by the MicroCapital Team -

Dutch Triodos Bank Makes Over $7m in Worldwide Microfinance Investments via Multiple Microcredit Funds

The Triodos-Doen Fund had a very busy year-end. The Dutch microfinance investment fund closed 11 deals totaling just over US$7 million. Opened in 1994 as a joint initiative of the DOEN Foundation, an organization dedicated to sustainable development, and Triodos Bank; the Triodos-Doen Fund had US$34,822,585 in assets under management as of 12/31/04. The fund’s mission is to stimulate sustainable development in a “dynamic, entrepreneurial way.” Investments are focused on microfinance and trade finance for “Fair Trade” or certified organic producers.

Details of all of the latest Triodos-Doen Fund deals are below:

MFI

Region

Funding

Vehicle

FIE

Latin America

$ 232,650

Equity Shares

Alter Modus

Eastern Europe

$ 244,800

Loan

FINCA Mexico

Latin America

$ 750,000

Loan

Fundación José Nieberowski

Latin America

$ 1,000,000

Syndicated Loan

CAME

Latin America

$ 750,000

Loan

Argentina Microfinanzas

Latin America

$ 250,000

Convertible Loan

Edpyme Proempresa

Latin America

$ 600,000

Loan

Edpyme Edyficar

Latin America

å¥ 700,000

Syndicated Loan

PRODEM

Latin America

$ 1,000,000

Syndicated Loan

K-REP

Africa

$ 1,390,000

Syndicated Loan

CEB

Asia

$ 500,000

Convertible Loan


The individual deals were primarily debt financings, including a number of “syndicate loans” funded with partner MFIFs. Among the groups that Triodos-Doen partnered with were two other funds managed by the Dutch development bank: the Hivos-Triodos Fund and the Triodos Fair Share Fund. Though primarily focused in Latin America, Triodos’ microfinance investments had a broad reach, extending to Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia as well.

Triodos-Doen and Triodos Fair Share Fund also participated in a round of equity financing with Bolivian microfinance institution, FIE S.A.. FIE S.A. is the result of an effort by the Center for the Development of Economic Initiatives. The organization offers both lending and remittance services to support small-scale economic activities of families and people living in poverty. At the end of 2004, FIE S.A. had total assets of US$59,638,363 and generated a return on these assets of 3.02%. Typically, Triodos-Doen attempts to allocate 1/3 of its funds to equity deals such as this and 2/3 to debt financing. Overall, the fund maintains a portfolio of 64 active investments as of 12/31/04, and increased its Net Asset Value by 12% from 2003-2004, according to the fund’s most recent annual report.On the debt side, Triodos-Doen extended a number of loans to Latin American microfinance institutions. FINCA Mexico received a US$750,000 loan. As a member of the Foundation for International Community Assistance network, FINCA Mexico uses the “Village Banking” methodology to provide lending services to entrepreneurial women that often live on less than US$2.00 per day.

Peruvian microfinance institutions Edpyme Proempresa and Edpyme Edyficar both received loans from multiple Triodos Bank funds. Proempresa, with US$12,680,540 in assets as of 12/31/2004, received both a US$600,000 loan from Triodos-Doen, and a loan in Peru’s local currency, the New Sol, from Hivos-Triodos. Proempresa will use these funds to serve its individual clients with competitive advantages in areas such as handicrafts, medicinal plants, and agro-industry. As of year-end 2004, the microfinance institution had generated a 1.95% return on assets. Edyficar, likewise, received a å¥700,000 syndicated loan from Triodos-Doen and the Triodos Fair Share Fund. This money will finance activities for microentrepreneurs in both urban and rural settings. Edyficar had total assets of US$50,361,010 at year-end 2004, and generated a return on assets of 1.90%.

Beyond Latin America, the Triodos-Doen Fund again partnered with Hivos-Triodos to make a US$1,390,000 syndicated loan to K-Rep of Kenya. Originally an intermediary for funding non-governmental organizations, K-Rep became the first commercial bank in Kenya to target low-income clients. With US$35,057,877 in assets, K-Rep generated a return of 3.03% in 2004.

