Where we come from: History of ProCredit
The ProCredit group is firmly rooted in its pioneering history in development finance. Formally speaking, ProCredit Holding was founded in 1998 as Internationale Micro Investitionen AG (IMI) by the consulting firm IPC and many of that company’s employees via ipc-invest (today’s ProCredit Staff Invest). Soon after the launch of IMI, further capital was provided by the DOEN Foundation, the Bolivian foundation ProCrédito, and the KfW Group. IMI soon became an important vehicle for communication among shareholders of individual institutions, and so it was natural for other IFIs to take stakes in IMI as well. However, the founding of IMI was only one more stage – albeit a very important one – in the evolution of IPC (and Zeitinger Invest), the ProCredit partners and their experience with development finance, which goes back more than 30 years. Our business focus develops as our markets develop, but our vision of a fair financial sector has been constant since the beginning.
For details see below
ProCredit Holding becoming member of the Social Stock Exchange (SSX)
Sale of ProCredit Bank in Nicaragua
Listing of ProCredit Holding shares (PCZ) at Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Sale of ProCredit Bank in Bolivia
Sale of units in Armenia, Congo and Mexico as part of the strategic refocusing on SME clients
Supervision by German banking authority (BaFin) and Deutsche Bundesbank
Banking licence in Germany and change of legal form to AG & Co. KGaA
Move from a product-oriented microfinance provider to a positioning as the “Hausbank” for SMEs
Establishment of the ProCredit Academies in recognition of the need to develop and integrate middle and senior managers
Consolidation of ownership in ProCredit Holding and subsequent investment grade rating since 2004
Creation of ProCredit as a banking group comprising 17 banks with key shareholders IFC, KfW and FMO
Downscaling: Focus on advising commercial banks on how to grant loans to very small businesses
Origin of ProCredit with IPC (now Zeitinger Invest):
Consulting financial institutions and NGOs in developing countries