The Washington D.C.-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has helped contribute a loan of $45 million to Peru’s Mibanco, which will use the financing for microfinance loans for women.
The loan, which is denominated in Peru’s currency nuevo soles, includes the equivalent of $10 million directly from the IDB and $26 million from a syndicate of private investors, the IDB said in a release.
The syndicate includes Dexia-Microcredit Fund ($17.5 million), Oikocredit ($6.5 million), and the Calvert Foundation ($2 million).
The IDB also helped Mibanco receive an additional amount equivalent to $9 million from French investment and promotions company Proparco.
The funds will provide Mibanco with medium-term financing for a new credit program for women entrepreneurs called Crecer Mi Negocio. The program will financing up to $3,000 for medium-term loans.
“The program launched by Mibanco is a unique initiative, not only for its massive scale but also because it goes a step beyond providing access to finance for low-income people by offering business training specially designed so that women who own microenterprise and small businesses can succeed in their ventures,” the head of the IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority initiative, Susan Olsen, was quoted as saying.
