MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinvest of Moldova Borrows $3.4m from IIV for Microfinance, SME Lending

Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has lent the second of two tranches to Microinvest, a lender to households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Moldova, on behalf of Germany-based Invest in Visions (IIV). The disbursement of EUR 3 million (USD 3.4 million) completes an agreement between the parties valued at EUR 7 million (USD 8 million), as announced last year by MicroCapital.

Microinvest, which is majority-held by the Balkan Financial Sector Equity Fund, offers collateral-based and collateral-free loans for business, agriculture, housing, vehicles and consumption. These loans range in size from approximately USD 110 to USD 315,000. As of 2021, Microinvest has a loan portfolio of USD 164 million outstanding to 44,000 clients, of whom two thirds live in rural areas and approximately 40 percent are women.

Launched in 2006, IIV manages “investments in sustainable agriculture, social enterprises and social impact lending.” The firm created its primary product, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds, in 2011 to invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises via intermediaries in developing countries. It does this mainly via “small and medium-sized MFIs, particularly in rural areas.” The minimum investment in the fund is EUR 100 (USD 113). As of April 2022, IIV Mikrofinanzfonds has a volume of EUR 889 million (USD 934 million).

AFI, which was founded in 2018, does not disclose the volume of its operations. The goal of the firm is to bring together investors to make progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with AFI

Microinvest homepage
https://microinvest.md/

IIV homepage
https://www.investinvisions.com/

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