MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd. in Dubai Appoints Julia Assaad as Its New General Manager

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Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd. (Grameen-Jameel), a joint venture based in Dubai between the Grameen Foundation and Abdul Latif Jameel Group, announced it would appoint Julia Assaad as its new General Manager [1, 2]. Grameen Foundation is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, and Abdul Latif Jameel Group is a Saudi Arabia-based for-profit business group [3, 5]. Alex Counts, Grameen-Jameel Director and President of Grameen Foundation, stated that Ms. Assaad was brought on to help reach its goal of adding one million new microfinance clients by 2011 [2]. As reported in a previous MicroCapital story on the Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium that took place in November 2008, the Arab microfinance industry has an estimated total market of USD 5.5 billion in the Arab world [13]. Moreover, Heather Henyon, the General Manager of Grameen-Jameel at the time, cited that currently there are 2.9 million borrowers in Arab countries that make up less than four percent of the total demand for microfinance in Arab countries [13]. The untapped market for microfinance is valued at USD 3.96 billion, only slightly less than the USD 5.29 billion that is calculated as the total microfinance market [13].

Ms. Assaad was educated in Egypt and Canada [2]. The details on which specific institutions she attended are not publicly available. She entered the banking industry in 2001 and holds eight years of senior banking experience [2]. She began her career at UBS, a financial institution with head offices in Switzerland with assets totaling CHF 2.016 billion (equivalent to USD 1.9 billion) at the end of 2008 [2, 6]. She also held various management positions at Barclay’s Bank in South Africa and Egypt, a financial institution registered in London with assets totaling GBP 2.053 billion (equivalent to USD 3.4 billion) as of 2008 [2, 7].  Her most recent position was at BNP Paribas where she started in 2007 as deputy general manager and head of retail network and sales. BNP Paribas is a Swiss bank with assets totaling CHF 52.332 billion (equivalent to USD 48.6 billion) as of 2008 [2, 8]. As stated by Zaher Al Munajjed, Grameen-Jameel’s chairman, Ms. Assaad introduced multiple new retail banking products at Barclays, and doubled the number of branches at BNP Paribas [2]. Further details on her roles and duties at UBS, Barclay’s, and BNP Paribas are not publicly available.

Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd. was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Grameen Foundation and Bab Rizq Jameel Limited, a subsidiary of Abdul Latif Jameel Group [1]. As reported in a previous MicroCapital story, the two were partners for four years, and in an effort to expand microfinance to the Arab world, they created this joint venture, which will provide debt financing for microfinance institutions (MFIs) through its loan guarantee facility, expanding upon the work of its predecessor, Grameen-Abdul Latif Jameel Pan-Arab Initiative [6]. In addition, Grameen-Jameel will provide training and support information sharing among MFIs [6]. Grameen-Jameel, working with its partners, delivers products and services, and provides financing through its Grameen-Jameel Guarantee Fund worth USD 50 million [1]. As of 2008, Grameen-Jameel had facilitated local currency financing of USD 44 million backed by USD 20 million in guarantees to MFIs, and had more than 350,000 microfinance clients through its partners in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen. In a prior MicroCapital story, it was reported that Grameen-Jameel issued a local-currency guarantee worth USD 2.7 million to the First Microfinance Institution (FMFI) Syria, part of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) in June 2009 [10]. MicroCapital also covered the story on Grameen-Jameel and Grameen Foundation announcing that Enda Inter-Arabe of Tunisia (enda) has gone live on Mifos, a management information system for MFIs, in May 2009 [11].

Grameen Foundation, as a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, DC, works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model through a global network of partner microfinance institutions [3]. Started in 1976 by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank serves more than six million poor families with loans, savings, insurance and other services [13]. The MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reports that Grameen Foundation has established a global partner network of 55 microfinance institutions [14]. According to the company’s most recent financial statements, as of March 2008, Grameen Foundation had total revenues of USD 21.9 million, and total expenses of USD 16.7 million [4].

Abdul Latif Jameel Group, established in 1945 and based in Saudi Arabia, began offering consumer financial services in the 1970s according to its website [5]. Its core focus services are automobiles and consumer financing [5]. Details on its financials are not publicly available.

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By Uyen Tran, Research Assistant

Bibliography:

[1] Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Ltd: http://www.grameen-jameel.com/

[2] MENAFN Press, 16 July 2009, Grameen-Jameel announces new General Manager, http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093259528

[3] Grameen Foundation: http://www.grameenfoundation.org/

[4] Grameen Foundation 2007-2008 financial statements: http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/resource_center/GrameenFoundation-FinancialStatementsFY08.pdf

[5] Abdul Latif Jameel Group: http://www.alj.com/

[6] UBS AG: http://www.ubs.com/1/e/investors/08q4/0017.html

[7] Barclay’s Bank: http://www.barclaysannualreport.com/ar2008/index.asp?pageid=101

[8] BNP Paribas: http://wcorporate.bnpparibas.com/applis/wCorporate/wCorporate.nsf/docsByCode/IAKB-6P6D6H/$FILE/BNPP_CH_RA2008_FINAL_EN.pdf

[9] MicroCapital Story, 12 June 2007, Grameen Foundation USA and Abdul Latif Jameel Group of Saudi Arabia Launch the For-Profit Joint-Venture Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-grameen-foundation-usa-and-abdul-latif-jameel-group-of-saudi-arabia-launch-the-for-profit-joint-venture-grameen-jameel-pan-arab-microfinance-limited/

[10] MicroCapital.org article, 12 June 2009, Grameen-Jameel Issues a USD 2.7 Million Local-Currency Guarantee to Aga Khan Agency, First Microfinance Institution (FMFI) Syria https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-grameen-jameel-issues-a-usd-27-million-local-currency-guarantee-to-aga-khan-agency-first-microfinance-institution-fmfi-syria/

[11] MicroCapital.org article, 14 May 2009, Enda Inter-Arabe Rolls Out Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Information Management Platform to 52 Branches with Assistance from Grameen-Jameel and ThoughtWorks

[12] MicroCapital.org article, 9 December 2009, Grameen-Jameel and Blue Orchard’s Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium Concludes that Microfinance in Arab World Totals US $5.5 billion https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-grameen-jameel-and-blue-orchards-arab-microfinance-investment-symposium-concludes-that-microfinance-in-arab-world-totals-us-55-billion/

[13] Grameen Bank: http://www.grameen-info.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=68

[14] MIX Market Grameen Foundation: http://www.mixmarket.org/en/partners/partners.show.profile.asp?token=&ett=652

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