ResponsAbility Social Investments, a Swiss investment company, recently completed three investment deals with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: NovoPayment Launches Reloadable Prepaid Mastercard LATODO in Peru
NovoPayment, a US-based prepaid card provider, in conjunction with its subsidiary Servitebca Peru, has released LATODO Mastercard, a general purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid card program in Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin, BIO Sign $12m Agreement to Develop Early-Stage Microfinance Institutions in Africa, Latin America, Asia
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a Belgian company that develops and manages microfinance investment funds, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO in Dutch), a state-owned development finance institution, recently signed a EUR 10 million (USD 12.6 million) agreement intending to assist in developing early-stage microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Service Needs in Mexico; Evaluation of an Insurance Education Radio Campaign in Kenya; Self-Assessment of Governance
“A Structured Approach to Understanding the Financial Service Needs of the Poor in Mexico;” by Xavier Faz and Paul Breloff; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); May 2012; 4 pages; available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.57615/Brief_MexicoSegmentation.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fairtrade, Incofin Launch Fund Offering Long-Term Microloans Starting in Latin America
Fairtrade International, a nonprofit based in Bonn, Germany, in conjunction with Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, and Incofin Investment Management, a Belgian for-profit microfinance investment manager, has launched the Fairtrade Access Fund, which will fund long-term loans to farmer to finance investments such as newer equipment.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Global Microfinance Equity Valuation Survey; Microfinance Governance Indicators; Audio Report: Role of Brokers in Microinsurance
“Volume Growth and Valuation Contraction: Global Microfinance Equity Valuation Survey 2012;” by Jasmina Glisovic, et al; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and JP Morgan; May 2012; 16 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.57526/VolumeGrowth.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Approves $10m Loan to Nicaragua’s Banco de Finanzas for Rent-to-Own Housing
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral financial institution, has approved a USD 10 million, ten-year loan to Banco de Finanzas (BDF), a commercial bank in Nicaragua, to fund a pilot housing project in Nicaragua.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $6.9m to Latin American Microfinance Companies Crecer, Fundacion Mundo Mujer Popayan
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made investments equivalent to USD 6.9 million in Bolivian microfinance institution (MFI) Crecer and Colombian MFI Fundacion Mundo Mujer (FMM) Popayan.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Behavior in Latin America; Microfinance Reporting Technology; Evaluation of India’s Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS)
“The Financial Behavior of Rural Residents: Findings from Five Latin American Countries;” by Jacqueline Urquizo; published by Accion; March 2012; 45 pages; available at: http://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/the-financial-behavior-of-rural-residents_march-2012.pdf
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Agent Banking in Latin America,” by the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) of Mexico and Celina Lee, published by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion
By the National Banking and Securities Commission of Mexico and Celina Lee, published by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, February 2012, 19 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.1.14613
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TIM Participacoes Launches Microinsurance through Text Messages in Brazil
TIM Participacoes, the Brazilian subsidiary of Italian telecommunications company Telecom Italia Mobile, reportedly will launch a funeral microinsurance product for low-income individuals that can be enrolled in and paid for via mobile telephones.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Hanson Wade’s Financing Low-Cost Housing LATAM Conference 2012, August 28-29, 2012, Miami, Florida, United States
Event Name: Financing Low-Cost Housing LATAM Conference 2012
Event Date: August 28 to August 29, 2012
Event Location: Miami, Florida
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Invests $10m in Equity in Chilean Insurer Aseguradora Magallanes
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has invested USD 10 million in equity in Chilean insurance company Aseguradora Magallanes (AM) in an effort to expand the availability of insurance products, such as life and agribusiness insurance, to owners of under-served small businesses in Chile.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Spain, Netherlands, Luxembourg Partner to Support Mobile Financial Services in Remote Regions of Latin America, Caribbean
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, is working to encourage the provision of “mobile financial services to underserved populations in remote areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: MIX Snapshot of Microfinance in Asia, How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation, Impact of Thai Million Baht Village Fund
“2011 Asia Regional Snapshot;” published by the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX); March 2012; 19 pages; available at:
http://www.themix.org/publications/mix-microfinance-world/2012/03/2011-asia-regional-snapshot
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Freedom from Hunger, Oikocredit to Implement Health Protection Through Microfinance Institutions in Ecuador, Peru
Freedom from Hunger, a US-based non-governmental organization that aims to alleviate poverty, and Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, plan to partner with six microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Andes mountains of Ecuador and Peru to implement Freedom from Hunger’s microfinance and health protection model.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GABV Report: Microfinance Institutions, “Values-Based” Banks Stronger than Mainstream Banks
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), a nonprofit network of 15 “values-based” banks, released a report it commissioned at its recent annual conference in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia, suggesting that values-based banks (VBBs), banks that prioritize social progress, are financially stronger than mainstream banks.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fitch Improves Outlook to Positive for Grupo ACP, Owner of Mibanco of Peru and Forjadores of Mexico
Fitch, a rating agency with headquarters in London and New York, reportedly has affirmed the rating of Peruvian nonprofit holding company Grupo ACP Inversiones y Desarrollo (Grupo ACP) at BB-, indicating an elevated vulnerability to default risk.