MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME to Loan $20m to Lebanon’s Bank Audi for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Middle East, North Africa

The Sanad Fund for MSME (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise), an initiative of the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank that provides debt and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announced that it has agreed to loan USD 20 million to Bank Audi, a private bank headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in MENA. Bank Audi is active in the following 10 countries as well as Gibraltar: Abu Dhabi, Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Turkey. Although the loan is intended to facilitate medium- to long-term lending, the term length was not disclosed.

As of 2012, Sanad had raised total investor commitments of USD 61 million, with USD 38 million in approved investments. As of December 2012, Bank Audi reported total assets of USD 31.3 billion and customer deposits of USD 26.8 billion. As of December 2011, Bank Audi reported a loan portfolio of USD 1.3 billion with 19 percent of the bank’s loaning activity directed to SMEs.

By Lena Phillips, Research Associate

About Sanad Fund for MSME

Founded in August 2011, Sanad Fund for MSME (Sanad) provides medium- and long-term debt and equity financing to commercial banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with the intent of strengthening the micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector and local financial markets. It is an initiative of the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank, and its investors are the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and the European Union. It is headquartered in Luxembourg. Sanad will initially be focusing on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia, followed in stages by Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, the Palestinian Territory, Syria and Yemen. As of 2012, Sanad had raised total investor commitments of USD 61 million, with USD 38 million in approved investments.

About Bank Audi

Bank Audi was founded in 1830 and was incorporated in its present state as a private joint stock company in 1962. Bank Audi is headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, and it has 79 branches throughout the country as well as 72 branches located mainly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as of June 2012. The bank’s main activities include commercial, retail and private banking. As of December 2012, Bank Audi reported total assets of USD 31.3 billion and customer deposits of USD 26.8 billion. As of December 2011, Bank Audi reported a loan portfolio of USD 1.3 billion with 19 percent of the bank’s loaning activity directed to SMEs.

Sources and Additional Resources:

Sanad Fund for MSME Press Release: http://www.sanad.lu/Press-Releases—Press-Releases—2013-02-05-SANAD-Supports-SMEs-in-Lebanon-through-Partnership-with-Bank-Audi——_site.index..html_dir._siteid.67_nav.134_entryid.45_likecms.html

MicroCapital.org Article, 11 October 2012: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Loans $1.5m to FINCA Jordan to Boost Microfinance Services,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-sanad-fund-for-msme-loans-1-5m-to-finca-jordan-to-boost-microfinance-services/#more-20427

MicroCapital.org Article, 5 January 2012: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ‘SANAD Fund for MSME’ to Loan $5m to BLC Bank of Lebanon for On-Lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-sanad-fund-for-msme-to-loan-5m-to-blc-bank-of-lebanon-for-on-lending-to-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/#more-16186

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Sanad Fund for MSME, http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?%20page=SANAD+Fund+for+MSME+%28SANAD%29

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Bank Audi, http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Bank+Audi

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