Indo-Pacific

A loan guaranty from USAID and DFC will mobilize up to $41.7 million for loans to micro, small and medium enterprises in India that are investing in or providing distributed renewable energy products such as rooftop solar, mini-grids, solar pumps, and other energy efficiency solutions. Because small and medium-sized enterprises in India account for almost half of all the energy consumed in the country’s industrial sector, the project has the potential to significantly expand access to reliable sources of clean and affordable power, while also reducing emissions.

Financing and technical assistance are supporting the expansion of Milk Mantra, a startup that procures, packages, sells and delivers dairy products in India. Milk Mantra is committed to ethical procurement with a focus on fair, transparent and timely payments to farmers, along with a range of extension services to farmers.

DFC financing is helping Varthana support the thousands of small affordable private schools that fill the gap that government schools cannot meet, providing critical loans and online learning plans to help these affordable private schools weather the pandemic and stay in business.

A $15 million equity investment will help Freshtohome Foods Ltd. expand its Bangalore-based e-commerce business that sells fresh fish, meat and vegetables in major metropolitan cities in India. Freshtohome is a five-year-old company built with proprietary technology to connect more than 1,500 fishermen and farmers to its network that delivers affordable fish and meat products to consumers, while also helping food producers earn higher prices than they typically receive at auction.

A loan to WayCool Foods is helping this four-year old company bring more produce to market in an efficient manner that avoids spoilage. WayCool is introducing technology, strict quality controls and efficient transportation to ensure that more produce reaches consumers. Working with tens of thousands of farmers across 15 states, WayCool weighs food before it leaves the farm, conducts quality checks in warehouses, and sends electronic payments to farmers, while transporting food to on markets in temperature controlled vehicles. Farmers who work with WayCool report a 30 percent increase in income and the food they grow is sold in markets around the country and to multiple international restaurant and hotel chains. DFC’s $5.5 million loan will support the continued expansion of this “farm-to-fork” value chain.

Financing enabled Australis Aquaculture to create an open fish farm in Van Phong Bay, Vietnam, where it is raising barramundi, also known as Asian sea bass, a local fish that has a high nutritional value and is enjoying growing popularity around the world. In addition to introducing open aquaculture to Vietnam, enabling fish to swim freely in offshore net pens, the company has adopted fishing techniques that reduce food waste and methane emissions. Australis also worked with a nearby veterinary research institute to manufacture fish vaccines locally.

Local currency financing of 350 million Indian rupee is helping mortgage lender Aviom provide approximately 1,200 home loans to women in India. Aviom, which serves women borrowers in predominately rural areas, provides loans in an average amount of $4,000. Many of the women served by Aviom work in the informal economy, have undocumented income, and would otherwise not be able to access home financing. Affordable mortgages enable women to build homes they could otherwise not afford and establish a credit history.

$250 million in financing to Apollo Towers Myanmar supported the development of telecommunications towers throughout the country. Apollo has built nearly 2,000 towers and mobile penetration has soared from three percent a decade ago to almost 90 percent in 2019. This increased connectivity is bringing significant improvements to the way people live and work, stimulating business activity and economic growth.

DFC's $5 million loan is helping Goyol Cashmere, a local producer of wool and cashmere knitwear, construct a new factory and purchase additional equipment in order to expand production. Cashmere is the third largest export in Mongolia, where cashmere goats are well suited for the harsh climate. The country's cashmere industry, which represents 28 percent of the world's cashmere market, provides stable incomes to over 100,000 people across the country. Goyol Cashmere sources 50 percent of its raw cashmere materials from rural herders to produce high-quality knitwear that is exported to bolster Mongolia's economy.

A $3 million loan helped QuantumID, a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, introduce a cargo tracking technology in India, and later, the Philippines. Quantum, which was started by a graduate student at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, developed handheld device that can be deployed without any upfront investments in hardware. The technology scans cargo before it is loaded onto and aircraft, helping reduce theft and misrouting and improving value chain productivity.

A $3 million loan helped Simpa Energy India introduce off-grid solar to energy-poor households and microenterprises and is working to provide off-grid solar power to tens of thousands of families and small businesses.

A partial credit guaranty is helping local businesses, such as Meliomar, advance sustainable fishing practices. Meliomar is a seafood processor that sources sustainable fish from environmentally friendly, small-scale fisheries. Meliomar, founded in 2013, is working to educate sellers and consumers about sustainable fishing practices, and to support local livelihoods by promoting fair wages for coastal fishing communities.