The managers of the Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund recently invested USD 1 million from the fund in the Honduran unit of Mexico-based Acceso Financiero, a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides credit to approximately 40,000 low-income clients in rural El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The investment, which is in the form of “risk adjusted blended finance capital,” is set to enable retail loans for working capital and asset purchases. Financial data on Acceso Financiero is not available.
Ilu is a joint venture of two institutions that focus on Latin America, the Canadian investor Deetken Impact, and Pro Mujer, a US-based provider of health and business services for women. Ilu primarily invests in organizations that provide “services for low-income women, including access to healthcare, educational loans, financial services, and technical assistance, as well as gender-smart investments in renewable energy, affordable housing and sustainable production.” Per its 2022 impact report, the fund reported raising USD 5.8 million, providing technical assistance in nine countries, and performing 26 online and in-person educational events.
Established in 1990 in Bolivia, Pro Mujer operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Nicaragua as of 2023. Its focus is to increase access to financial, health and educational services for women and their families. During 2022, Pro Mujer provided: (1) financial services to 250,000 clients, disbursing loans totaling USD 324 million; (2) 400,000 health interventions, including 9,600 cancer screenings; and (3) online workshops on female microentrepreneurship for 26,000 people.
Deetken Impact primarily invests in Latin America and the Caribbean in the following sectors: funders of small and medium-sized enterprises, women’s enterprise, renewable energy, housing, and health. Deetken Impact manages five funds with a total volume of USD 150 million. The firm has a staff of 24 with three offices deployed across seven countries in the Americas as of 2023.
By Rohit Dayanand, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Deetken Impact announcement
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/deetken-impact_honduras-northerncentralamerica-microfinance-activity-7052011321826963456-fDZj
Acceso Financiero homepage
https://accesofinanciero.com
Acceso Financiero LinkedIn profile
https://www.linkedin.com/company/acceso-financiero/about/
Ilu homepage
https://iluwomensempowermentfund.com/
Deetken Impact homepage
https://deetkenimpact.com/
Pro Mujer homepage
https://promujer.org/b2b/en/
Pro Mujer 2022 impact report
https://impactpromujer.org/2022/
Previous MicroCapital article on Pro Mujer
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-digital-pro-mujer-offers-financial-education-digital-literacy-training-mentoring-loans-mobile-money-to-women-in-latin-america/
Previous MicroCapital article on Deetken Impact
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-deetken-impact-acquires-40-equity-stake-in-asset-manager-adobe-capital-seeking-to-boost-social-environmental-returns-in-latin-america/
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