Extending its reach still further, Triodos-Doen also financed a convertible loan for Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Limited (CEB). CEB focuses on entrepreneurial, poor women in both urban and rural areas throughout Cambodia. It had assets of US$4,307,422 in 2004 and generated a return on assets of 2.53%.

by the MicroCapital Team -

Dutch Triodos Family of Funds (Triodos-Doen, Triodos Private Fair Share, Hivos-Triodos) Makes Microfinance Investments Worth Over $6.7 Million in Loans to Seven Microcredit Institutions Worldwide

In addition to recent equity investment activity reported on December 6th, the Triodos Bank family of microfinance funds also lent over $6.7 million in seven deals. The Triodos-Doen Foundation, Triodos Fair Share Private Fund, and the Hivos-Triodos Fund have made loans to the Uganda Women’s Finance Trust ($545,600), Mongolian XacBank ($1m), Cambodian Thaneakea Phum Ltd. ($507,200), Mozambiquean Socremo ($627,000), Nicaraguan Fundación para el Apoyo a la Microempresa ($1.5m), and Bosnian and Herzegovinian MI-BOSPO ($942,080) and MIKROFIN (over $1.6m).
Continue reading “Dutch Triodos Family of Funds (Triodos-Doen, Triodos Private Fair Share, Hivos-Triodos) Makes Microfinance Investments Worth Over $6.7 Million in Loans to Seven Microcredit Institutions Worldwide”

by the MicroCapital Team -

Dutch MicroFinance Triodos Fair Share and Triodos-Doen Funds Invest $1 Million of Equity in Mongolian XacBank

Mongolian microfinance bank XacBank sold $1 million in shares to Dutch Triodos Fair Share and Triodos-Doen microfinance funds. Established in 2001, XacBank was created as a merger between the two largest non-bank financial institutions in Mongolia, Goviin Ekhlel and X.A.C., to provide microloans and small and medium size enterprise (SME) loans. XacBank, which by year end 2004 had over $38 million in total assets, has disbursed approximately 140,000 loans throughout Mongolia since its founding.


Continue reading “Dutch MicroFinance Triodos Fair Share and Triodos-Doen Funds Invest $1 Million of Equity in Mongolian XacBank”

by the MicroCapital Team -

Dutch Triodos Fair Share Fund Lends $1.25 Million to Peruvian Microfinance Institutions EDPYME EDYFICAR and EDPYME Crear Arequipa S.A.

Peruvian microfinance institutions (MFIs) EDPYME EDYFICAR and EDPYME Crear Arequipa S.A. received $750,000 and $500,000 loans respectively from the Triodos Fair Share Fund.

The Triodos Fair Share private fund—launched by the Netherlands’ Triodos Bank to invest in MFIs that are at least two years old—had an å¥8.2 million portfolio at the end of 2004. MIX Market states that the fund’s loans range from $200,000 to 1 million for a period no more than 5 years, and that there are “usually no formal guarantees.” Interest rates on the loans to MFIs “must be sufficient to cover potential devaluation against the Euro plus to cover costs of 8%.”

With total assets of approximately $50.36 million, EDPYME EDYFICAR provides loans to microentrepreneurs on an individual and group basis while EDPYME Crear Arequipa S.A., with assets totaling approximately $12.52 million, only offers individual loans. In 1997, CARE Peru transformed into EDPYME EDYFICAR. The MFI’s loan portfolio grew from $3.835 million in 1998 to $47.2 million in January 2005. Founded by NGO Habitat Arequipa Siglo XXI in 1992, EDPYME Crear Arequipa’s loan portfolio increased from $1.31 million in 1998 to $10.578 million as of January 2005. EDYPME Crear’s loans range from $100 to $10,000 with “terms between 6 and 24 months.”

