During July 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management GmbH issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 34 million to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Sri Lanka.
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDFC Bank Acquires India’s Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance
The Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank, an Indian for-profit private company providing banking and other financial services, recently acquired Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance, a microfinance institution (MFI) headquartered in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, increasing its rural and semi-urban customer base by 1.2 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Suryoday Microfinance Raises $15m in Equity as Aavishkaar Goodwell Exits
Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited , a non-banking finance company providing microfinance services in India, recently raised INR 1 billion (USD 15 million) from investors including the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank; ASK Pravi; the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Standard Life Insurance; Arpwood Investment Advisors; Kiran Vyapar, the investment arm of LN Bangur Group; Polaris Banyan Holding and Dr. Aravind Srinivasan [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Canadian Government Donates $6.7m to DID, Sanasa to Establish Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) Offering Microfinance in Sri Lanka
The Canadian government recently announced a donation of CAD 8.8 million (USD 6.7 million) to be disbursed over four years for the creation of an Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) in Sri Lanka, jointly implemented by Développement International Desjardins (DID), a unit of Canadian cooperative Desjardins Group that promotes financial services in developing countries, and Sanasa Development Bank PLC, a Sri Lankan bank that provides low-income people with loans, voluntary savings, leasing and fund transfer services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Issues Bonds Supporting SME, Rural Finance: $12m for Costa Rica’s Banco Improsa, $10m for Indonesia’s Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, $6m for Armenia’s Armeconombank
Symbiotics Group, a Switzerland-based for-profit investment intermediary, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued local-currency bonds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Group Issues “Impact” Finance Bonds of $9m for India’s Fusion Microfinance Private Limited, $7.5m to Sri Lanka’s LOMC, $3.5m to India’s Saija
Symbiotics Group, a Switzerland-based for-profit investment intermediary, recently informed MicroCapital that it has issued local-currency bonds
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Household Responses to Village Bank Access in Laos; Mobile Banking in Kenya; The Role of Banks in Driving Financial Inclusion
“Household Responses to Access to Finance Through GIZ-AFP Village Banks;” published by the Laos-Australia Development Learning Facility; February 2016; 50 pages; available at: http://ladlf.org/images/publications/030516_LADLF_GIZ_HH_Response_to_A2F_Final.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Funds Managed by C-Quadrat Loan $12m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Asia, Latin America, Tanzania
During the month of June 2016, Austria’s C-Quadrat Asset Management GmbH issued loans worth the equivalent of USD 12 million via its two Dual Return Funds to unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cambodia, India, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. USD 1 million of this total was invested in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $5m to Cambodia’s Chamroeun, AMK, LOLC Micro Credit
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed the following loans to Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs): the local-currency equivalent of USD 540,000 to Chamroeun Microfinance; a pair of transactions totaling USD 2.2 million to Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea (AMK), which was founded by Ireland-based NGO Concern Worldwide; and USD 2.2 million to the Lanka Orix Leasing Company Micro Credit Limited (LOMC), which was formerly known
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) Introduces Training on Financial Literacy for Senior High School Students
The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) recently announced that financial literacy training will be included in the curriculum of senior high school students.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF) Loans $555k to Indonesia’s Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida)
The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has loaned the local-currency equivalent of EUR 500,000 (USD 555,000) over three years to Koperasi Mitra Dhuafa (Komida), an Indonesian lender to women.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Investing Up To $70m in Debt in India-based Microfinance Institutions Grameen Koota, Janalakshmi Financial Services
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced that it will invest up to INR 1.4 billion (USD 20 million) in Grameen Financial Services Private Limited and INR 3.4 billion (USD 50 million) in Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), Bangalore-based microfinance institutions (MFIs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TPG Growth Acquiring 40% in One Network Bank from Banco de Oro Unibank of Philippines
TPG Growth, a subsidiary of the private equity firm TPG, recently announced its intention to purchase a 40-percent equity stake in One Network Bank (ONB), a rural subsidiary of Banco de Oro Unibank (BDO), a Philippines-based commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IntelleGrow Raises $20m in Debt, Equity to Fund Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises in India
IntelleGrow Private Limited, an India-based nonbanking financial company specializing in venture debt that was founded by India’s Intellecap Capital Advisory Services, recently announced that it has raised INR 134 billion (approximately USD 20 million) in equity and debt.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan Sells $474m in Microloans to HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Yes Bank
Bandhan Bank, an Indian microfinance institution that is organized as a commercial bank, recently sold INR 32 billion (USD 474 million) of “priority sector loans to more experienced private sector rivals to help them meet lending targets.” Indian regulators require banks to invest certain percentages of their holdings in “priority sectors” such as agriculture. Chandra Shekhar, the Managing Director of Bandhan Bank, said that Bandhan Bank had used “inter-bank participation certificates” to sell the loans to India’s HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Yes Bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cambodian Microbank Sathapana Borrows $35m Syndicated by Taiwan’s First Commercial Bank
Sathapana Bank, a Cambodia-based commercial bank that evolved from a microfinance institution (MFI), recently borrowed USD 35 million from seven Taiwanese lenders through Taiwan’s First Commercial Bank for the purpose of “expanding its existing microfinance operations and broadening its commercial lending portfolio.” Sathapana management hopes that this loan indicates that Asian lenders are more willing to provide loans to MFIs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SKS Microfinance Changes Name to Bharat Financial Inclusion, in Apparent Continuing Reaction to 2010 Microfinance Crisis in Andhra Pradesh
SKS Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) headquartered in Hyderabad, India, recently announced it will change its name to Bharat Financial Inclusion [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, Ideas42 Seek to Influence Mobile Money Behavior in the Philippines
Two US-based nonprofits, the microfinance-oriented Grameen Foundation and the behavioral design firm ideas42 recently launched a partnership to support financial inclusion in the Philippines by implementing a combination of behavioral science principles and digital financial services provided through mobile phones.