Posted on June 12, 2009 - by Gavin

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund 2008 Invests $1.75m in South American MFIs FODEMI, Fundacion D-MIRO and Prisma…

Microcapital

The Global Partnerships Microfinance Fund 2008 (GP MFF 2008), a member of the Global Partnerships family of funds, reported three investments in April 2009 to the CGAP Microfinance Dealbook, the monthly report on microfinance market transactions. Equadorian microfinance institutions (MFIs) FODEMI and Fundacion D-MIRO each received USD 500,000 in debt while Peruvian MFI Asociacion Benefica PRISMA received USD 750,000 in debt. MicroCapital previously reported on the launch of the GP MFF 2008 in November 2008.

FODEMI was founded in 1995 as a non-profit organization authorized by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Labor. Based in Ibarra, Ecuador and maintaining a network of seven branches, FODEMI is affliated with World Vision, a Christian international development organization. According to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, FODEMI serves 13,969 active borrowers and maintains a gross loan portfolio of USD 6 million as of December 2007. Total assets were reported as USD 6.2 million with a return on assets of 4.1 percent and a debt/equity ratio of 110.76 percent.

Services offered by FODEMI offers technical assistance to clients as well as short-term loans in the form of individual loans, community banks consisting of 10 to 20 people, and solidarity groups consisting of 3 to 6 people. FODEMI launched two projects in 2004 with funding from AusAID, the Australian government’s overseas aid program. The Cotopaxi Banca Mujer Project focuses on providing credit to women in the Cotopaxi area while the Poverty Reduction Project promotes the formation of community banks in Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.

Also an MFI supported by an international Christian organization, Fundacion D-MIRO was founded in 1997 as the Norwegian Mission Alliance´s microcredit program based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Mission Alliance is an evangelical economic development organization that also maintains MFIs in Bolivia and Vietnam. D-MIRO receives funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD), and the Norwegian Lutheran church. According to the MIX Market, D-MIRO serves 36,174 active borrowers and maintains a gross loan portfolio of USD 24.4 million as of December 2008. Total assets were reported as USD 25.9 million with a return on assets of 1.49 percent and a debt/equity ratio of 362.72 percent.

In addition to insurance products, D-MIRO offers loans from USD 100 to USD 600 for between three to six months in the form  of individual loans, loans for improvement of life, education loans, and emergency medical loans. A full list of D-MIRO agencies can be found here.

The Peruvian investee, PRISMA, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1986 and active in microfinance since 1994. 65 percent of PRISMA´s loans are directed towards the trade sector while 21 percent are directed towards agriculture. According to the MIX Market, PRISMA serves 21,455 active borrowers and maintains a gross loan portfolio of USD 10.5 million as of December 2008. Total assets were reported as USD 11.9 million with a return on assets of 1.27 percent and a debt/equity ratio of 380 percent. Other investors in PRISMA include Kiva, Microcrédito Enterprises, MicroVenture, MicroVest I, and the Oxfam Novib Fund. MicroCapital has previously reported on Oikocredit´s USD 1.3 million investment and MicroVest´s USD 750,000 investment in PRISMA.

The investor is a member of the Seattle-based and Latin America-focused Global Partnerships family of funds, which reported total fund assets of USD 10.5 million in September 2007 to the MIX Market. Of this, the fund assets allocated to microfinance investments totalled USD 10 million. The two funds included in this report were the GP MFF 2005 and GP MFF 2006. The 2005 fund has assets of USD 2 million, including USD 200,000 in philanthropic capital and USD 1.8 million in private capital. GP MFF 2005 invests in eight MFIs in four countries. GP MFF 2006 has assets of USD 8.5 million, including USD 255,000 in philanthropic capital and USD 8.25 million in debt capital. GP MFF 2006 closed in March 2007, having invested in 14 MFIs in six countries. GP MFF 2008, which closed in November 2008, has USD 20 million in assets including USD 1.5 million in philantrhopic capital and USD 18.5 million in investment capital.  A full list of the 26 current investments can be found here and a 2008 annual report here.

Global Partnerships also collaborates with the Grameen Foundation and Developing World Markets, an investment advisory company. Global Partnerships claims to be supporting 890,000 borrowers through its current investments in Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru.

Source: http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-global-partnerships-microfinance-fund-2008-invests-175m-in-south-american-mfis-fodemi-fundacion-d-miro-and-prisma/