Posts Tagged ‘IFC’

Microfinance Focus, Jan. 29, 2010: IFC, the World Bank's investment arm, has signed a long-term agreement with Sistema Integral de Abasto Rural, SA CV (Mi Tienda) to help the Mexican distribution company, known as Mi Tienda, expand its operations. IFC’s $2.5 million investment will help create more than 900 direct jobs and sustain the livelihoods of more than 25,000 rural retail store owners, most of whom ... Full story

By Nagesh Narayana Microfinance Focus, Jan. 29, 2010: World Bank's investment arm IFC has announced a $100 million equity investment in Lebanon’s Byblos Bank to help increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises and to expand the bank’s operations to frontier countries in the Middle East and Africa. This investment will help Byblos pursue its strategy of becoming a significant financial group, with a broader ... Full story

By Nagesh Narayana Microfinance Focus, Jan. 21, 2010: IFC has signed an agreement with the Aga Khan Foundation in Pakistan (AKF) to support the growth of smaller businesses in Pakistan by providing training and skills development to businessmen and women in the country. IFC and AKF(P), will partner to offer IFC’s Business Edge management training product to Pakistani entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses. IFC will train 20 ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 31, 1009: IFC (International Finanace Corporation) has proposed a project for supporting Fundación Mundo Mujer Popayan (FMM Popayan), a local microfinance institution in Colombia that is one of the Colombian associates of the Women’s World Banking Network. With this, FMM Popayan will be able to diversify its funding sources in order to increase financing options for low income individuals, especially micro entrepreneurs and ... Full story

By Asma Azmi Microfinance Focus, Dec. 31, 2009: The International Finance Corp, the World Bank's private sector lender, aims to make about $1 billion a year in new investments in India over the coming few years, matching the level of recent years, said a report by Reuters last month quoting a top IFC executive. IFC had shown its interest in India in October when it raised $1.6 ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 31, 2009: IFC proposes to invest up to $10 million or 20% of the total fund size in Cygma Fund which will be managed by Cygma Corp, a specialized risk management and hedge advisory company that provides consulting services and education to MIVs and MFIs. Cygma will be a ten-year close-ended Luxembourg Fonds Commun de Placement (FCP) fund with a total capital of ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 24, 2009: IFC has announced $15 million senior loand to Ameriabank to finance small-scale renewable-energy projects in Armenia to boost the supply of renewable energy and help lower greenhouse-gas emissions. IFC loan will help the bank to provide long-term financing to build small hydropower plants. Projects supported by the loan are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 30,000 tons a ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 18, 2009:  IFC has signed its first risk-sharing facility agreement in the Philippines with the Bank of the Philippine Islands to enhance the bank’s lending for sustainable energy projects and help mitigate climate change. The risk-sharing facility with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, one of the country’s largest banks, will help mainstream sustainable energy finance to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 09, 2009 : The IFC announced yesterday that it will invest 450 Naira ($3 million) in a Nigeria's AB Microfinance Bank. The five-year loan will be used by AB Microfinance to increase its lending to microenterprises and low-income entrepreneurs in Nigeria, according to a statement from the IFC. This will be IFC's second investment in the bank after investing investing 150 Naira ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 3, 2009: World Bank's investment arm IFC and global rating agency Standard and Poor are set to launch the world’s first carbon-efficiency index for emerging markets that aims to mobilize more than $1 billion for carbon-efficient companies over the next three years. The S&P/IFC Carbon Efficient Index will encourage carbon-based competition among emerging-market companies, give carbon-efficient companies access to long-term investors, and should ... Full story

Micofinance Focus, Dec. 3, 2009: IFC in partnership with the European Commission and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has launched a program to help farmers and others in developing countries more easily access insurance for natural disasters to protect themselves from weather-related risks. The Global Index Insurance Facility is an index-based insurance scheme that insures against certain catastrophic events, depending on their severity.  For example, ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 1, 2009: The IFC Global Corporate Governance Forum and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will hold a two-day workshop on Corporate Governance in Tbilisi this week to be attended by over 40 participants from 13 countries. The conference will address issues including qualification of board members, disclosure of beneficial ownership, internal and external audits, and transparency disclosure. The workshop will also ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 27, 2009: Papua New Guinea presents interesting challenges and opportunities for mobile banking, said a recently released report from the UN's Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) and the IFC. The report on “Building a mobile money distribution network in Papua New Guinea” found that there is great demand for a system that enhances cash safety, including mobile phone transfers and a means to ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 25, 2009: The Financial Times, in partnership with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has launched the 2010 edition of the FT Sustainable Banking Awards program. Now in their fifth year, the awards dinner will be held on June 3, 2010 in London. To underline the challenge of financial and social impact of the global economic downturn, particularly on the world's poor, ... Full story