Silatech, a Qatar-based social enterprise, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the development agency of the German government, have partnered with Al-Amal Microfinance Bank (AMB) and Alkuraimi Islamic Microfinance Bank (AIMB), both of Yemen, to extend financial access to Yemeni youth through a microsavings program.
Category: Middle East
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Funds Managed By Incofin Loan $5m to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, Bai Tushum of Kyrgyzstan; Take 35% Stake in Unguka Bank of Rwanda
Incofin, a Belgian for-profit microfinance investment manager, has agreed to disburse loans of USD 3 million to FINCA Kyrgyzstan, a branch of US-based microfinance nonprofit FINCA International, and USD 2 million to Bai Tushum Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kyrgyzstan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Swarna Pragati Housing Microfinance, Accion Invest $4.5m in Saija Finance of India
Swarna Pragati Housing Microfinance Limited, an Indian housing finance company, and Accion, a US-based nonprofit, reportedly have invested USD 4.5 million in Saija Finance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Number of No-Frills Bank Accounts In India Surpasses 100m
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly has announced that the number of no-frills or zero-balance account holders has doubled since 2010, rising to 103.2 million as of March 31, 2012.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AlHuda CIBE: Supply of Islamic Bankers Falls Short of Demand
The demand for Islamic finance experts is ten times greater than the current supply, according to Zubhair Mughal, CEO of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics, a nonprofit microfinance research and training organization based in Pakistan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfund for Women Offers Health Insurance Coverage to Microfinance Borrowers’ Families in Jordan
The Microfund for Women (MFW), a Jordanian microfinance institution serving microentrepreneurs, has extended health insurance coverage to family members of its clients as part of the second phase of its Caregiver Program, which helps to defray expenses associated with hospitalization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance of India to Offer Life Insurance
SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has announced plans to offer an endowment life insurance plan to its borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Loan Recast Proposal of India’s SWAWS Admitted into Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell
The loan recast proposal of Sharada’s Women’s Association for Weaker Section (SWAWS) Credit Corporation, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has been admitted into the 2012 corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell, which was designed by the reserve bank of India to help MFIs carry out restructuring plans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: HSBC to Provide Technical Assistance to Microfinance Institutions in Middle East, North Africa in Partnership with Grameen-Jameel, Bankers without Borders
UK-based financial services company HSBC (formerly known as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), Dubai-based microfinance investor Grameen-Jameel and Bankers without Borders (BwB), a program of the US-based Grameen Foundation, are partnering to provide financial and technical expertise to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Middle East and North Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swiss Government Sponsor Workshops for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Egypt
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, is sponsoring a series of workshops for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt “on how to implement sound corporate governance standards to improve their performance, increase access to finance and foster sustained growth.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Wells Fargo Partner To Launch $200m Facility to Increase Trade Finance for Banks in Emerging Markets, Half in Middle East, North Africa
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and Wells Fargo, an American financial services provider, recently teamed up to launch a USD 200 million, five-year risk-sharing facility to support the trade financing needs of banks in emerging countries with the aim to propel economic growth and job creation.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) Expand Platform SME Toolkit in Qatar
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the nonprofit Qatar Development Bank (QDB) have launched the SME Toolkit, an online platform, in Qatar.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Invests $2m in Jordan’s Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC), Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN)
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG recently reported to MicroCapital that is has lent the local currency equivalent of USD 1.5 million to Jordan’s Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) –with equivalent to USD 1 million from the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF) and equivalent to USD 500,000 from responsAbility Mikrofinanz-Fonds (rAMF).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW Bankengruppe, German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to Invest $100m in Micro Finance Initiative for Asia (MIFA)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly plans to set up the Micro Finance Initiative for Asia (MIFA), a Luxembourg-based USD 100 million microfinance debt fund.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Mubadarati” Initiative Backed by United Nations, Silatech to Provide Microfinance to Young Palestinian Entrepreneurs
A United Nations-backed initiative, “Mubadarati,” that was announced February 27, 2012, will provide loans to young people in the West Bank and Gaza.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “SANAD Fund for MSME” to Loan $5m to BLC Bank of Lebanon for On-Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
SANAD Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-based investment fund, has invested in Lebanon for the first time with a USD 5 million loan to BLC Bank sal, a Lebanese commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund Acquires 20% Stake in Microfinance Holding Company CHF Development Finance International, Focus to be on Middle East
The BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund (BOPE Fund), a microfinance investment vehicle managed by Switzerland’s BlueOrchard, recently acquired a 20 percent stake in US-based CHF Development Finance International, a holding company established by development organization CHF International to own and manage CHF’s commercially-oriented microfinance subsidiaries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mint Technology Forms Microfinance Subsidiary “Mint Money” Targeting Market in United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Mint Technology Corporation (Mint), a Toronto-based provider of prepaid credit card programs to employers, has created Mint Money, a subsidiary that will seek to offer microfinance loans directly to its existing cardholder base starting during the first quarter of 2012.