Originally scheduled to begin on May 9, this conference focuses on the evolution of digital payments in Latin America, including as innovations in technology conflict with unstable markets and regulatory lag. A key theme is how the massification of digital payments is creating an increase in demand on which both new and traditional players are capitalizing. While this year’s agenda has not yet been released, session titles from the 2021 conference included “Nuevo Impulso a la Inclusión Financiera desde los Pagos Móviles” (Mobile Payments Bring New Momentum to Financial Inclusion), “Una Plataforma de Pagos Pionera, Impulsada por la
Category: Latin America & Caribbean
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech TerraMagna Raises $40m in Debt, Equity from Milenio, Shift, SoftBank to Boost Lending Along Agricultural Value Chains in Brazil
TerraMagna, a Brazilian agricultural financial technology (fintech) company, recently raised USD 30 million in debt and USD 10 million in equity funding from Japan’s SoftBank Group, via its SoftBank Latin America Fund, and two Brazilian finance firms, Milenio Capital and Shift Capital. The breakdown of the investments by investor and the sizes of the stakes taken have not been released. In addition to lending to sellers of agricultural inputs and tools,
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investing World Forum; April 28-29, 2022; London, UK
This conference will cover topics such as investing in gender equality and mitigating and adjusting to climate change. The speakers are to include representatives from organizations such as Big Issue, the EU, Goldman Sachs, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. Among the session topics are “The Anatomy of a Deal During COVID-19 and Beyond,” “Investing in Housing as Part of Criminal Justice Reform,” “Impact Investing in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EDPYME Alternativa of Peru Borrows $5m from Huruma Fund to Provide Farmers with Asset Finance
Huruma Fund, a Spain-based vehicle supporting rural financial services providers in low- and moderate-income countries, recently lent EUR 4 million (USD 5 million) to Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequeña y Micro Empresa (EDPYME) Alternativa, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Peru that serves rural populations. The goal of the investment is to assist small-scale farmers through increased outreach and new products focused on farmers’ needs.
Alternativa was founded in 1992 and plans to use the new funds to issue 8,600 loans to farmers, some for fixed assets, with repayment terms as long as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Partners with Cooperative CACPECO on $14m Bond for Housing, MSME Lending in Ecuador
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based impact investing firm, recently partnered with Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito de la Pequeña Empresa de Cotopaxi (CACPECO), a cooperative in Ecuador, to fund it with the proceeds of a bond in the amount of USD 14 million, for a term of 4 years. The funds are to be used for: (1) housing loans with 15-year terms and interest rates of 9.9 percent per year; and (2) business loans of up to USD 1 million for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Of the MSME loans,
MEDIA OF THE MONTH: 170k Women in Mexico, Peru Leveraging $70m in Microfinance via Banco Compartamos, Citi, DFC, JICA
This 4-minute video describes a partnership among the Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos, Citi, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the US International Development Corporation to fund 170,000 female entrepreneurs in Mexico and Peru.
This post is part of an occasional series from MicroCapital pointing you to great media on microfinance and other forms of impact investing. Enjoy!
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SPECIAL REPORT: Networks in Nigeria, Latin America & Caribbean Boost Trajectory of Women Staff, Clients of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
At a session titled “Professional Women’s Networks and Women’s Leadership in Financial Inclusion,” Mariana Martinez of FinEquity, a platform hosted by CGAP that promotes women’s financial inclusion, described the platform’s new Spanish-language arm, FinEquityALC. FinEquityALC focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, serving as a pilot project that could lead to FinEquity establishing other regional projects. The goals of FinEquityALC are to improve public policy that impacts women’s financial inclusion as well as financial products and financial education that are targeted at women. Its 1,100 users span 250 institutions.
