Dar es Salaam — Incofin Investment Management, a private Belgian company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) through six investment funds, has recently made debt investments totalling $8.75 million in four African MFIs, including Pride Tanzania.
The company said in a statement late this week that it has invested Sh4.5 billion ($2.75 million) in the local organisation, which specialises in financing micro- and small-scale enterprises. The other beneficiaries of the Incofin investment are Lift Above Poverty Organisation (Lapo) of Nigeria; Sinapi Aba Trust (Sat) of Ghana; and First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), also of Ghana.
"All of the investments have been made through Incofin's Rural Impulse Fund II, which invests in MFIs that primarily serve rural areas and are deemed commercially viable," company noted in the statement.
"Incofin invested Sh4.5 billion (Sh2.75 million) in Pride Tanzania. As of December 31, 2009, Pride reported to the US-based non-profit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of $38.9 million, a gross loan portfolio of $26.9 million, return on assets (ROA) of 3.12 per cent, return on equity (ROE) of 24.2 per cent and approximately 73,000 active borrowers," it added.