Financiera FINCA Nicaragua, an affiliate of US-based microfinance NGO FINCA International, recently registered a bond program totaling the equivalent of USD 10 million from which it subsequently issued one- and three-year bonds totaling USD 1.1 million. Investors over-subscribed
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin’s agRIF Raises $27m for Financial Inclusion in Agriculture from Investors Including AXA, KBC, Korys, Invest in Visions, MRBB
Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management recently informed MicroCapital that its agRIF, the successor to the Rural Impulse Funds I and II, has raised USD 27 million in unspecified portions from multiple investors, bringing its size
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Quona Capital Management Raises $141m for Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund from Chase, MaserCard, AXA, Prudential, MetLife
Quona Capital Management, which is based in the US city of Washington, recently announced that it has raised USD 141 million from multiple investors for the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund (AFIF), a fund backed by the US-based nonprofit Accion and managed by Quona Capital. The participating funders are US-based corporates including JP Morgan Chase & Co., MasterCard, Prudential Financial
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Whole Foods Market’s Whole Planet Foundation Raises $2.2m to Support Microfinance Institution Partnerships in 11 Countries, Including Expanding Work with Grameen America to New York, Miami
The Whole Planet Foundation, an affiliate of US-based grocer Whole Foods Market, announced it has secured donations of USD 2.2 million (as of March 17) towards its goal of raising USD 3.2 million by the end of March 2017 to grant for microlending through
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TriLinc Approves $36.8m in Term Loans, Trade Finance for SMEs in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia
TriLinc Global Impact Fund (TriLinc) recently announced that it has approved the disbursal of USD 36.8 million to fund term loans and trade finance transactions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The term loans will be disbursed to 10 different companies
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $18m in Eurasia, Latin America, Zambia
C-Quadrat Asset Management, an arm of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, recently informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 17.5 million to unidentified providers of financial services in Cambodia,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab Sells Equity Stake in Clip, Provider of Payment-card Readers to Retailers in Mexico
Accion Venture Lab, an investment vehicle of US-based NGO Accion, recently sold its stake in Clip, a company that provides Mexican businesses devices that plug in to smartphones, allowing them to accept payments via credit and debit cards. Clip, which has offices in the US and Mexico
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroFinanza Rating Issues 10 Institutional, Social Ratings
During February 2017, Italy-based MicroFinanza Rating issued “microfinance institutional ratings” to the following institutions, all with stable outlooks: Indonesia’s Komida, which was assigned a grade of BB; Albania’s NOA, which earned a BBB; Haiti’s ACME, which was assigned a BB+; Vietnam’s Anh Chi Em (ACE), which got a BB-; and two institutions that each received an A-,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Wake of 2016 Earthquake, Ecuadorean Microfinance Institution D-Miro Leveraging $2m in Equity from The Mission Alliance to Restructure $80m in Debt
Alliance Microfinance, an NGO owned by The Mission Alliance of Norway, recently committed USD 2 million in equity to assist Banco D-Miro of Ecuador in renegotiating USD 80 million in loans to achieve “reduced interest expense and extended amortization.” The Mission Alliance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $9m in Ecuador, Honduras
C-Quadrat Asset Management, a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat, today informed MicroCapital that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds extended credit totaling approximately USD 9 million to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $29m to El Salvador’s Fedecredito for On-lending to Cooperatives, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Partner Mikrokreditna Fondacija for Agricultural Microenterprises
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced two loans to support the provision of financial services to people with low incomes in El Salvador and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FMO is lending USD 24 million to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Colombia’s FM Bucaramanga, Ecuador’s Produbanco Borrow $12m for SMEs via Symbiotics’ Bond Platform
Switzerland-based Symbiotics SA, which specializes in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise investment, recently issued bonds for two South American financial institutions: COP 33 billion (USD 10 million) for Colombia’s Fundación Mundial de la Mujer Bucaramanga (FMMB) and USD 2.25 million for Produbanco of Ecuador. The latter was the second of
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Geodata for Inclusive Finance and Food; February 16, 2017; Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Event Name: Geodata for Inclusive Finance and Food
Event Date: February 16, 2017
Event Location: Hulstkamp Gebouw, Maaskade 116, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Cost: This event is open by invitation only.
Summary of Event: This event will address how “geodata” can be used to expand inclusive finance and food security.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $22m in Burkina Faso, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Paraguay, Sri Lanka
Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management informed MicroCapital today that its Dual Return Vision Microfinance and Dual Return Vision Microfinance-Local Currency funds loaned a total approximately equivalent to USD 22 million during November to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Issues $22m in Bonds for Banco Improsa, Grupo Promerica to Benefit Costa Rican, Salvadoran SMEs
Symbiotics, a Swiss firm specializing in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) investment, recently issued bonds for two Central American banks serving SMEs. This included bonds totaling USD 15.7 million for Inversiones Financieras Promerica, the Salvadoran unit of Grupo Promerica, which was founded in Nicaragua and now serves nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Symbiotics also issued its second tranche of 2016 for Costa Rica’s Banco Improsa in the amount of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 16 Additional Institutions Commit to World Bank’s Goal of Achieving Universal Financial Access by 2020
The US-based multilateral World Bank Group (WBG) recently announced that 16 additional financial institutions have committed to partner to work toward “universal financial access” (UFA) by 2020, bringing the size of the group to 30 organizations. The new partners, which have committed to helping a total of 168 million people open new transaction accounts by 2020, are:
(1) the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, which operates in Africa, Asia and the Middle East;
(2) Ant Financial (Ali Baba Group) of China;
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Increases Equity Stake in Bolivian MFI Banco FIE
Oikocredit, a cooperative “social investment” fund based in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, recently increased its equity stake in Banco para el Fomento a las Iniciativas Económicas (Banco FIE), “more than doubling” its investment in the Bolivian microfinance bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Provides $10m Credit Facility to Agrofértil of Paraguay for Agricultural Input Financing
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently announced that it has provided a “medium-term” credit facility of USD 10 million to Agrofértil, a company that provides credit, crop protection products, agricultural inputs and “agronomic services” to farmers and farmer cooperatives in Paraguay.