Superintendencia de Seguros Privados (SUSEP), Brazil’s insurance regulator, recently announced that it will release a framework for the regulation of microinsurance by the end of October [1].
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships Lends $2.5m to Colombian Microfinance Institutions Fundación Amanecer, Corporación Nariño Empresa y Futuro
Nonprofit social investor Global Partnerships (GP), which has offices in USA and Nicaragua, has made its first two loans in Colombia to the following microfinance institutions: USD 1 million to Fundación Amanecer and USD 1.5 million to Corporación Nariño Empresa y Futuro (Contactar).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mexican Microfinance Institution Banco Compartamos Issues $147m in Long-Term Debt
Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos, S A, Institucion de Banca Multiple has issued local bank bonds (certificados bursatiles bancarios) amounting to MXN 2 billion (USD 147 million) in the local debt capital market.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank Approves Loan Worth $30m to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise in El Salvador
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, recently approved a loan of USD 30 million to the “Program to Support Production Development for International Integration,” which will be carried out by El Salvador’s Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the export promotion agency, National Investment Promotion Agency (PROESA) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microinsurance Company Protecta Predicts First Profit in 2012, Expanding Distribution Network
Protecta, the microinsurance provider of Peru-based microfinance holding company Grupo ACP, reportedly is predicting that it will turn its first annual profit in the year 2012 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haitian Microfinance Institution Fonkoze Using “Progress out of Poverty Index” to Monitor Economic Progress of Clients in Disaster-Affected Areas
A recent study by the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation titled “Rapid Response in the Wake of Disaster: Using the PPI to Design and Support Fonkoze’s Earthquake Recovery Program,” describes how Fonkoze, a Haitian microfinance institution (MFI), is using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), a country-specific poverty assessment tool, in disaster affected areas to monitor and evaluate the progress of its clients [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $9.2m to Microfinance Institutions FINCA of Mexico, IDEPRO of Bolivia, EDPYME Alternativa of Peru, D-Miro of Ecuador
responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it made loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) through its MIVs equivalent to the following amounts: the local-currency equivalent of USD 4.92 million to FINCA Mexico, the local-currency equivalent of USD 850,000 to Instituto para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña Unidad Productiva (IDEPRO) in Bolivia, USD 1.41 million to Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequeña y Micro Empresa (EDPYME) Alternativa in Peru and USD 2 million to Fundación para el Desarrollo Microempresarial D-Miro (D-Miro) in Ecuador [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Provide $1.5m in Credit Guarantees to Back Local-Currency Loans From Peruvian Credit Union Abaco to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Pro Mujer, Asociación Arariwa of Peru
Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance, will respectively provide credit guarantees worth USD 300,000 and USD 1.2 million to Cooperative de Ahorro y Credito Abaco, a Peruvian credit union.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: YMCA Launches Ymicro Website to Raise Donations to be Disbursed as Microloans in Colombia, Sri Lanka, Gambia and Liberia by YMCA Branches, Microfinance Institutions
The Seattle, Washington, branch of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), an organization offering recreation and community development programs that has 45 million members worldwide, recently launched Ymicro.org, a website soliciting donations from the public for on-lending to entrepreneurs in developing countries [1,2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNP Paribas Loans $1.9m to Microfinance Institutions Fundación Espoir of Ecuador, Amret of Cambodia
BNP Paribas, a financial service provider based in France, recently made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 1.9 million to two microfinance institutions (MFIs): Fundación Espoir (Espoir) of Ecuador and Amret Company Limited (Amret) of Cambodia [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA Case Studies Explore Relationship Between Food Security and Microfinance, Analyze Client Data Using World Bank’s Human Opportunity Index
FINCA International, a US-based network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 21 countries, recently published two case studies: “Exploring the Linkages between Food Security and Microfinance: A Study by FINCA in Zambia and Guatemala” and “FINCA Client Data Viewed through World Bank’s Human Opportunity Index.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Fund of Vision Microfinance Loans $1.5m to Microfinance Institutions in Colombia, Dominican Republic
Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH, an Austrian investment company that specializes in microfinance, recently reported that the Dual Return Fund – Vision Microfinance Local Currency, a sub-fund of Absolute’s Vision Microfinance that provides loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) exclusively in local currencies, made debt investments totaling the equivalent of USD 1.5 million in unnamed MFIs in Colombia and the Dominican Republic [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Loans $4.4m to Profinanzas of Peru, Coomuldesa of Colombia, the Mexican Arms of ProCredit and ProMujer
responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that invests in microfinance, recently reported to MicroCapital that it made debt investments totaling the approximate equivalent of USD 4.4 million through microinvestment vehicles (MIVs) it manages to Profinanzas of Peru, Coomuldesa of Colombia and the Mexican arms of ProCredit and ProMujer.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Opportunity Collaboration to Host Poverty Alleviation UN-Conference, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo de Azueta, Mexico, October 17 – 20, 2011
Event Name: Poverty Alleviation UN-Conference
Event Date: October 17 – October 20, 2011
Event Location: Club Med Ixtapa Pacific, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo de Azueta, Mexico
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Labour Organization (ILO) Backs Crop, Life, Property Microinsurance Scheme in Bolivia
The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, is reportedly supporting a pilot microinsurance scheme in the Tarija region of southern Bolivia with unnamed local partners to provide insurance against loss of food crops, life and property.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: REDCAMIF to Host Discussion on National Microfinance Networks in Central America and the Caribbean at XIV FOROMIC 2011, October 10, 2011, San Jose, Costa Rica
Event Name: REDCAMIF Investors Meeting – “National Networks and the Role of Microfinance in the Region”
Event Date: October 10, 2011
Event Time: 10:30 am to 12:45 pm
Event Location: Hotel Ramada Herradura, San Jose, Costa Rica
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Syndicates $19m Loan for Municipal Marketplaces in El Salvador with Participation from Oikocredit, VDK Spaarbank, Bank Im Bistum
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based development finance institution, announced that it recently closed a USD 19 million syndicated loan with participation from Dutch cooperative Oikocredit, VDK Spaarbank of Belgium and Bank Im Bistum Essen of Germany to upgrade municipal marketplaces in El Salvador.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Launches Spanish Language “Microfinance in Latin America” Blog
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral financial institution, has launched the Spanish language “Microfinance in Latin America” blog in an effort to explore the role of microfinance in financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean.