Posts Tagged ‘IFC’

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 25, 2009: IFC has convened a workshop in Kathmandu to determine how to extend financial coverage to the unserved in Nepal. Microfinance and financial institutions, regulators, and development partners from Nepal along with institutions from Bangladesh and India participated participated in the workshop. Organized by South-Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF), a multilateral agency managed by IFC, at the request of Nepal Rastra Bank, ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov.23, 2009: AccessBank Azerbaijan (ABA) has reported an increase of deposits by more than 200% since the beginning of the year, according to a statement. This brings total deposits to more then $80 million. The ABA is a full-service retail bank that caters to low-income clients and SMEs, including microcredit, savings and remittance products. General Manager of AccessBank, Dr. Andrew Pospielovsky, commenting on these ... Full story

Microfinance Focus , November 18, 2009—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide long-term capital support to JSC ATFBank with a $60 million subordinated loan, helping promote access to finance for small and medium enterprises in Kazakhstan. IFC’s investment will help increase the availability of banking services and financial products for Kazakh small and medium enterprises at a time of limited funding opportunities in ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 18, 2009: IFC has asserted that strategic investments in Gulf Cooperation Council countries can strengthen financial markets and promote economic development in the Middle East and North Africa. “Our investments in the Gulf Cooperation Council capital markets create opportunities across the region while providing productive outlets for excess savings generated by oil-producing countries,” said Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, at ... Full story

By Naagesh Naaraayana Microfinance Focus, Nov. 16, 2009: World Bank investment arm IFC and India's microfinance venture fund Aavishkaar Goodwell will invest $1.9 million (Rs 75 million) in Varanasi-based Shre Pathrakali Finance Co Ltd, said a note on IFC website. The note said, "IFC is considering an equity investment, along with other investors, to facilitate the company to start and expand its operations." The company's registered office is ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 12, 2009: World Bank investment arm IFC has decided to invest $1.15 million in Belstar Investment and Finance Limited, Hand in Hand's microfinance arm, to help establish a sustainable microfinance operation and reach a million women in the next five years. Hand in Hand is an NGO based in Chennai. IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell signed an agreement with Belstar ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov 09, 2009: TenGer Financial Group LLC (TenGer), the holding company of XacBank, successfully increased its share capital by MNT 7.5 billion. A total of MNT 7.5 billion was raised from the existing shareholders and MNT 5 billion of this amount injected in XacBank, bringing its capital to MNT33.6 billion, said in an official release. XacBank based out of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is a microfinance ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 06, 2009: International Finance Corporation`s ( IFC) microfinance portfolio at June 2009 comprised more than US $1.3 billion committed investments in over 140 MFIs, and more than $70 million in advisory services  ,according to "IFC Access to Finance: Highlights Report 2009" released this week. IFC Access to Finance has effectively supported the ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 24, 2009: World Bank investment arm IFC is helping FORUS Bank, a regional microfinance institution in Russia, hedge currency and interest rate risks to make its microfinance operations more sustainable, said a press release. IFC and FORUS Bank have executed currency and interest rate swap transactions for over $13 million, thus hedging the bank’s exposure to United States dollar, euro, and Russian ruble ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 21, 2009: International Finance Corporation, the investing arm of World Bank group, on Wednesday announced that it will list its first Sukuk (Islamic finance investment certificates) with the Nasdaq Dubai and Bahrain stock exchanges. The IFC Hilal Sukuk will be a dollar-denominated $100 million non-amortizing issue with a five-year maturity. It will help develop the region’s nascent Sukuk market and encourage other ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 15, 2009: World Bank investment arm IFC has subscribed bonds issued by Giros y Finanzas S.A in Colombia with a value of 11.5 million Colombian pesos (US$6 million equivalent) to help the company expand affordable housing and working capital loans to low income borrowers. This is the first time IFC picked up bonds issued by a company in Colombia. One big ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 14, 2009: World Bank investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has helped Kyrgyz microfinance company Bai-Tushum and Partners to transform itself from a microcredit to a microfinance company to broaden its range of financial services to micro-entrepreneurs across the country. IFC mentored senior Bai-Tushum managers in strategic and business planning before the company’s successful transition to a closed joint-stock microfinance institution, with ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 9, 2009: International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of World Bank, will provide $15 million to Brazil’s Banco Triângulo S.A. to help expand credit for micro and small entrepreneurs. IFC’s local currency financing will have a five-year tenor, unusually long for midsize Brazilian banks under current market conditions. This will be IFC’s second financing to the bank, known as Tribanco, which received ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 8, 2009: IFC, the World Bank's private investment arm, has recently announced it will invest $20 million in Bank Respublika, Azerbaijan’s fourth-largest private sector bank, to help increase lending to micro, small, and medium businesses in the country’s rural areas, said a press release. Bank Respublika aims to more than double its lending to small businesses, and expects half of its loans to ... Full story