NMI News
NMI Partners with Inter-America Development Bank for Microfinance Investment in the Latin America Region
OSLO, NORWAY - 27 March 2010: NMI Global Fund today announced a commitment of USD 7,000,000 for the Microfinance Growth Fund (MIGROF), a new lending facility for microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is the sponsor of MIGROF, and the new facility was announced at the IABD Annual Meeting in Cancun Mexico on 20 March 2010.
MIGROF is expected to provide up to USD 250 million in medium- and long-term loans to microfinance institutions throughout Latin America, offering financing in local currency and in U.S. dollars. Initial capitalization will be approximately USD 150 million, which includes a USD 125 million loan from the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
First announced by U.S. President Barack Obama in April 2009, MIGROF will invest in senior debt of established microfinance institutions reaching approximately 4.5 million poor and low-income clients, about 55% of whom are expected to be women.
"This will be a cornerstone investment of the Global Fund in the Latin America region. We are pleased that NMI has been able to invest in this new facility to help restore lending capabilities of the Latin American microfinance institutions which have been heavily impacted by the global financial crisis," said Richard Weingarten, Managing Director of NMI and a member of the MIGROF Board. "The ability of MIGROF to lend to these institutions in local currency is a particularly important development aspect of this investment."
Other investors include the IDB's Multilateral Investment Fund, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Corporación Andina de Fomento, Inter-American Investment Corporation, Banamex (the Mexican affiliate of Citigroup), ACCION International, and others. MIGROF will be managed by BlueOrchard, one of the premier microfinance fund managers with offices in Geneva, New York, and Lima and an excellent track record investing in microfinance institutions in Latin America. . "We are very pleased and honored to be working with such high caliber partners," commented Mr. Weingarten.
NMI's investment in MIGROF represents its largest financial commitment to date.
Links
Additional information, NMI Investments/MIGROF
BlueOrchard website: www.blueorchard.com
IDB Multilaterial Investment Fund: www.iadb.org/mif/microscope.cfm