Additional Resources

1) Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP): “Microfinance Capital Markets Update” is the best source for monthly updates on debt and equity deals in microfinance.
2) “Funds: Triodos Fair Share Fund.”
3) “Microfinance and Fair Trade: Triodos Fair Share Fund.”
4) MIX Market: “EDPYME EDYFICAR.”
5) MIX Market: “EDPYME Crear Arequipa S.A.”
6) “EDYPME Crear Arequipa: Financial Data.”
7) “EDYPME EDYFICAR: Financial Data.”
8) MIX Market: “Triodos Fair Share Fund: Fund Instruments.”

by the MicroCapital Team -

Dutch Hivos-Triodos Fund Makes Investments Totaling $650,000 into Microfinance Insitutions EDPYME Nueva Vision, EDPYME Crear Tacna, and Sociedad Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito AMC

The Netherlands headquartered Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF) recently loaned approximately $650,000 to three Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs). Peruvian MFIs EDPYME Nueva Vision, with a 2004 year end portfolio of about $3.8 million, and EDPYME Crear Tacna, holding 2004 year end total assets of approximately $7.37 million, received $150,000 and $300,000 respectively, while El Salvadorian MFI Sociedad Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito AMC de R.L (AMC), with total assets in 2004 of approximately $6.45 million, received $200,000. The three MFIs each direct money to micro-businesses in semi-urban and rural areas within their countries.

The Hivos-Triodos Fund, which was formed out of a joint initiative between the Humanist Institute of Development Cooperation (HIVOS) and Triodos Bank, provides loans to MFIs. MIX Market states that the HTF’s loans range from $150,000 to $1 million for a maximum of five years and there are “usually no formal guarantees required.” “Interest rates must be sufficient enough to cover potential devaluation against the Euro plus to cover minimal costs of 8%.” The fund had a 2004 year end portfolio totaling å¥17 million.

Additional Resources

1) Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP): “Microfinance Capital Markets Update” is the best source for monthly updates on debt and equity deals in microfinance.
2) “Funds: Latin America—Peru.”
3) “Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation.”
4) “HTF (The Hivos-Triodos Fund).”
5) MIX Market: “EDPYME Crear Tacna (EDPYME Crear Tacna).”
6) “Sociedad Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito AMC de R.L.”
7) “Funds: Latin America—El Salvador.”
8) MIX Market: “EDPYME Crear Tacna: Financial Data.”
9) MIX Market: “Cooperativa AMC: Financial Data.”
10) “Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation: Annual Report 2004.”
11) MIX Market: “Hivos-Triodos Fund: Fund Instruments.”

by Divya Deshmukh -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Invest in Africa Summit; Africa Trade and Investment Convention; July 1-2, 2022; Amsterdam, the Netherlands – NEW DATES

The purposes of the Invest in Africa Summit are promoting “investment and trade opportunities in African countries, connecting foreign companies with competent authorities and businesses from Africa, and enabling small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and startups to find alternative financing solutions….” The summit includes

by Aakansha Shenoy -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Utkarsh Raises $32m in Equity from Aavishkaar, Growth Catalyst, Olympus, responsAbility, Triodos for Microfinance in India

Utkarsh Small Finance Bank (SFB) of India recently concluded a private placement of equity shares, raising INR 2.4 billion (USD 32 million) shortly after filing with local regulatory authorities for an upcoming IPO, through which it plans to raise an additional INR 7.5 billion (USD 100 million). The participants in the recent funding round were

by Bradley Shulman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Samunnati Borrows $12m from FMO, Triodos to Boost Agricultural Producer Organizations, SMEs in India

Samunnati, a non-banking financial company in India dedicated to the agricultural sector, recently borrowed EUR 5 million (USD 6.1 million) each from Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, and Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM), a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, for on-lending to farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural sector. Triodos IM is disbursing the funds from

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lends $12m to Credo Bank for Microfinance in Rural Georgia to Offset Effects of COVID-19 on Food Production

