Locfund Next, a debt fund managed by Bolivia-based BIM Asset Management, recently accepted a 6-year loan of USD 20 million from IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. The loan is intended to help funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to expand their outreach to
Tag: Bolivia
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Financial Inclusion That Works for Women,” by Sam Mendelson, Published by e-MFP
This paper explores model practices in financial inclusion for women through the work of the winner and nine semi-finalists for the European Microfinance Award 2022. Mr Mendelson sorts the lessons learned into three approaches to how financial services providers (FSP) can foster women’s financial inclusion: offering
SPECIAL REPORT: Banco FIE of Bolivia Takes $100k “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” European Microfinance Award 2022
From the European Microfinance Platform: After a selection process that reviewed applications from 88 organisations, Banco FIE SA has been chosen by the Luxembourg Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs to receive the €100,000 European Microfinance Award 2022.
The Bolivian bank captured the High Jury’s attention by incorporating a gender-related dimension into its products and services, in an effort to make them more accessible to women. To do this, it conducted a large number of customer surveys. Banco FIE provides a wide range of products, including micro-insurance (family life insurance and cancer policies), digital financial literacy and technical support to enhance agricultural productivity among women. Within its own organisation, Banco FIE has introduced an innovative business management model called “Marca Magenta” to promote inclusive leadership, the empowerment of women, the prevention of violence and
SPECIAL REPORT: Solar-powered Onions in Senegal, Meso-insurance Against Storms in Nicaragua, Performance-based Interest Rate Reductions for Climate-smart Lending in India
In a session on strengthening agricultural value chains today at European Microfinance Week, Daphne van Dam of Cordaid described her organization’s work to support onion farmers in Senegal. The farmers were struggling with the cost of fuel for irrigation. Cordaid was able to partner with local microfinance and solar providers to supply farmers with solar-powered irrigation systems that they could pay for on a schedule attuned to the harvest time of their crop.
Magdalena Arbelaez of Incofin described her firm’s work enabling insurance for farmers in Nicaragua. Rather than microinsurance, which would have been unworkable for many of the smallholder farmers in the region, the project extended
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds Loan $16m to MFIs in Armenia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Tajikistan
C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management (IAM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced that it loaned a total equivalent to USD 16 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bolivia, Armenia, Costa Rica, Panama and Tajikistan from its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Announces $6m Loan for Microfinance Institution Sembrar Sartawi of Bolivia to Support Climate Resilience, Growth of Small-scale Farmers
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership, recently announced a loan of USD 6 million to support Bolivia-based microfinance institution (MFI) Institución Financiera de Desarollo Sembrar Sartawi. The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), a private entity managed by FMO, will fund the facility, aiming to boost the “climate-resilient economic growth [of] vulnerable smallholder farmers” through
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BancoSol Adds “GanaSol” Game to Mobile App to Incentivize Financial Services Usage in Bolivia
Banco Solidario (BancoSol), a Bolivian commercial bank that primarily offers microfinance services, recently upgraded its mobile app to include “gamified” software intended to boost its customers’ usage of mobile banking. GanaSol allows users to earn points by “maintaining or increasing their savings account balances;” the points can