Rural Impulse Fund II
Investment fund
Provides working capital to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in over 40 countries
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) manages funds that invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. MFIs provide financial services, such as credits, savings and insurances, to people who cannot have recourse to regular banks. As a specialist in rural microfinancing, Incofin IM's main goal is to reach out to people who live in more secluded rural areas and/or who are active in the agricultural sector.
From our offices in Belgium, Colombia and India we finance and support organizations in over 40 countries. Incofin IM also explores the possibilities for direct investments in companies situated in these countries and develops new products to suit the development of their needs. After all, we are committed beyond investment.
Incofin IM's biggest asset is our international team. Our experts have a great deal of experience in the area of microfinance and maintain relations with investors worldwide. Thanks to their enthusiastic approach, involvement and personal contact with the organizations in which we invest, Incofin IM succeeds in making a difference. Incofin IM aims at a balanced combination of financial and social results. We attach great importance to the social objective of the organizations which we support. Only those institutions that actually have a positive impact in terms of their clients' and staff's standard of living may qualify for investment.
Summary
Rural Impulse Fund II (RIF II) is the successor of RIF I and also invests in microfinance institutions through debt and equity investments. These commercial MFIs offer financial services in disadvantaged rural areas.
To be eligible, microfinance institutions must be in developing countries and have at least a 30% presence in rural areas. The fund will invest in a range of microfinance intermediaries, including NGOs, credit unions, microfinance banks and institutions targeting small businesses.
Fund Objectives
The fund’s objectives are both financial and social:
- to improve the outreach and impact of rural MFIs and to assist them in providing opportunities to therural poor, who represent three quarters of the world’s poor;
- to strengthen the rural MFIs financial structure and capacity; and
- to provide an attractive financial return to investors.
Impact Example
Rural Impulse Fund II became shareholder of the Pakistani microfinance bank Khushhali Bank. A consortium, besides RIF II also consisting of the local commercial bank United Bank and the international microfinance investors Shorecap II, Triple Jump and ResponsAbility, took a share of 67.4% in the bank.
Khushhali Bank, established in 2000, is the largest microfinance bank in Pakistan. It has a strong infrastructure network with more than 100 offices in 72 districts of the country. It counts more than 300,000 clients and a loan portfolio of USD 44 million.
Khushhali offers agriculture loans, livestock loans and enterprise loans. Most loans are non- collateralized group loans, and recently the bank also started providing individual loans. With almost 90% of the financing going to agriculture and livestock, Khushhali has a very strong rural and agricultural focus. As a microfinance bank, Khushhali can also offer banking, saving and deposit accounts.
Pakistan’s microfinance sector is supported by a legal and regulatory framework that is considered to be the most formalized in South Asia.
