In December 2012, Dual Return-Vision Microfinance and Dual Return-Vision Microfinance Local Currency, two funds managed by Austria-based asset management company Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), disbursed a total equivalent to USD 11.75 million in loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide, including MFIs in Latin America and Africa.
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships Agrees to Loan Up to $500k to Friendship Bridge for Microcredit for Rural Guatemalan Women
Global Partnerships (GP), a nonprofit investor based in the US city of Seattle, Washington, has launched a partnership with Friendship Bridge, a US-based nonprofit microfinance institution that provides rural Guatemalan women with microcredit loans as well as business and preventive health education.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $5m to La Nacional of the Dominican Republic for Housing, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Lending
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, reportedly has disbursed a loan of DOP 195 million (USD 4.8 million) to Asociacion La Nacional de Ahorros y Préstamos, a microfinance institution in the Dominican Republic, to increase its mortgage lending for housing and loan financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco G&T Continental of Guatemala Borrows $100m from International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Expand Outreach to SMEs in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama
Banco G&T Continental, a commercial bank based in Guatemala, recently received a loan of USD 100 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Capitalization Fund, a unit of World Bank Group Member IFC. This loan is intended to help the bank expand services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 4th Latin America Microinsurance Summit, March 18 – March 21, 2013, Mexico City, Mexico
Event Name: 4th Latin America Microinsurance Summit
Event Date: March 18 – March 21, 2013
Event Location: Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel and Towers, Mexico City, Mexico
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank to Allow Public to Select Programs Seeking to Improve Financial Inclusion for People with Disabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral financial institution, recently announced a call for proposals to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities as financial sector clients and workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. The competition is open to public and private financial institutions from IDB’s 48 member countries to propose projects to be carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean. Proposals will be voted on by the public, and the ideas with the most votes will receive grants of up to USD 50,000 to assist with their implementation. Proposals that focus on gender equality will be given priority.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Lends $1m to Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico Rural (FUNDESER) of Nicaragua
Belgian microfinance fund manager Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) recently loaned USD 1 million to Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico Rural (FUNDESER), a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization (NGO), through a fund it manages, the Rural Impulse Fund II.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Te Creemos of Mexico First Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Mexico to Issue MasterCards, Plans to Reach 250,000 New Customers Over 3 Years
MasterCard Inc, a US-based payments and technology company, has established a new business model to reach small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by enabling regulated microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Mexico to become card issuers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TransferTo Partners with AT&T, Taiwan Mobile, Korvac Holdings to Allow Customers to Send, Receive Phone Airtime in the Americas and Asia
TransferTo International, a telecommunications company incorporated in Singapore, recently partnered with AT&T, a US-based telecommunications provider, to allow AT&T mobile phone subscribers in the US to execute TransferTo International Top-Ups via short message service (SMS), also known as text messaging.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Absolute Portfolio Management Loans $22m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Worldwide, Including $2m to Costa Rican MFI National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae), $1m Renewed to FINCA Ecuador
During November, Dual Return-Vision Microfinance and Dual Return-Vision Microfinance Local Currency, two funds managed by Austria-based investment and asset management company Absolute Portfolio Management (APM), issued the equivalent of USD 22 million in loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) globally, with much of the funds going to MFIs in Latin America and Asia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BanBif of Peru to Sell $400m in Bonds to Fund Microfinance Loans in 2013
BanBif, a bank in Peru that was formerly known as Banco Interamericano de Finanzas, is reportedly planning to sell up to USD 400 million in bonds in an effort to expand its microfinance lending in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Credinka of Peru, Ugafode of Uganda, FACES of Ecuador, Agora Microfinance Zambia, ASDIR of Guatemala Borrow $4m From Triodos Investment Management
Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Dutch Triodos Bank, recently disbursed loans to the following five microfinance institutions: Caja Rural de Ahorra y Credito Quillabamba (Credinka) of Peru, Ugafode Microfinance Limited of Uganda, Fundación de Apoyo Comunitario y Social del Ecuador (FACES) of Ecuador, Agora Microfinance Zambia and Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Rural (ASDIR) of Guatemala.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fundacion Microfinanzas BBVA of Spain Takes 31% Stake in Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM) of the Dominican Republic
Fundacion Microfinanzas Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a nonprofit affiliate of Spanish banking heavyweight BBVA Group, recently has taken a 31-percent stake in microfinance institution (MFI) Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM) of the Dominican Republic for an undisclosed sum.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) to Loan $1.5m to Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Regional (CIDRE) of Bolivia
Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), a state-owned development finance institution, recently extended a USD 1.5 million loan to Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Regional (CIDRE), a Bolivian non-governmental organization (NGO).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Munich Climate Insurance, EC Global Insurance Launch Microinsurance Product in St. Lucia
The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII), a project of the German re-insurance company Munich Re, and EC Global Insurance, a subsidiary insurance arm of the St. Lucia-based East Caribbean Financial Holding Group, recently unveiled a microinsurance product “Livelihood Protection Policy” (LPP).Speaking at the product launch, Leathon Khan, CEO of EC Global, reportedly noted, “This is for us a very proud accomplishment and a very proud moment in our continued development as a very innovative and forward thinking insurance provider. We really appreciate the positive response from the regulators and we can now move forward very confidently to offer this product to the public. This is a socially responsible investment in our people.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International Adds Savings Services In Colombia By Converting Into Microfinance Bank With Funding From Citi Foundation
Opportunity International, a nonprofit organization headquartered in the USA that provides financial products in 24 developing countries, recently announced the establishment of a regulated microfinance bank that will take over the credit offerings it provides to underserved people in Bogotá, Colombia, in addition to rendering savings services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Juntos Finanzas of California Wins $100k Mexico Financial Inclusion Competition
Juntos Finanzas, a US-based company offering mobile personal finance tools, recently was announced the winner of the 2012 Financial Inclusion Competition created at G2012 Mexico, the seventh summit of leaders from 20 large economies (G-20), and Ashoka Changemakers, an initiative of the US-based nonprofit Ashoka.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peru, Bolivia, Pakistan Top 2012 Global Microscope on Microfinance Business Environment
According to the Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2012, a recent report by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Peru is the top country in microfinance for the fifth consecutive year due to its strong regulatory environment.