Moroccan microfinance institution (MFI) FONDEP is to receive a loan of MAD 100 million (USD 12.5 million) from commercial bank BMCE (Banque marocaine du commerce extérieur) of Morocco, with a USD 3 million guarantee split between Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd, a for-profit venture that provides capacity building and financing to Arab MFIs, and the Grameen Foundation’s Growth Guarantee. It is the largest leveraged commercial transaction for a Moroccan MFI.
In March, MicroCapital reported on a EUR 10 million (USD 14.7 million) loan from Germany’s KfW Entwicklungbank to FONDEP. In January 2007, FONDEP received USD 2.7 million in loan financing from Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank.
Grameen-Jameel is a partnership of the U.S.-based microfinance non-profit Grameen Foundation and the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, a Saudi conglomerate, launched in 2003 and incorporated in Cyprus in March 2007 to tackle poverty through microfinance in the Middle East and North Africa. Its nine active partner institutions as of the first quarter of 2007 had a total loan portfolio of USD 148.0 million. Grameen-Jameel does not report financial data and ratings to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse.
BMCE Bank, headquartered in Casablanca, was founded in 1959. It reported MAD 107.1 billion in assets at year-end 2007, MAD 78.7 billion of which were listed as long-term loans receivable. Its return on assets was 1.33 percent and debt-equity ratio was 3,129.64 percent.
FONDEP (Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat) Micro-Crédit was founded in 1996 with a mission to make credit available to the poor, particularly women and young people. As of December 31, 2006, its assets totaled USD 30.5 million, of which USD 26.8 million was vested in its loan portfolio. Its return on assets was 19.17 percent and its debt/equity ratio was 225.14 percent. Active borrowers numbered 76,378. The latest report from ratings agency Microfinanza Rating in July 2006 gave FONDEP an A, up from its previous BBB rating.
By Stephen Son
Additional Resources:
Microfinance Gateway: “Grameen-Jameel Secures More than $15 million in Financing for Microfinance in Jordan and Morocco”
MicroCapital.org article, March 25, 2008: “KfW Entwicklungsbank, Development Arm of German Bank, Lends $14.7m to Moroccan Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fondation pour le Développement Local et le Partenariat (FONDEP)”
MicroCapital.org article, January 4, 2007: “Moroccan Attijariwafa Bank Provides USD 2.7 Million Loan to Moroccan Microfinance Institution FONDEP”
BusinessWeek: BMCE
MIX Market: Profile for FONDEP
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