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Microcapital Monitor MAY 2013 | VOLUME.8 ISSUE.5 the MICROFINANCE NEWSPAPER

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Microcapital Monitor MAY 2013 | VOLUME.8 ISSUE.5 the MICROFINANCE NEWSPAPER MicroCapital Monitor MAY 2013 | VOLUME.8 ISSUE.5 THE MICROFINANCE NEWSPAPER MICROCAPITAL BRIEFS | TOP STORIES Royal Bank of Scotland Sells 4.6% Stake in SKS to Merrill Lynch for $12m INSIDE Page Please see page 3 for coverage of this “MicroCapital Deal of the Month.” MicroCapital Briefs 2 MIF to Place $5.8m in Nxtp Labs for Tech Start-ups in Latin America Microfinance news The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, recently approved an equity investment of USD 5 million and Field Notes 9 USD 750,000 in technical assistance for Nxtp Labs, an Argentinian company that buy equity Sharing Platforms to Reduce Costs stakes of up to 10 percent in early-stage technology firms in Latin America. Nxtp also offers training, consulting and “demo days” that connect entrepreneurs with potential investors. Market Indicators 10 Nxtp Labs intends to use a portion of the funds to increase its support for women Courtesy of MIX entrepreneurs. MIF Senior Investment Officer Susana Garcia-Robles said, “we hope to encourage the creation of a more dynamic entrepreneurial culture in which entrepreneurs Upcoming Events 11 can take risks without being stigmatized if their first attempts fail.” May 1. 2013 Industry conferences Nonperforming Microloan Ratio in Rwanda Falls to 8.5% Paper Wrap-ups 12 The ratio of nonperforming microloans in Rwanda reportedly dropped during 2012 from 12 percent to 8.5 percent. During the same period, total assets in the microfinance sector grew Latest research and reports from the equivalent of USD 127 million to USD 161 million, gross loans increased from USD 67 million to USD 95 million, and deposits grew from USD 75 million to USD 87 Subscribe to the Monitor 14 million. Challenges in the sector include “drawn-out” bureaucratic procedures, illiteracy, high operational costs, high interest rates and poor marketing. Rita Ngarambe, executive secretary of the 84-member Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda, was quoted as having said, “We have put in much effort to help microfinance institutions to build capacity in their management especially in loan disbursement and collection…[and] to design products suitable for their clients.” April 29. 2013 BBVA’s CRAC Nuestra Gente of Peru to be Merged into Confianza EASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA Regulators in Peru recently approved the merger of microbanks Caja Rural de Ahorro y Credito (CRAC) Nuestra Gente and Financiera Confianza, operations with combined assets PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE STAKEHOLDERS 2011 equivalent to USD 462 million, 456,000 clients and 180 offices and kiosks. Before the 100% transaction took effect, Fundacion Microfinanzas BBVA, which was founded by Spain-based female borrowers Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Group, held an 80-percent stake in CRAC Nuestra Gente, which in turn held a 49-percent stake in Financiera Confianza. The size of 80% female loan officers the stake that Fundacion Microfinanzas BBVA will hold in the new entity has not been disclosed. Fundacion Microfinanzas BBVA is also affiliated with microbanks in Argentina, female managers Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Puerto Rico. April 27. 2013 60% female board members Caspian Advisors Launches Impact Investments Fund 40% Caspian Advisors Private Limited, an Indian company specializing in socially responsible investments, recently launched Caspian Impact Investments, a fund targeted to raise USD 40 million for low-income housing, agriculture and micro- and small business finance. The fund 20% has raised USD 10 million from Caspian Advisors; Nederlandse Financierings- Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden, a Dutch development finance institution; US-based Gray Ghost Microfinance; and Triodos Doen and the Hivos-Triodos Fund, which are 0% managed by Netherlands-based Triodos Bank. Caspian Impact Investments will disburse loans at an annual interest rate of approximately 14 percent, 2 percentage points higher than SOCIAL INDICATORS PAGE 10 commercial banks reportedly often charge such companies. Caspian Advisors previously raised a total of USD 120 million for its Bellwether Microfinance Fund and India Financial Inclusion Fund. April 18. 2013 Page 1 MICROCAPITAL MONITOR | SUBSCRIBER EDITION MAY 2013 | VOLUME.8 ISSUE.5 MICROCAPITAL BRIEFS EBRD Opens $111m in Credit Lines to Bulgarian SMEs The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Triodos Opens Pioneer, Equity Funds for Retail Investors (EBRD) has agreed to loan up to the equivalent of USD 111 million to Triodos Bank of the Netherlands has launched two new investment two units of French-based Societe Generale Group to finance the growth funds, the Sustainable Pioneer Fund and the Sustainable Equity Fund. of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria. Societe The Sustainable Pioneer Fund is an equity fund that focuses on small Generale Expressbank (SGE), the group’s Bulgarian banking arm, will and medium-sized firms that address sustainable energy, medical receive access to up to USD 98 million in three tranches over three technology, clean water and other environmental technologies. The years. Sogelease Bulgaria, SGE’s leasing arm, will receive access to USD Sustainable Equity Fund invests in larger-scale firms that meet 13 million to fund medical equipment, agricultural equipment, trucks, undisclosed social and environmental performance criteria. Both funds trailers and commercial vehicles. As of 2011, SGE reported total assets require a minimum investment equivalent to USD 1,300. Triodos has of USD 2.3 billion, 377,000 customers, return on assets of 1.5 percent total assets of USD 7 billion and 400,000 customers in Belgium, Ger- and return on equity of 12 percent. Societe Generale Group, which has many, Spain and the UK in addition to the Netherlands. May 9. 2013 assets of USD 1.6 trillion, operates in 77 countries. May 7. 2013 EFSE to Loan $6m to Inecobank of Armenia, Banja Luka of BiH Number of Indian Villages with Financial Access Tripled to 211k The European Fund for Southeast Europe, a Luxembourg-based According to data reportedly presented by Deepali Pant Joshi, executive microfinance investment vehicle, recently notified MicroCapital that it director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the number of Indian loaned the euro-equivalent of USD 5.2 million to Mikrofin Banja Luka villages with access to banking services has risen from 67,000 in March of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the local-currency equivalent of 2010 to 211,000 in December 2012, out of a total of 600,000 villages in USD 912,000 to Inecobank of Armenia. Inecobank, which primarily the country. The rise was due in part to an increase in business serves rural micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, reports total correspondents (BCs), individuals or entities appointed to act as bank assets of USD 220 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 167 million, agents where banks have no branches. The number of BCs increased deposits of USD 64 million, return on assets (ROA) of 4.2 percent and from 34,500 in 2010 to 152,000 in 2012. In addition, 4,300 traditional return on equity (ROE) of 23 percent as of 2012. Mikrofin Banja Luka, a branches were opened in previously unbanked villages from April 2012 lender to microentrepreneurs, reports total assets of USD 127 million, a to December 2012. As a result of this growth, which occurred mostly in gross loan portfolio of USD 103 million, 37,000 active borrowers, ROA larger villages, RBI reportedly will increase its focus on pushing financial of 1.1 percent and ROE of 4.2 percent as of 2011. May 9. 2013 access to villages with populations under 2,000. May 7. 2013 Absolute Loans $13m in Eurasia, South America IFC to Advise La Nacional of the Dominican Republic on Risk Absolute Portfolio Management, an Austrian firm that invests in The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment microfinance and other sectors, recently notified MicroCapital that it arm of the World Bank Group, has announced a cooperation agreement loaned the equivalent of USD 13 million during April 2013 through its with Asociacion La Nacional de Ahorros y Prestamos, a financial Dual Return Funds to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia, institution in the Dominican Republic, to advise La Nacional on Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, the strengthening its risk management and corporate governance practices Philippines, Russia and Tajikistan. Of this amount, USD 7.5 million was in an effort to improve its service to low-income individuals and small issued in local currency. While the size of each investment was not and medium-sized enterprises. The services are in support of IFC’s USD disclosed, the recipient that was named is FINCA Armenia, a subsidiary 5 million loan to La Nacional that was reported in the January issue of of US-based nonprofit Foundation for International Community this newspaper. La Nacional has total assets of USD 491 million, a gross Assistance (FINCA) International. As of 2010, FINCA Armenia reported loan portfolio of USD 299 million and total deposits of USD 420 total assets of USD 28 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 25 million, million. May 6. 2013 38,000 active borrowers, return on assets of 4.9 percent and return on equity of 22 percent. May 9. 2013 IFC, Daiwa Issue $97m in Microfinance Bonds in Japan U’yo’olche, FMCN Seek Carbon Credits for Cook Stoves in Mexico The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) Mexican environmental NGOs U’yo’olche and Fondo Mexicano para la recently issued the equivalent of USD 97 million in microfinance bonds Conservacion de la Naturaleza have provided 2,000 fuel-efficient stoves to Japanese retail and institutional investors in an effort to expand to families in rural southern Mexico with the aim of reducing wood financial access to poor people in developing countries. The securities consumption, hazardous household smoke, household expenses and the are being managed and distributed by Japan’s Daiwa Securities Group risk of accidents.
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