Barbara Magnoni of Andares and EA Consultants described how Andares connects
SPECIAL REPORT: Fonkoze of Haiti Wins €100k “Inclusive Finance and Healthcare” European Microfinance Award
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): Fonkoze has won the €100,000 prize awarded by the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Three financial service providers from the South were in the running
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pro Mujer Launches Emprende Platform to Incubate Women-owned Microenterprises in Latin America
The US-based social enterprise Pro Mujer today launched the pilot phase of its Emprende platform, a Spanish-language resource for women running “subsistence” enterprises. Pro Mujer chose 600 women from 3,000 applicants to participate in the three-month pilot, which offers “pre-incubation” and incubation services in three categories:
Skills – Based on the idea of lifelong learning, Emprende offers learning opportunities, including via “edutainment,” with new content to be developed based on customer requests.
Collaboration – The platform includes a “collaborative hub,” with content partners such as the US-based technology firms Microsoft and Platsi. Platsi is a trilingual
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deetken Impact Acquires 40% Equity Stake in Asset Manager Adobe Capital, Seeking to Boost Social, Environmental Returns in Latin America
Deetken Impact, a Canada-based asset manager, recently paid an undisclosed sum to acquire 40 percent of the shares of Adobe Capital, a Mexico-based manager of investments intended to create positive social and environmental impact. The goal of the partnership is to increase the availability of
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Determinants of Financial Well-Being: Evidence from Latin America,” by Sebastián Cárdenas, Published by CAF
This paper addresses the measurement and causes of financial well-being in Latin America with the aim of encouraging the deployment of optimal policies and practices by both private institutions and governments. To define the term, Mr Cárdenas cites the US-based Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which considers a high level of financial well-being to mean individuals can “meet their financial obligations successfully, can feel secure about their financial future and are able to make decisions
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lends $13m to Microfinance Institution Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala
Oikocredit, a cooperative based in the Netherlands, recently funded a 4-year loan of EUR 9.6 million (USD 13.1 million) in favor of Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI) Fundación Génesis Empresarial. Génesis CFO Jim López said that the loan will allow the MFI “to support more rural Guatemalans in advancing their development path and improving their quality of life” and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC Announces $150m Loan to Produbanco of Ecuador to Support Women’s Enterprise, SME Lending, Green Projects
Banco de la Producción SA (Produbanco), a bank in Ecuador, recently agreed to borrow USD 150 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed development finance institution. One half of the funding is for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Fintech and Financial Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean,” by Dmitry Gershenson et al, Published by International Monetary Fund
This paper examines financial technology (fintech) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), particularly: (1) whether fintech can increase financial inclusion; and (2) best practices for governments seeking to use fintech to do so. Among the challenges is that
SPECIAL REPORT: CRECER, Dreamlopments, Fonkoze in Finals for European Microfinance Award 2021 on Inclusive Finance & Health Care
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 22nd and 23rd September 2021, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2021 (EMA 2021) on “Inclusive Finance & Health Care” chose the three finalists who will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 117,000) prize: CRECER IFD from Bolivia, Dreamlopments Limited from Thailand and Fonkoze from Haiti.
Access to quality health care underpins everything else: it allows education to play its role in opening new opportunities; it allows people to earn, invest and employ others; it lets groups and societies prosper. But paying for health care is the single biggest
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Financiera Desyfin of Costa Rica Borrowing $22m from FMO, Partly for Green Lending
Financiera Desyfin, a non-bank financial institution (NBFI) that provides “credit, factoring, and leasing products” in Costa Rica, recently agreed to borrow USD 22.5 million from Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership. A portion of the funds is for “green” projects, such as increasing “energy efficiency, recycling and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Golden Brigades Launches Eskala, Investor of Microequity in Cooperatives in Rural Central America
Golden Brigades, which is registered as a charity in five North American and European countries, recently launched a for-profit entity called Eskala to focus on using microequity to support cajas rurales, rural banking cooperatives. As of 2021, Eskala has invested in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $16m to MFIs in Armenia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Tajikistan
C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it loaned a total equivalent to USD 16 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia, Armenia, Costa Rica, Panama and Tajikistan from its