Compartamos provides
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gil Crawford Shifting Role at Microfinance Investor MicroVest, Joshua Moraczewski is New CEO
MicroVest, an asset-management subsidiary of US-based Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), recently announced that Joshua Moraczewski will serve as its new CEO, succeeding Gil Crawford. Mr Moraczewski
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Launches 2nd Private Equity Fund, Seeking to Invest $300m in Financial Inclusion of 30m Poor Households, MSMEs
BlueOrchard Finance, a Switzerland-based member of the UK-based Schroders Group, recently launched its BlueOrchard Financial Inclusion Fund, seeking to invest
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Palestinian Monetary Authority, European Investment Bank (EIB) Announce $63m Package for MSMEs in Gaza Adjusting to COVID-19 Pandemic, with Focus on Companies Run by Women, Youth
The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) recently announced it will disburse EUR 60 million (USD 63 million) to the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), with USD 50 million of the total to be on-lent by retail lenders in Gaza to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The remainder of the funding will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Disburses $15m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions in 7 Countries
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans totaling USD 15 million from the Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and three other countries. Neither the names of the MFIs nor
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equity Group Nets Over $165m from IFC, BII, FMO, ResponsAbility, Symbiotics for Climate Projects, Financial Inclusion for MSMEs in Africa
Partially through its Financial Institutions Growth Fund, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is paying an undisclosed sum to acquire a 6.7-percent stake in Equity Group Holdings, which has banking operations in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. IFC and the UK government’s British International Investment (BII) also are each lending the group’s Equity Bank Kenya
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bankingly of Uruguay Raises $11m in Equity Round Led by Dalus Capital to Help Financial Institutions Boost Digital Inclusion in Africa, Asia, Latin America
Uruguay’s Bankingly recently secured an investment package totalling USD 11 million, which it plans to use to expand in Latin America and Africa as well as enter Southeast Asia. Bankingly provides financial institutions with software-as-a-service (SaaS) that helps them serve customers via websites, mobile apps, chatbots and other tools, thus “facilitating the financial inclusion of millions of people…”. Bankingly CEO and Founder, Martin Naor, expressed the hope that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Executes IIF Equity Buy into Forte Insurance to Boost Agricultural Microinsurance in Cambodia
Switzerland’s BlueOrchard Finance recently disbursed an equity placement of undisclosed size from the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), a Luxembourg-domiciled public-private partnership, for IIF to buy a minority stake in Cambodia’s Forte Insurance Group. BlueOrchard’s investment director for the continent, Thibaud Ponchon, expressed confidence that the placement will “drive the penetration of