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May 2021
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IFC Proposes $10 Million Loan to ACLEDA Bank Laos
May, 25 2021
Laos - The proposed loan would be issued as a three-year senior local currency loan worth up to roughly $10 million. The loan is to help provide local currency loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Laos that have been affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic ...
Mexico's Banverde Raises Funds to Buy up 80 MW of Rooftop Solar Projects at Home
May, 24 2021
Mexico - Mexican solar-focused private equity fund Banverde has closed a USD-57-million (EUR 46.7m) syndicated credit facility to finance the acquisition of small-scale solar projects in Mexico ...
K. Sahu and D. Todesco, AVPN: Impact Investing in Financial Inclusion in Southeast Asia - Four Key Considerations for Investors and Enterprises
May, 24 2021
Southeast Asia - By harnessing these four key considerations, prospective investors and MSMEs can implement more effective strategies that promote interoperability, financial literacy and universal accessibility to sustainable financial products and services ...
India: Manappuram Finance Subsidiary Raises $15 Million Loan from WorldBusiness Capital
May, 24 2021
India - Proceeds from the loan availed under India’s ECB norms will enable Asirvad Microfinance to expand its business of providing small loans to low-income women business owners in rural areas to start and expand their income-generating business ...
IFAD and EU to Provide EUR 26.5m Relief to Ethiopian Rural Financial Institutions
May, 24 2021
Ethiopia - The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Union (EU) will provide EUR26.5 million worth of liquidity and debt relief to rural financial institutions to protect jobs and safeguard livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic ...
How COVID-19 Could Impede the Catch-Up of Poor Countries with Rich Ones
May, 22 2021
Global - It once seemed possible that COVID-19 might deliver a softer blow to poor economies than rich ones. Instead, the virus seems likely to set the emerging world back in its quest to attain advanced-economy incomes. ...
Kenya: Djibouti's Salaam African Bank Acquires 100% Stake in Uwezo Microfinance Bank Limited
May, 21 2021
Kenya - The Central bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the acquisition of Uwezo Microfinance Bank Limited by Salaam African Bank (SAB). The acquisition earned the Djibouti-based bank a 100% stake for undisclosed cash consideration ...
DFC and FMO Launch $75m COVID-19 Response Co-Financing Facility
May, 20 2021
Global - DFC and FMO have launched the $75m DFC-MASSIF COVID-19 Response Co-Financing Facility, which seeks to bring liquidity to financial intermediaries to support MSMEs impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and promote new investment to support economic sustainability in developing countries ...
New Tool Allows Investors to Measure, Compare Impact Investments
May, 20 2021
Global - Released Wednesday by the Global Impact Investing Network, the Compass methodology offers investors insight into three critical impact performance figures: scale, pace and efficiency. It also makes it possible to compare impact results ...
S. Falsini, CGAP: Time Is Money - Financial Services Can Help Rural Women Save More of It
May, 19 2021
Global - “Time poverty” refers to the chronic lack of time – after engaging in necessary or expected duties – to pursue discretionary activities. For rural women, this can mean participating in income-generating activities or education ...
Foreign Investors Tiptoe into Frontier Markets in Search of Returns
May, 18 2021
Global - Investors have begun wading more deeply into frontier markets such as Uzbekistan and Tanzania as they chase higher returns and seek assets that do not move in tandem with those in larger developing nations ...
Symbiotics Launches the First Sustainability Bond in Georgia with MFO Crystal for $5 M
May, 17 2021
Georgia - Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged the first Sustainability Bond ever issued in Georgia by raising $5 million in Georgian Lari equivalent for JSC MFO Crystal "Crystal" ...
India: Fusion Microfinance Raises 10 Million Euro in Debt from BIB
May, 17 2021
India - Fusion Microfinance has raised 10 million euro (about Rs 88 crore in local currency) in debt from Bank im Bistum Essen (BIB), a Germany-based cooperative bank ...
Impact Practices Weaker At Later Stages of Investment Cycle
May, 14 2021
Global - Impact management practices are often less robust at the later stages of the investment lifecycle, according to BlueMark, a provider of impact verification services ...
Cambodia: Dutch Firm Lends $20 M to Sathapana Bank
May, 14 2021
Cambodia - Dutch development firm FMO announced this week that it has provided Sathapana Bank with a $20 million subordinated loan to help the bank extend financing to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and increase its reserves ...
Cambodia: IFC Proposes $40 Million Loan to Hattha Bank
May, 14 2021
Cambodia - The proposed loan will contribute to narrowing the financing gap in the Kingdom by supplying additional loans to MSME’s, including those owned by women, during the tenor of the facility and is expected to increase economic activity and job creation in Cambodia, expediting post-crisis recovery ...
R. Kaplan, CEO at Circulate Capital: Here's How Private Investors Can Turn Plastic into Gold
May, 14 2021
Global - Financial institutions can participate in accelerating the development of a recycling and circular economy marketplace and, in turn, unlock opportunities for new investment ...
Measuring What Matters: The Scramble to Set Standards for Sustainable Business
May, 14 2021
Global - Given the forces lining up in support of sustainability accounting standards, levels of optimism are high ...
African Fintech Startups Still Face Major Funding Gaps
May, 13 2021
Africa - The number of early-stage deals among African fintech startups is increasing, but the average size of the deals remains low compared to that of other regions, and funding gaps persist at the early stages, according to a new report on the industry in emerging markets ...
