by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citing “Impatience with the Pace,” Calvert Impact Restructures to Boost Microfinance, Green Investment

US-based NGO Calvert Impact Capital is rebranding itself as Calvert Impact, a name it has given to the NGO that will hold a group of subsidiaries that will continue to serve retail investors, institutional investors and financial advisors. CEO Jennifer Pryce stated, “We found that our original organizational framework sometimes prevented us from going bigger and bolder…. Our strategy reflects our impatience with the pace of adoption across the capital markets. We…need to double down on what we know works in and for communities.”

Calvert Impact subsidiaries will continue with the organization’s past activities, such as offering Community Investment Notes in denominations as small as

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In Pakistan, Microfinance Portfolios Rise 7.5% Quarterly to $2b

According to data attributed to the Pakistan Microfinance Network, microfinance providers in the country grew the number of savers they serve by 2.9 percent to 87 million from March 2022 to June 2022. During that period, however, the aggregate amount saved by those customers fell 8.9 percent to PKR 391 billion (USD 1.8 billion).

Meanwhile, microlending in Pakistan is growing unambiguously, and it is expected to continue its upward trend as new regulations recently

by Sheen Gupta -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Lend to MFIs in India, China

Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed loans totaling USD 12 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in seven countries through its Dual Return Funds. MFIs in China and India received “among the highest volumes,” but the other countries have not been announced. The names of the MFIs and the amounts invested

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sonata Borrows $6m from MicroVest for Group Microlending to Women in Rural India

Sonata Finance, a provider of loans and insurance to women in India, recently borrowed USD 6 million from MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global. Founded in 2006, Sonata serves 700,000 borrowers on a cash-free basis via 460 branches. While most of the microfinance institution’s loans are to groups of women conducting rural enterprise, the institution also offers

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Funding Societies Inks $50m Line of Credit from HSBC to Bolster Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia

Funding Societies, a Singapore-based platform using crowdfunding and other sources of investment to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently agreed to borrow up to USD 50 million from the local unit of UK-based HSBC. Funding Societies is active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, offering products

by Sheen Gupta -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Albania, Georgia, Vietnam Borrow $8m from C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds

Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed loans totaling USD 8 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Albania, Georgia and Vietnam through its Dual Return Funds. One of these loans was

by Saulius Ramanauskas -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Banking in Layers: Five Cases to Illustrate How the Market Structure for Financial Services is Evolving;” by Aiaze Mitha, Faith Biegon, Peter Zetterli; Published by CGAP

This paper cites several financial service providers (FSPs) in emerging markets in exploring how recent advancements in digital technology have enabled new business models, transforming the market for financial services. The authors argue that these FSPs have deconstructed the financial services market into separate modules, allowing these modules to be reassembled in innovative ways. These modules include:

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Bancamía of Colombia, Banco FIE of Bolivia, Kashf Foundation of Pakistan Shortlisted for $100k European Microfinance Award on Financial Inclusion for Women

European Microfinance PlatformFrom the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On the 21st and 22nd September 2022, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award 2022 (EMA 2022) on “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” chose the three finalists that will go on to compete for the EUR 100,000 (USD 100,000) prize: Bancamía from Colombia; Banco FIE from Bolivia; and Kashf Foundation from Pakistan.

For decades, financial inclusion has ostensibly been about women’s empowerment and autonomy. But too often the sector has paid only lip-service to what this means, focusing merely on

by Saulius Ramanauskas -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silatech, Gojo Partner to Provide Digital Finance to Youth-led Enterprises in Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka

The Qatar-based social enterprise Silatech recently launched a three-year partnership with the Japanese microfinance investor Gojo & Company with the aim of supporting 90,000 youth in Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka with digital financial services to facilitate the founding and expansion of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Among the strategies of the partnership is

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Committee in Bangladesh Considering Cutting Microcredit Interest Rate Cap Below 24%

The Bangladeshi government recently convened a committee to “analyze cost of the MFIs’ [microfinance institutions’] services and to determine if there is any scope to reduce the charges” with a nationwide cap. The committee, which includes 11 representatives of government, industry and observers, is headed by

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Via InsuResilience Investment Fund II, KfW Seeks to Grow Climate Microinsurance in Africa, Asia, Latin America

German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) recently funded the InsuResilience Investment Fund Private Equity II (IIF PE II) to invest in firms helping people in Africa, Asia and Latin America to manage climate risks. In particular, the fund targets

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sahyadri Farms of India Raises $39m in Equity from Incofin, FMO, Korys, Proparco to Boost Smallholder Farmers’ Exports of Fruits, Vegetables

The Belgian impact investor Incofin recently led an investment round in Sahyadri Farms, an Indian firm that works with smallholder farmers to grow and process food for export. The value of the equity round is INR 3.1 billion (USD 39 million), including participation from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO); Korys, the impact investing firm of Belgium’s Colruyt family; and the French government’s Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco).

Sahyadri Farms is a “farmer-led” firm that buys nine crops from 18,000 farmers who tend

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Issuing Senior, Secured Loan of $10m in Local Currency to NeoGrowth for Microfinance Lending in India

The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently signed a senior, secured facility equivalent to USD 10 million in local currency to India’s NeoGrowth to expand its lending to microenterprises. Founded in 2013, NeoGrowth provides loans to micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) based on

by Renata Samadova -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global SME Finance Forum; September 19-23, 2022; Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The Ninth Global SME Finance Forum will address the effects of digitalization on the financial sector, including the potential for digital transformation to facilitate “inclusive, sustainable, and responsible finance” for microenterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The first day of the event offers

by Benjamin Greissman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (I-AM) Loans $20m from Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds to MFIs in 8 Countries 

Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it lent a total of USD 20 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in China, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru and three other countries through its Dual Return Funds during July 2022. I-AM has

by Renata Samadova -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Making Finance Work for Women Global Summit; May 24-25, 2023; Mumbai, India – NEW DATES AND LOCATION

The goal of this event is to find new ways to assist women in accessing financial services and thus economic empowerment. Although the detailed agenda has yet to be released, the 2020 virtual edition of the summit offered programming on topics such as the effect of world crises on low-income women, digitized wages, inclusive insurance, resilience, leadership and diversity, government-to-person (G2P) payments, gender-lens investing, and regulatory technology (regtech).

by Saulius Ramanauskas -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: In $112m Deal, ADB, BII, LeapFrog, Premji Invest in Shubham Housing Development Finance of India as Elevar, Motilal Oswal Private Equity Exit

The multilateral Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UK government’s British International Investment (BII), UK-based LeapFrog Investments and India’s Premji Invest (PI) – via its PI Opportunities Fund – recently announced they have led an investment in the India’s Shubham Housing Development Finance in local currency totalling the equivalent of USD 112 million. The four investors disbursed USD 78 million to Shubham as primary capital to