by Renata Samadova -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ABI to Leverage $69m from EIB to Boost SME, Mid-cap Financing in West Africa – Focusing on Women, Youth

Atlantic Business International (ABI), a holding company owned by the Morocco-based Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) Group, recently entered an agreement with the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) whereby EIB will fund half of EUR 130 million (USD 138 million) in funding to be distributed via ABI’s Banque Atlantique institutions in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The funds are to be directed to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps with the goal of

by James Stevenson -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Land Titling and Microcredit in Cambodia: Examining the Reality of Hernando de Soto’s ‘Three Steps to Heaven,’” by Milford Bateman

In this paper, Dr Bateman examines the Cambodian microcredit industry and argues against prior claims that increases in land titling lead to access to credit that enables poor landowners to increase their incomes. The results are based on

by Ben Barba -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khan Bank Raises $10m in Bond Sale to Vision Microfinance Dual Return Fund to Support Women’s SMEs in Mongolia

Symbiotics Investments, a Switzerland-based investor focused on smaller businesses in low- and middle- income countries, recently facilitated a bond issue channeling USD 10 million to Khan Bank, which serves individuals and companies of all sizes in Mongolia, to support UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality. Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, bought the bond through its Vision

by Ben Barba -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Al-Qutaibi Funding Renewable Energy Products, Climate Adaptation Strategies for SMEs, Farmers in Yemen in Collaboration with USAID

Yemen’s Al-Qutaibi Islamic Bank for Microfinance recently launched its Vendor Finance Department to support farms and other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in acquiring technology to produce renewable energy as well as “climate-smart” farming tools such as “solar-fed irrigation systems, greenhouses, and tunnel farming tools.” The bank did this with support from the

by Ben Barba -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Loans MyCredit $2.6m for SME Financing in Kenya

Oikocredit, a Netherlands-based cooperative, recently lent MyCredit, a Kenya-based non-bank financial services company, USD 2.6 million for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). MyCredit CEO George Mbira commented, “The secured funding will support MyCredit’s strategic

by Nithin Naren -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Funding Societies Inks $50m Line of Credit from HSBC to Bolster Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia

Funding Societies, a Singapore-based platform using crowdfunding and other sources of investment to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently agreed to borrow up to USD 50 million from the local unit of UK-based HSBC. Funding Societies is active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, offering products