The government of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently partnered to launch the Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) with the objective of reaching 560,000 households by “supporting smallholder farmers, agricultural laborers, and micro and small agribusinesses to start and expand competitive businesses” including by
Category: South Asia, East Asia and Pacific
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 60 Decibels Microfinance Index Offers Impact Data from 18k Customers of 72 MFIs
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Pakistan-based JS Investments Limited (JSIL) recently launched the JS Microfinance Sector Fund (JSMFSF) with the goal of providing “the opportunity to tap into the growth potential of Pakistan’s microfinance sector” resulting in “a reasonable rate of return while maintaining high liquidity.” The fund carries a minimum investment of
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Singapore-based Trusting Social recently closed its Series C funding round, selling 25 percent of its equity for USD 65 million to Sherpa Company, a subsidiary of the Vietnam-based Masan Group, which operates across the financial, food, materials, retail and technology sectors. Trusting Social offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Disburses $15m from Dual Return Funds to Microfinance Institutions in 7 Countries
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans totaling USD 15 million from the Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and three other countries. Neither the names of the MFIs nor
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Lends $20m to Sathapana Bank of Cambodia to Speed Recovery from, Adjustment to COVID-19
The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently lent USD 20 million to Sathapana Bank Plc, a former NGO in Cambodia that transformed first into a microfinance institution and then a commercial bank. The purpose of the loan is to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bankingly of Uruguay Raises $11m in Equity Round Led by Dalus Capital to Help Financial Institutions Boost Digital Inclusion in Africa, Asia, Latin America
Uruguay’s Bankingly recently secured an investment package totalling USD 11 million, which it plans to use to expand in Latin America and Africa as well as enter Southeast Asia. Bankingly provides financial institutions with software-as-a-service (SaaS) that helps them serve customers via websites, mobile apps, chatbots and other tools, thus “facilitating the financial inclusion of millions of people…”. Bankingly CEO and Founder, Martin Naor, expressed the hope that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Executes IIF Equity Buy into Forte Insurance to Boost Agricultural Microinsurance in Cambodia
Switzerland’s BlueOrchard Finance recently disbursed an equity placement of undisclosed size from the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), a Luxembourg-domiciled public-private partnership, for IIF to buy a minority stake in Cambodia’s Forte Insurance Group. BlueOrchard’s investment director for the continent, Thibaud Ponchon, expressed confidence that the placement will “drive the penetration of
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Two providers of business-to-business services, UK-registered Solaris Offgrid and India’s NuovoPay, recently agreed to make NuovoPay’s smartphone leasing service available to distributors via Solaris’s PaygOps platform with the goal of increasing “access to digital technology for millions of unbanked people in emerging countries.” PaygOps is a system for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aavishkaar India Fund VI Nets $130m for MSMEs Addressing Climate Change, Agtech, Fintech – Anchored by Public Funding from Domestic, European Sources
Aavishkaar Capital, a subsidiary of India’s Aavishkaar Group, recently completed the first close of its Aavishkaar India Fund VI with commitments totaling INR 10 billion (USD 130 million) to invest mainly in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In particular, Sushma Kaushik, a partner at Aavishkaar Capital, said that the fund aims to
SPECIAL REPORT: Pratibha Singh of Agents for Impact, Arunkumar Padmanabhan of Svasti Discuss the AFISAR Rating, Microfinance, Impact and Much More!
This is part of a series of features sponsored by Agents for Impact (AFI), a German impact investing firm whose products include the AFI Sustainability Alignment Rating (AFISAR©) tool. AFISAR© is a trust mark – in microfinance and other forms of social business – signifying a commitment to positive and enduring change for people and the planet, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework.
AFISAR© helps MFIs leverage the market’s growing focus on sustainability performance to raise capital from international investors and, particularly, impact investors. The rating helps investors and social businesses understand their strengths and weaknesses and devise effective strategies to minimize negative impact and maximize positive impact to the benefit of the organization – its employees, clients and other stakeholders – as well as the environment.
The conversation below outlines the AFISAR© rating process carried out in the “direct partnership” format by a leading MFI like Svasti Microfinance. Direct partnership offers a continuous and immersive experience to facilitate sustainable transitions. The active dialogue and engagement embedded in the AFISAR© process enable the MFI as well as asset managers to embark on a journey that leads to long-term sustainable development. AFI highly values long-term partnerships with organizations sharing our mission of achieving the UN SDGs. We take this so seriously that a rating above the sustainability threshold is required for the disbursement funds.
To date, AFI has used AFISAR© to rate 35+ microfinance and SME finance institutions in Asia, East Africa and Eastern Europe, helping the institutions demonstrate their SDG competency and alignment.
Pratibha Singh (pictured): How did you become interested in microfinance?
Arunkumar Padmanabhan: I was a lawyer and had worked for some years with ICICI Bank. Based on that experience, I wanted to set up a commercial business in the social impact space. We started in the slums of Mumbai, and now we have expanded to eight states in India with 220,000 borrowers across 120 branches.
PS: What makes the Svasti model unique?
AP: The key to success in this field is based on three aspects: people, process and technology. Our vision follows the “people-first” approach. Technology and innovation are driving forces as well, and we have built all of our systems from the ground up. That gives us a significant competitive advantage. Meanwhile, we have focussed on client protection and social impact from a very early stage in our development. With AFISAR©, we have become one of the few companies that is measuring its performance based on the SDGs. Constantly trying to improve in impact-driven areas is of great strategic importance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kinara Capital Raises $50m in Equity from Nuveen, ASN Microkredietfonds to Boost Lending to MSMEs in India
India’s Kinara Capital recently raised INR 3.8 billion (USD 50 million) in equity from the Global Impact Fund of US-based Nuveen, which led the investment round, and ASN Microkredietfonds, which is advised by the Netherlands’ Triple Jump, to boost Kinara’s lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India. According to Kinara Founder and CEO Hardika Shah
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Louis Dreyfus Company Borrowing $100m from ADB to On-lend to Small-scale Farmers to Boost Climate Resilience, COVID-19 Recovery
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral institution based in the Philippines, recently agreed to lend USD 100 million to Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a Netherlands-based firm active in agriculture, food processing and shipping. LDC plans to use the funds to finance “coffee, cotton and rice inventories” for 50,000 smallholder farmers who supply the firm’s operations in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. Among the goals of the project are to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Loans $11m from Dual Return Microfinance Funds to MFIs in East Timor, Ecuador, Kosovo, Nicaragua
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans from Vision Microfinance and Vision Microfinance Local Currency, the two sub-funds of the Dual Return Fund family, that total the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SIG Venture Capital Leads $210m Investment in Fintech Voyager of the Philippines
Voyager Innovations, a Philippine provider of digital financial services tools such as Fintq, PayMaya and Smart Padala, recently secured an investment package totaling USD 210 million. The fresh capital is slated for developing the company’s “digital banking venture and other services like cryptocurrency and micro-investments.” Voyager was established in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khan Bank Borrows $6m from MicroVest for SMEs in Mongolia
MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 6 million to Khan Bank, which serves individuals and companies of all sizes in Mongolia. The goal of the loan is to boost