Student Accommodation in South Africa Gets R150 Million Boost from the World Bank Group
May, 13 2021
South Africa - The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has invested R150 million in South Africa’s Eris Property Group which will be used to develop and operate accommodation for up to 15,000 students by 2026 ...
Nigerian Fintechs Score Big on the Funding Front as Investors Spot “Final Frontier” Opportunities
May, 13 2021
Nigeria - The acquisition of Paystack and the large Flutterwave and Kuda rounds may have grabbed the attention, but there is also plenty of activity at smaller ticket sizes, speaking to the broader health of the Nigerian fintech ecosystem ...
CDC, ETG Commit $100m to Support Smallholder Farmers in Africa, Asia
May, 12 2021
Africa and Asia - As part of the funding facility, CDC will support ETG’s ongoing efforts towards implementation and alignment with international Environmental & Social standards with an enhanced focus on supply chain risk management, safeguarding work, and procedures ...
EBRD Backs First Green Bond Issued by a Bank in Romania
May, 12 2021
Romania - Reinforcing its position as a leader in green finance and a strong supporter of capital markets, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested RON 53 million (€11 million equivalent) in a senior preferred green bond issued by Raiffeisen Bank Romania, a subsidiary of the Austria-based group Raiffeisen Bank International ...
Kenya: Mobile Lender Branch to Buy Sh230m Microfinance Majority Stake
May, 11 2021
Kenya - US-based digital lender Branch International will pay Sh230 million for a majority stake in a local microfinance bank, amid proposed tough regulations for mobile lenders in Kenyan market ...
J.P. Morgan’s ‘Development Financial Institution’ Amps Up Transparency in Emerging Markets Dealmaking
May, 11 2021
Global - The largest U.S. private bank borrowed the DFI approach to beef up its impact investing in emerging markets ...
FMO, CDC Group, Swedfund, and IFC Participate in First Close of Nepal-Focused Dolma Impact Fund II
May, 11 2021
Nepal - The timing is important as COVID cases rise in Nepal, following the trend in India. Dolma II’s target sectors will directly address capacity constraints in healthcare and enable digital solutions to scale rapidly that will be vital both during and following the pandemic ...
South Africa: IFC and Absa Bank Partner on Africa’s First Certified Green Loan to Support Green Energy Projects
May, 10 2021
South Africa - IFC will provide Absa with a loan of up to $150mn to support the bank's strategy to expand​ its climate finance business and help South Africa meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets ...
Invest Africa and DLA Piper Partner to Support ESG Best Practice in African Renewable Energy Projects
May, 10 2021
Africa - The project will assemble experts from the worlds of impact investment, development finance and law. Across a series of online meetings, participants will discuss strategies to improve ESG practices in African renewable projects from both a fundraising and operational perspective. ...
Total Eren Secures Loans for 100-MW Solar Project in Uzbekistan
May, 10 2021
Uzbekistan - Total Eren, through Tutly Solar LLC, will get a EUR 43.7 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) along with EUR 21.8 million from each of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Proparco, an affiliate of the French Development Agency (AFD) ...
Atlas Renewable Energy Executes its 2nd USD Finance Project in Brazil's Renewable Sector with IDB Invest and DNB Bank
May, 06 2021
Brazil - The plant will generate 805 GWh per year and the Power Purchase Agreement is, to date, the largest contract with a solar project for the supply of clean energy to a private offtaker in Brazil and indexed to the United States dollar. ...
India: RBI Announces Series of Steps to Boost Microcredit Sector
May, 06 2021
India - The banking regulator has decided to conduct special three year long term repo operations (SLTRO) of Rs 10,000 crore at the repo rate for small finance banks ...
What Are the Challenges That Fintech Companies Have to Be an Economic Driver in Latam?
May, 06 2021
Latin America - Despite the health emergency, financial inclusion in Latin America made progress in 2020, thanks to the fact that the fintech sector is helping to transform the economic landscape in the region ...
A. Apampa, Convergence: How Can Blended Finance Help Fill the Agriculture Financing Gap?
May, 06 2021
Global - With the agriculture space being highly intermediated and blending occurring mainly at the fund level, achieving scale will require investments in funds supporting innovative busines models in food and agriculture ...
India: MFIs Welcome RBI Decision to Give Priority Tag for SFB Loans to Smaller Microlenders, But Want More
May, 05 2021
India - Announcing the measures today, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said small finance banks (SFBs) can classify loans to MFIs under the priority sector lending (PSL) category. Banks need to lend 40 per cent of their loans to this category ...
Acre Impact Capital Announces Catalytic Investment from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) through its Company GuarantCo
May, 04 2021
Global - The investment will accelerate Acre Impact Capital’s strategic growth plans and support the launch of a number of private debt impact funds focused on the export finance market ...
India: Satin Receives Senior Loan Facility of USD 5 Million from Austrian Financier
May, 04 2021
India - Microfinance institution (MFI) Satin Creditcare Network (SCNL) on Tuesday said it has received a senior loan facility of USD 5 million from Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank – OeEB, Austria, through external commercial borrowing route ...
Fintech Lender Amartha Bags USD 28 Million from Women’s World Banking to Fund Indonesia’s Micro-Entrepreneurs
May, 03 2021
Indonesia - Peer-to-peer lending startup Amartha said on Monday that it received a US$28 million investment from the Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II fund and MDI Ventures. Existing backers Mandiri Capital and UOB Venture Management also participated in the round ...

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