WASHINGTON – In a ceremony held March 14, 2014, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. government’s development finance institution, recognized the closing of a $45 million loan to the FINCA Microfinance Holding Company LLC (FMH). OPIC’s loan is a pioneering one for the global microfinance company. Both the $45 million amount and the loan’s seven-year tenor are substantial expansions of FINCA’s previous financing agreements. The OPIC loan will broaden outreach and services benefitting low-income clients of FINCA’s microfinance subsidiaries in OPIC-eligible countries on three continents.
The OPIC loan is one of the largest credit facilities of its size committed to FINCA’s innovative form of microfinance business model. Typically, small, unrelated microfinance companies are members of a network but are not owned and operated homogenously as part of one organization. FINCA International structured FMH to hold and operate FINCA’s microfinance subsidiaries in 22 countries, ensuring consistency in services, client protection and standards, and providing opportunities for FINCA to deliver expanded products and services to their one million clients.
“We are thrilled to have a new partner like OPIC that understands the emerging markets where FINCA works. This new facility has the flexibility to allow FINCA Microfinance Holding Company to deploy liquidity where it is needed most and in a timely manner, which will make our global operation more efficient and effective. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship,” said Rupert Scofield, FINCA’s President and CEO.
“FINCA’s global reputation in microfinance is proven and outstanding, and I’m proud to recognize OPIC’s support to furthering their impressive work,” added Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO. “FINCA’s focus stretches from Haiti to Pakistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as countless other places where development impact through microfinance is most needed. And FINCA’s emphasis on client protection principles in its lending practices aligns with OPIC’s own policies for supporting investment. This OPIC loan will help FINCA to reach its growth targets and send a positive message to investors that FINCA is an institution with a mission worth supporting.”
The loan agreement was officially executed by both parties on February 24, 2014. The recognition of the transaction was commemorated at FINCA International’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. OPIC’s President and CEO, Elizabeth Littlefield and FINCA Microfinance Holding Company’s President and CEO, Rupert Scofield endorsed the ceremonial declaration to recognize their important mutual commitment to delivering access to funding to financially underserved populations.
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OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets, catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.
Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported more than $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated an estimated $76 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 278,000 American jobs.
FINCA is a leading international microfinance organization that provides financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. For nearly three decades, FINCA has been committed to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing community-based credit and savings opportunities. FINCA currently reaches more than one million clients through its 22 Subsidiaries in Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East and South Asia. FINCA’s outreach is among the broadest and most comprehensive of today’s microfinance networks. FINCA manages its subsidiaries through FINCA Microfinance Holding Company LLC which is supported with socially responsible investor partners.