CredAvenue, a service that facilitates transactions between lenders and institutional borrowers in India, recently raised USD 90 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital India led the round of funding, with participation from
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week – Christoph Pausch Discusses the Main Event, November 17-19, Plus 2 Bonus Training Days
MicroCapital: European Microfinance Week (EMW) 2021 – like in 2020 – will be virtual. How is it possible to make an online conference a success?
Christoph Pausch: Like last year’s successful first virtual conference and in the years before it, EMW2021 remains primarily a member-led event, and the programme is developed based on what members propose and consider important. This is as true as ever. There are things we learned from last year’s event, and there will be some changes based on what we observed – and based on feedback from attendees, of course. But fundamentally the idea remains the same: a programme covering a wide range of topic streams and presented via a whole array of different session models, chosen depending on the subject matter, the audience and the objectives of the session. That means plenaries, traditional panels, workshops, topic lounges, publication launches and Action Group meetings – among others. As much as possible, we help our members put together sessions that are current, relevant, important and interactive. Beyond this, there are
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lends $13m to Microfinance Institution Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala
Oikocredit, a cooperative based in the Netherlands, recently funded a 4-year loan of EUR 9.6 million (USD 13.1 million) in favor of Guatemalan microfinance institution (MFI) Fundación Génesis Empresarial. Génesis CFO Jim López said that the loan will allow the MFI “to support more rural Guatemalans in advancing their development path and improving their quality of life” and
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Building Financial Resilience: How Financial Service Providers Can Help Low-income Customers to Manage Risk,” by Alexandra Sanchez et al, Published by Savings at the Frontier
The authors propose that financial services providers (FSPs) have opportunities to enhance the resilience of users of informal saving mechanisms (ISMs) by developing services that help ISMs manage risk. In this context, resilience is defined as
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Opportunity for Digital and E-commerce Payments in the Pacific Region,” by Chris Statham et al, Published by UNCDF
This paper explores the challenges and opportunities associated with leveraging digital payment structures, including how such structures might promote financial inclusion and improve economic conditions in the Pacific Island region. The study focuses on six of the 14 archipelagic countries in the region that are in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AVPA, Investorflow.org, Forge Partnership to Develop Impact Investments in Africa, Resulting in Expanding Membership Base, Increasing Capital Flow in Africa, and Rising Overall Investor Collaboration
African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a Kenya-based “Pan-African network for social investors,” and Investorflow.org, a US-based platform that helps impact investors find co-investors, recently announced a partnership. Dr Frank Aswani, the CEO of AVPA, stated that the tie-up “will allow AVPA to add another 500-plus
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Logiq Launching “Super App” in Indonesia to Unite Payment, Microloan, Food Delivery, Insurance, Telemedicine Services
Logiq, a US-based technology services provider, recently unveiled plans to launch an as-yet unnamed “super app” in Indonesia to unify several planned new functions along with its existing payment service PayLogiq and food delivery service GoLogiq. Among the future services is a microlending platform, for which
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends Local Currency Worth $1.5m to Yehu of Kenya, ASA Microfinance Rwanda
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, has announced the disbursal of the following local-currency loans: to Kenya’s Yehu the approximate equivalent of USD 888,000 and to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khan Bank of Mongolia Borrowing $120m from FMO, Atlantic Forfaitierungs, DEG, IIB, PROPARCO – Part for MSME Loans, Green Capacity
Khan Bank, which serves individuals and companies of all sizes in Mongolia, recently agreed to accept a borrowing package of USD 120 million arranged by Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership. FMO is funding
SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (the French Acronym for African Microfinance Week) in Progress in Rwanda Until October 22, 2021
Get an overview of the five-day SAM from the ADA press release or follow the proceedings on our Twitter feed!
This feature is part of a sponsored series on the SAM 2021, which is organized by the Luxembourgish NGO ADA, the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), with the support of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg and the Government of Rwanda. The event is taking place from October 18 to October 22 in Kigali, Rwanda. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and document each of the SAMs since 2015.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Creation Investments Leads $30m Debt, Equity Funding Round for ReshaMandi, B2B App for Silk Farms, Manufacturers, Retailers in India
ReshaMandi, business-to-business (B2B) marketplace app serving 35,000 farms, manufacturing businesses and retailers active in the silk industry, recently raised USD 30 million in debt and equity. Creation Investments, a US-based alternative investment manager,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microinvest of Moldova, FINCA Armenia Borrowing $10m from Invest in Visions for Microfinance
Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it is issuing the following loans on behalf of Germany’s Invest in Visions (IIV): EUR 7 million (USD 8 million) in two tranches to Microinvest of Moldova and USD 2.5 million to FINCA Armenia, a unit of US-based FINCA Impact Finance. AFI has disbursed the entire loan to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Guarantee Fund to Back Additional $25m in Lending by Oikocredit to Microfinance Institutions; Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); Women-led Businesses – Including in Agriculture, Renewable Energy Sectors
Oikocredit, a cooperative investor based in the Netherlands, recently signed an agreement valued at USD 25 million with the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF). The deal increases the parties’ 10-year loan guarantee volume to USD 43 million, allowing Oikocredit to increase its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC Announces $150m Loan to Produbanco of Ecuador to Support Women’s Enterprise, SME Lending, Green Projects
Banco de la Producción SA (Produbanco), a bank in Ecuador, recently agreed to borrow USD 150 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed development finance institution. One half of the funding is for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kestra Financial, TriLinc Global Collaborate to Expand Retail Access to Impact Investments
Two US-based firms, Kestra Financial and TriLinc Global, recently agreed to collaborate to give Kestra’s 1,800 registered representatives access to TriLinc’s impact funds, which have a total volume of USD 1.2 billion. TriLinc’s funds, which target low- and middle-income countries, seek
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SuperZop, Agri-commerce Platform in India, Nets $4m in Equity from Incofin, 1st-time Investor in Agricultural Technology
Incofin Investment Management, a Belgium-based investor in financial inclusion and agriculture in developing countries, recently agreed to invest USD 4 million from its India Progress Fund (IPF) in SuperZop, whose app helps “small retailers and restaurants buy staples directly from farmers and food processors.” Among the app’s functions is to use artificial intelligence to analyze the quality of grains
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Lends $9m to Sidian Bank for SMEs in Kenya
Oikocredit, a cooperative investor based in the Netherlands, recently lent KES 990 million (USD 8.9 million) to Kenya’s Sidian Bank for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Sidian is a commercial institution with 42 branches offering corporate services,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Fund Issues Subordinated Loan to Humo for Microfinance in Tajikistan
C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it has disbursed a subordinated loan through its Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund to