LOLC’s next stop in micro financing – Indonesia
Having inked a joint venture with Pak Oman Mcrofinance Bank Ltd of Pakistan, the LOLC Group plans to go to Indonesia next year with a similar acquisition.
Ishara Nanayakkkkara, Chairman LOLC on the sidelines of a media conference and signing ceremony, told the Business Times that LOLC will invest in a microfinance entity in Indonesia by next year. LOLC already has microfinance businesses in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Pak Oman Microfinance Bank Ltd which is a joint venture between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Sultanate of Oman, invited LOLC to take a majority stake (51 per cent) in its microfinance venture and through its new partnership with LOLC, Pak Oman Microfinance Bank hopes to capitalise on LOLC’s microfinance model which keeps transforming and enabling micro businesses to become small and medium level enterprises through sustainable industrialisation.
Pak Oman Microfinance Bank has been offering a range of micro credit and micro savings products and services to the people of Pakistan, since its inception in May 2006. In Sri Lanka, LOLC’s microfinance model has made remarkable progress within a short span of time and is successfully steered by four LOLC Group companies, namely, LOLC Micro Credit Limited, LOLC Finance PLC, BRAC Lanka Finance PLC and Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC. These entities promote sustainable development by uplifting the livelihoods of the grassroot level entrepreneurs who are the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy.
LOLC’s maiden international investment, PRASAC Microfinance Institution, is currently Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution, providing access to financial services to rural communities. Kapila Jayawardena, Group Managing Director and CEO of the LOLC Group in a statement at the ceremony, said that helping thousands of entities and opening up billions of business opportunities to the smallest businesses has boosted growth in the economy.