MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF) Raises $125m to Increase Access to Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF), an initiative of the UK-based Shell Foundation and Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), recently closed a fundraising round at USD 125 million. EEGF is intended to increase access to renewable energy in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Joliba Capital Raises $58m in Equity from FMO, IFC, Proparco to Support SMEs, Mid-caps in Central, West Africa

Joliba Capital of Côte d’Ivoire recently raised EUR 55 million (USD 57.8 million) for its newly launched Joliba Capital Fund. The participants in this first close of the fund are the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO); the International Finance Corporation (IFC),

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Okra Solar of Nigeria Raises Equity, Debt Totaling $12m to Expand Mesh Grids in Africa, Americas, Asia

Nigeria-based Okra Solar, whose products serve 14,000 people in Cambodia, Haiti, Nigeria, and the Philippines, recently raised USD 8 million in equity from five investors. The investment package is led by US-based At One Ventures and includes USD 1.5 million from

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Committing $30m to South Asia Growth Fund III to Support Equity Placements in Businesses Reducing Environmental Impacts, Mainly in India

US-based Global Environment Fund (GEF) Capital Partners recently secured USD 30 million for its South Asia Growth Fund (SAGF) III from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO). The funding is to boost the fund’s “equity and equity-linked” investments in middle-market institutions engaged in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Hamkorbank of Uzbekistan Borrows $50m from FMO to Fund SMEs Owned by Women, Youth; Microenterprise; Climate Projects

The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently loaned USD 50 million to Uzbekistan-based Joint Stock Commercial Bank Hamkorbank. Hamkorbank plans to use 70 percent of the fresh funds to finance

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satya of India Borrowing $35m from FMO, Finnfund for Microfinance for Rural Women, Youth – Including to Enable Green Transition

Satya MicroCapital, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI), recently borrowed the local-currency equivalent of USD 25 million from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) and USD 10 million from Finnfund, a development finance institution controlled by the government of Finland. The funding is intended to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sun King Raises $130m for Pay-as-you-go Solar in Kenya, Citi is Sole Arranger

With the goal of expanding access to off-grid solar energy in Kenya, the US-based solar products firm Sun King recently won a loan securitization denominated in Kenyan shillings equivalent to USD 130 million. Among the private participants are

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Araratbank of Armenia, FMO Ink $10m Risk-sharing Facility to Boost MSMEs

The Armenian bank Araratbank and Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently agreed to expand their risk-sharing facility by USD 10 million. FMO’s portion of the commitment is from its Nasira Fund, which guarantees

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Arohan of India Raises $11m in Equity from FMO to Expand Microfinance, Including via Technology

Arohan Financial Services, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI) offering credit and insurance services to groups, individuals and other MFIs, recently accepted an equity investment in local-currency equivalent to USD 11 million from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO). Arohan plans to use the fresh capital

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Lends $10m to Latin American Agriculture Development Corporation (LAAD) to Boost Green Investment

The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently lent USD 10 million to the US-based Latin American Agriculture Development Corporation (LAAD), a funder of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that export agricultural products. The loan is intended to support

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas (ACA) Borrows $80m from FMO, FinDev Canada, Rabobank to Boost Exports of Produce from 50,000 Farms in Argentina

Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas (ACA), a network of 143 agricultural cooperatives in Argentina, recently borrowed USD 80 million from three institutions, led by the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO). FMO is lending ACA half of the total, and

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Fintech for Inclusion Global Summit; November 3, 2022; the Hague, the Netherlands

This event on financial technology (fintech) will cover innovations in agri-finance, agri-technology, payments, measuring outcomes, embedded finance, blockchain and gender-lens investing. Participants will also have opportunities

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Issuing Senior, Secured Loan of $10m in Local Currency to NeoGrowth for Microfinance Lending in India

The Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) recently signed a senior, secured facility equivalent to USD 10 million in local currency to India’s NeoGrowth to expand its lending to microenterprises. Founded in 2013, NeoGrowth provides loans to micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) based on

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: I&M Bank of Kenya Secures $15m Guarantee from FMO to Support MSME Growth

Investment and Mortgages (I&M) Bank, a subsidiary of Kenya-based I&M Group, recently signed an agreement with Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, whereby FMO will deploy a guarantee from its Nasira risk sharing facility to encourage USD 15 million in lending by I&M Bank to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIC-BRED, FMO Commit $30m in Working Capital for Sucafina to Expand Coffee Purchases from Smallholder Farmers in Africa, Colombia

Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently agreed to fund half of a USD 30 million facility provided by the Swiss bank Banque Internationale de Commerce-Banque Régionale d’Escompte et de Dépôt (BIC-BRED) to Sucafina, a Switzerland-based coffee trader. The deal is meant to support Sucafina’s origination activities in East Africa and Colombia and in this way

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equity Group Nets Over $165m from IFC, BII, FMO, ResponsAbility, Symbiotics for Climate Projects, Financial Inclusion for MSMEs in Africa

Partially through its Financial Institutions Growth Fund, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is paying an undisclosed sum to acquire a 6.7-percent stake in Equity Group Holdings, which has banking operations in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. IFC and the UK government’s British International Investment (BII) also are each lending the group’s Equity Bank Kenya

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bix, FMO Lending $10m to C-Quest Capital to Expand Usage of Clean Cookstoves in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership, is lending USD 6.4 million to C-Quest Capital, a US-based investor in projects that reduce the environmental impacts of energy production and usage in low- and middle-income countries. At the same time, Bix Capital, a Dutch provider of debt financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satisfied Producer of Palm Oil in DRC Has Been “Brought Back from the Brink,” DFIs Sell Debt Holdings in PHC to Maku; Funding to Improve Community Relationships Will Continue

Four European development finance institutions (DFIs) recently sold their debt holdings in Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), a palm oil business in Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Maku Holdings, an affiliate of Kuramo Capital Management, which has offices in Kenya, Nigeria and the US. The DFIs are