Credo Bank, a microfinance institution in Georgia, recently accepted a local-currency loan in an amount approximately equivalent to USD 11.8 million from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Credo will use the funds to on-lend primarily as working capital for people living in rural areas,

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanadcom Launches to Serve SMEs in Jordan, Backed by Microfund for Women, GMS Ventures and Investments

Sanadcom for Business Finance, a lender to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan, recently launched with two “anchor” investors: Microfund for Women, a Jordanian microfinance institution, and GMS Ventures and Investments, a subsidiary of Jordan’s GMS Holdings. Sanadcom has enjoyed “additional equity funding and support” from the Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises), a European investor in North Africa and the Middle East, and

by Alex Gelfond -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands’ FMO Syndicates $220m Loan for Togo-based Ecobank, with Participation from BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund, Symbiotics, Oikocredit, DEG, Proparco, OeEB, BIO

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently arranged a syndicated loan in the amount of USD 220 million for Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Incor

by Alex Gelfond -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Netherlands’ FMO Arranges Syndicated Loan of $110m for Aklease to Support Energy Efficiency in Turkey, with Participation from EBRD, Green for Growth Fund, OFID

The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently arranged a syndicated loan in the amount of USD 110 million for Ak Finansal Kiralama AS (Aklease), a leasing subsidiary of the Turkish bank Akbank, to support energy-efficiency and

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Opens: Microfinance and Environment Action Group Celebrates Rollout of Solar Products in Central America, Ethiopia, Philippines; Turns Eye to Scaling Up

On European Microfinance Week 2017the opening day of European Microfinance Week, the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) Microfinance and Environment Action Group met to review its successes and make plans for the next two years.

Carla Palomares of ADA, the Luxembourgish nonprofit formerly known as Appui au Développement Autonome, explained her organization’s work with the 60-member Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) and Red Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF), a network of networks serving 139 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Dominican Republic and six Central American countries. ADA helped MCPI develop a team dedicated to supporting its member MFIs in offering loans for clients to buy solar lamps. MCPI is now working with six additional MFIs to roll out solar loans. The program with REDCAMIF is similar, but involves microleasing for agricultural equipment and support regarding environmentally sustainable farming practices as well as

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, Triodos, Accion Invest Equity in Nicaraguan Microfinance Institution Financiera FAMA

Entities of two Dutch institutions, the government-controlled development bank FMO and the foundation-controlled Triodos Bank, recently invested equity in Nicaragua’s Financiera FAMA for the first time. In addition,

by Ryan Gauthier -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans Cote d’Ivoire, Aga Khan’s PAMF-Mali Borrowing $3.8m from Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to microfinance institutions and other social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has committed to extending the following local-currency loans in phases over three years: the equivalent of USD 2.9 million to Advans Cote d’Ivoire and the equivalent of USD 890,000 to Premiere Agence de MicroFinance (PAMF) Mali.

by Christian Chartier -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Lending $5m to Accion’s Early Dawn Microfinance to Support Women Entrepreneurs in Myanmar

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance institution backed by the US government, recently agreed to loan Myanmar-based Early Dawn Microfinance Company Limited USD 5 million. Dawn lends to low-income women in living in urban and peri-urban areas.

by Phoebe Rorke -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Syndicates $44m in Debt from BIB, Incofin, MicroVest, Symbiotics for KazMicroFinance (KMF) of Kazakhstan

KazMicroFinance (KMF), a microfinance institution operating in Kazakhstan, recently borrowed USD 44 million syndicated by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) in an effort to enable KMF to expand its lending to small businesses. Of the total, IFC is providing USD 5 million

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC to Advise FINCA DRC on Boosting Access to Credit, Mobile Banking in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Funding from The MasterCard Foundation

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently agreed to provide two years of advisory services, valued at USD 1 million, to FINCA DRC, a unit of US-based FINCA Microfinance Holding Company that provides savings and credit services to 256,000 customers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The goal is to