Bankers without Borders (BwB), a volunteer program started in 2008 by the Grameen Foundation that supports microfinance and technology initiatives related to finance in poor countries, has received an investment of USD 150,000 in seed capital from JP Morgan’s Social Finance Unit to expand its services in the Americas and Asia as the “Alliance Program.”
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Transparent Pricing Initiative in Colombia on September 1-2, 2010, in Bogota and Medellin, Hosted by Microfinance Transparency
Event Name: Microfinance Transparency’s (MFTransparency’s) Transparent Pricing Initiative in Colombia
Event Date: September 1 and September 2, 2010
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Peruvian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Mibanco Receives $45m Syndicated Loan from Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BlueOrchard, Oikocredit, the Calvert Foundation and Societe de Promotion et de Participation pour la Cooperation Economique (PROPARCO)
Peruvian microfinance institution (MFI), Mibanco, has received a loan package of USD 45 million, arranged by Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), allowing it to create a new credit program, Crecer Mi Negocio, which targets women entrepreneurs. The program will help finance medium-term loans ranging from a few hundred dollars up to USD 3,000 for the purchase of new fixed assets or otherwise financing existing businesses. The precise range of maturities indicated ‘medium-term’ has not been released to date.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Approves $150m to Strengthen Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Small Business Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB’s) Board of Executive Directors approved a loan and guarantees singular facility of USD 150 million to strengthen financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to boost long-term financing to small business projects deemed to have a high social impact.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Andean Development Corporation (CAF) Approves $5m Line of Credit for Caja Rural de Ahorro y Credito (CRAC) Nuestra Gente to Support Micro and Small Enterprises in Peru
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF), a multilateral financial institution working across Latin America, has approved a USD 5 million line of credit for Caja Rural de Ahorro y Credito (CRAC) Nuestra Gente, a microfinance institution in Peru, to finance micro- and small enterprises in Peru. According to Eleonora Silva Pardo, the director of CAF in Peru, the granting of this line of credit is part of CAF’s goal of improving support for the micro- and small enterprise sector in all of Latin America.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Arranges $135m Syndication for Banco Fibra of Brazil in Cooperation with Banco Itau Europa and Banco Santander
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, recently arranged USD 135 million in syndicated lending for Banco Fibra, a Brazilian bank that reported 2009 total assets of BRL 11.8 billion (USD 6.7 billion). The IFC, a 7.9 percent stakeholder in Banco Fibra, raised much of the funds through Banco Itau Europa of Portugal and Banco Santander of Spain. Through this deal, Banco Fibra aims to expand its services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mexican Microfinance Institution (MFI) Banco Compartamos Releases Non-Audited Financial Results for Second Quarter 2010 Reporting Significant Growth
Mexican microfinance institution (MFI), Banco Compartamos, has announced its non-audited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 (2Q10). All figures were reportedly prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV) and are expressed in nominal pesos.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: A Business to Call Her Own: Identifying, Analyzing and Overcoming Constraints to Women’s Small Businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean, by Jennifer Powers and Barbara Magnoni, Published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
By Jennifer Powers and Barbara Magnoni of EA Consultants, Published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), April 2010, 100 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getDocument.aspx?DOCNUM=35282406
The authors of this study focused on the differences between male and female entrepreneurs in six countries in Latin America: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Invests $4.7m in Bolivian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs); CIDRE (Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo Regional), CRECER (Credito con Educacion Rural), FUBODE (Bolivian Development Foundation) and Diaconia FRIF (Fondo Rotativo de Inversion y Fomento)
Oikocredit, a microfinance investment fund in the Netherlands with total assets of USD 665 million, recently loaned a total of USD 4.7 million to four Bolivian microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Invests $3.4m in Latin American Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Contactar (Corporacion Narino Empresa y Futuro) in Colombia, PADECOMSMCREDITO (Sociedad Cooperativa Patronato para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades de Morazon y San Miguel Credito) in El Salvador and Banco Itapua in Paraguay
Oikocredit, a microfinance investment fund in the Netherlands with total assets of USD 665 million, recently loaned approximately USD 3.46 million to three Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The Association of Microfinance Institutions of Peru (ASOMIF Peru) Credit Portfolio Up 19 Percent from 2009
The Association of Microfinance Institutions of Peru (ASOMIF Peru), a network of 23 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Peru, has reported that as of April 2010, the country’s credit portfolio for microfinance institutions (MFIs) was USD 5.9 billion, up 19 percent from April 2009.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Provides $30m Guaranteed by Remittances to Fedecredito in El Salvador
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will provide USD 30 million of debt financing to Fedecredito, a Salvadoran financial cooperative owned by 55 financial institutions, which will be guaranteed by future cash flows of remittances sent by Salvadorans working abroad to family and friends at home.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Red Centroamericana de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF) Hosts the Fifth Central American Microfinance Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, August 25 to August 27, 2010
Event Name: V Central American Microfinance Conference ‘Crisis: Lessons Learned and New Strategies’
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund and responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds Invest $1.09m in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Apoyo Integral in El Salvador and Forjadores Negocios in Mexico
responsAbility, a Swiss microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) manager, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has executed debt investments totaling the equivalent of nearly USD 1.1 million in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in El Salvador and Mexico.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) Announces $1m in New Grants to Promote Economic Opportunities Including Microfinance
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF), a nonprofit organization created by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to rebuild Haiti following the January 12 earthquake, has announced USD 1 million in new grants aimed at creating new jobs and promoting economic opportunity, including microfinance. An unspecified proportion of the grant will be used to finance the Haiti Emergency Liquidity Program (HELP), which will give recovery grants to “key” microfinance institutions (MFIs), which are defined as those having approximately 50,000 clients or more.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Implements Advisory Services Project Totaling $382,000 at Microfinance Bank, Asociacion Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM), in Dominican Republic
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement with Asociacion Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM), a microfinance bank in Dominican Republic, to implement an advisory services project for the institutional strengthening of the bank to enhance the financial services provided to low-income clients in the Dominican Republic. A press release from IFC states that the project will focus on improving the efficiency of the bank’s credit processes, strengthening its risk management and increasing savings mobilized. The overall amount of the project will be USD 382,000.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) Global Fund to Invest $5m in Triodos Microfinance Fund
The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a partnership between the Norwegian public and private sectors that provides assistance for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries, has recently announced that its Global Fund will make an investment of EUR 4 million (equivalent to USD 5 million) in Triodos Microfinance Fund, a microfinance investment vehicle based in Luxembourg with total assets of USD 36.2 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Germany’s Environment Ministry, KfW to Launch $500m Microfinance Fund for Climate Projects in Brazil, Asia, Africa
Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry recently announced it would be launching a USD 500 million climate fund that will provide microloans for individual energy efficiency or renewables projects initially through local banks in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Philippines and South Africa.