MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Donates $28k to Vitas for Microfinance Client Protection in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories

The Luxembourg-based Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise) recently donated USD 28,000 to Vitas Group, a commercial holding company created by US-based, international nonprofit organization Global Communities, to train the staff of Vitas Group’s microfinance institutions in the Middle East on client protection. The funds will enable Vitas Group to hire a consultant certified by US-based nonprofit organization Accion’s Smart Campaign for this purpose. The consultant will train staff working in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories on “appropriate product design and delivery”, “prevention of over-indebtedness”, “transparency”, “responsible pricing”, “fair and respectful treatment of clients”, “privacy of client data” and “mechanisms for complaint resolution” [1].

As of March 2015, Sanad has raised total investor commitments of USD 128.8 million, with USD 164.6 million in approved debt investments. Vitas Group has subsidiaries in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Romania, and shares its brand with an affiliate, the Global Communities institution in Iraq. Global Communities, the parent organization of Vitas Group, has an operating budget of USD 168.7 million, with USD 151 million in capital and technical investments as of September 2014. As of May 2015, the Smart Campaign has certified 32 microfinance institutions serving approximately 15 million clients.

By Meredith Steih, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Information:

About Sanad:
The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise) is a private-public partnership that provides “medium- and long-term” loan and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa with the intent of strengthening MSMEs as well as local financial markets. It is an initiative of the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), and it is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, which is known by its German acronym BMZ. Sanad was founded in 2011 and is domiciled in Luxembourg. It focuses in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen with an emphasis on Egypt and Tunisia. As of March 2015, Sanad has raised total investor commitments of USD 128.8 million, with USD 164.6 million in approved debt investments.

About Vitas Group:                                                                          About the Vitas Group:Vitas Group is a commercial holding company created by US-based NGO Global Communities (formerly CHF International) to further the microfinance goals of Global Communities. Vitas Group has subsidiaries in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Romania, and shares its brand with a Vitas affiliate, the Iraq Middle Market Development Foundation (IMMDF). Global Communities, which remains the parent organization of Vitas Group, has an operating budget of USD 168.7 million, with USD 151 million in capital and technical investments as of September 2014.

About the Smart Campaign:
The Smart Campaign, which was founded by US-based nonprofit organization Accion and is located at Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion in the US city of Washington, is an “effort to unite microfinance leaders around a common goal: to keep clients as the driving force of the industry.” It promotes seven client protection principles: “appropriate product design and delivery”, “prevention of over-indebtedness”, “transparency”, “responsible pricing”, “ fair and respectful treatment of clients”, “privacy of client data” and “mechanisms for complaint resolution”. As of May 2015, the Smart Campaign has certified 32 microfinance institutions serving approximately 15 million clients.

Sanad Press Release: “Sanad partners with Vitas Group to support Middle East client protection initiative”

[1] MicroCapital, March 12, 2013, MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation Donates $4.3m to Smart Campaign for Microfinance Client Protection Effort”

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Sanad

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Vitas

MicroCapital Universe Profile: SMART Campaign

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