The world's largest NGO Brac received $50 million in investment from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, to accelerate its innovations that impact the lives of underserved and marginalized people.
The five-year facility will be fully earmarked to the financing of the NGO's microfinance portfolio, said Tushar Bhowmik, CFO of Brac, in a press release issued by Brac on Wednesday.
"We are delighted to receive this investment from FMO. It is a milestone achievement for the microfinance sector as a foreign bank is directly investing in a microfinance institution in Bangladesh for the first time," he also said
"The investment will help improve the livelihoods of people who need access to affordable financial solutions, especially in marginalized communities, in a more efficient way," Bhowmik added.
This investment is in support of FMO’s inclusive strategy in Bangladesh as more than 50% of the loan portfolio of Brac is in microenterprise loan (less than 10,000 euros), according to a FMO disclosure.
"Brac's social mission alignment has played a big role in creating a strong franchise and reputation worldwide and is closely aligned with FMO’s own development mandate", it mentioned.
Brac is the market leader for the microfinance sector in Bangladesh with a microfinance loan portfolio of $3.2 billion serving more than 7.4 million customers, among whom 85% are women, in more than 69,000 villages.
The Dutch development bank had earlier disclosed that it was considering a $7.5 million investment in Brac Myanmar Microfinance, a Myanmar-based for-profit institution.
In June last year, FMO proposed a $4.8 million investment in Scatec Solar Bangladesh, a company incorporated in the Netherlands and is the 100% owner of Bangla Sun Solar Energy.
