responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), an investment manager founded in 2003 in Switzerland, reported to MicroCapital that it recently made four debt investments totaling USD 1.7 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) MBK Ventura of Indonesia, COOPAC Norandino of Peru and COAC Mushuc Runa of Ecuador.
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Banking and Securities Commission of Mexico Releases Financial Access Report, Finds 6m Adults Lack Access to Microfinance or Other Financial Services
The National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV, in Spanish) of Mexico recently released a report indicating that approximately 10 percent of adults in the country, or some six million people, live in municipalities that do not have any financial institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Announces New Commitments; Brazilian Sitawi to Start Microcredit Fund, Lumni to Provide Student Loans
On September 23, 2010, Sitawi, a Brazilian social enterprise fund, and Lumni, a fund that helps students finance their education, announced new commitments at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, a forum on international development founded in 2005 by former US President Bill Clinton.
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: MFTransparency Hosts Conference Launching its Microfinance Transparency Pricing Initiative in Bolivia, December 2, 2010 (Date Has Been Revised)
Event Name: Conference: Transparent Pricing Initiative in Bolivia
Event Date: December 2, 2010 (date has been revised)
Event Location: Radisson Plaza Hotel, La Paz, Bolivia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Provides $29.1m in Guarantees Toward Brazilian Securitized Fund for SMEs
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has committed to issue a BRL 50 million (USD 29.1 million) guarantee for investors in a fund that securitizes loans originated by Banco Industrial Comercial S.A.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haitian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fonkoze Releases 2009 Social Performance Report
Fonkoze, a microfinance institution established in Haiti in 1994, recently announced the release of its 2009 Social Performance Report, “Accompanying Our Clients Along the Staircase out of Poverty.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Provide $40m to Argentinian Bank, Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires, for Agribusiness Credit Line, Sustainability Projects
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Fund for International Development (OFID), a multilateral development finance institution based in Vienna, recently announced an agreement to provide up to USD 40 million to Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SA (Banco Galicia), an Argentinian bank, in support of an agribusiness credit line and sustainability projects in Argentina.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments AG of Switzerland Invests $4.31m in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) ProCredit Mexico and Pro Mujer
responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) manager, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has executed debt investments totaling the equivalent of USD 4.31 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) ProCredit Mexico and Pro Mujer, with the loan to Pro Mujer being directed to its operations in Mexico.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Finance Loans $2.5m to Peruvian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Confianza and Ecuadorian MFI Fundacion para el Desarrollo Microempresarial (D-Miro)
In August 2010, BlueOrchard Finance, a Swiss commercial microfinance intermediary which manages 6 microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), loaned PEN 4.27 million (the equivalent of USD 1.53 million) to the Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI) Confianza, which provides loans, insurance and fund transfer services, and USD 1 million to the Ecuadorian MFI Fundacion para el Desarrollo Microempresarial (D-Miro).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Finance Loans $1.77m to Peruvian Microfinance Institution (MFI) EDPYME Alternativa
In August 2010, BlueOrchard Finance, a Swiss based commercial microfinance intermediary which manages 6 microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), announced that it loaned PEN 4.94 million (the equivalent of USD 1.77 million) to the Peruvian microfinance institution EDPYME Alternativa, a microfinance institution (MFI) founded in 1993.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nicaraguan Microfinance Institution Banco del Exito (Banex) to be Liquidated
Nicaraguan banking authorities are expected to announce the liquidation of Banco del Exito (Banex), a Nicaraguan microfinance institution, in the next several days.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and Founder of Microfinance Institution Grameen Bank, Promotes Social Business Fund Concept for Haiti
Mr Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate recipient and founder of Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi microfinance institution which popularized the concept of community lending, promoted a “social business funding” concept to address social problems in Haiti at a recent speaking engagement in Miami, Florida, USA.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Freedom from Hunger Publishes Results of Four-year, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Grant Program to Bring Combination of Microfinance and Healthcare Options to Rural Poor in Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines
Freedom from Hunger, a California-based international development nonprofit, recently published the results of a four-year grant program enabling the organization and partner microfinance banks to add healthcare options to microfinance offerings for 1.5 million of the world’s rural poor in Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Supports Microfinance Institution (MFI) FinTerra in Mexico With Technical Assistance and a $1.18m Loan
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it will provide FinTerra, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) founded in 2004, targeted technical assistance aimed at increasing its ability to serve lower- and middle- income borrowers, as well as MXN 15 million (USD 1.18 million) in the form of a credit line.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAF (Andean Development Corporation) Implements $5m Local-Currency Financing Program for MSME Sector in Bolivia
CAF (Andean Development Corporation) recently announced the implementation of a local-currency financing program in the amount of BOB 35 million (USD 5 million) for the micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector in Bolivia, provided from CAF to support microfinance institutions with medium-term (up to three years) loans in local currency.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to Provide $5m Partial Credit Guarantee to Mexican Microfinance Institution Agrofinanzas for Supply Chain Financing
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral finance institution serving Latin America and the Caribbean, will be providing a partial credit guarantee of up to USD 5 million to Agrofinanzas, a Mexican microfinance institution focused on supply chain financing, to support small Mexican sunflower producers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “Latin America and the Caribbean Benchmarks 2009”
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, recently released “Latin America and the Caribbean Benchmarks 2009” which compares performance indicators for microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds and responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund Invest $3.8m in Microfinance Institutions Fondo de Desarrollo Comunal of Bolivia (Fondeco), Fundación para el Desarrollo Microempresarial of Ecuador (D-Miro) and Consejo de Asistencia al Microemprendedor (CAME) of Mexico
responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds and responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), microfinance investment vehicles managed by responsAbility Social Investments AG of Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital the details of five debt investments made during the month of July 2010, totaling the equivalent of USD 3.77 million.