MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Amen Bank of Tunisia Borrows $17m from Sanad for On-lending to MSMEs Adjusting to COVID-19 Pandemic

Tunisia’s Amen Bank recently accepted a senior loan of EUR 14 million (USD 16.7 million) from the Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME. Via its 160 branches, Amen Bank is to on-lend the funds to provide liquidity for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as they adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanad Board Chair Dr Daniela Beckmann said, “from the moment the pandemic hit, Amen Bank pivoted quickly to maintain contact with its clients through digital means and created new financial products specifically tailored to meet the needs of crisis-affected MSMEs.”

Amen Bank is a private institution that was founded in 1967 by the Amen Group, which owns 61 percent of the bank’s shares as of 2021. As of June 2020, Amen Bank reported total assets of TND 9 billion (USD 3.2 billion), deposits of TND 5.7 billion (USD 2.1 billion), and annual return on assets of 1.64 percent and return on equity of 14.2 percent.

Amen Group owns 70 companies across the agribusiness, banking, insurance, equipment and transport sectors in Tunisia.

Sanad, which means “support” in Arabic, was founded in 2011 by German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). The fund makes equity and debt investments in microfinance institutions, leasing companies, banks and other financial intermediaries that, in turn, finance MSMEs. Sanad invests across the Middle East and North Africa with an emphasis on Egypt and Tunisia. Its investors are US-based Calvert Impact Capital; the EU; Germany’s GLS Bank; and development finance institutions of the Austrian, Dutch, German and Swiss governments. As of 2020, Sanad had an outstanding debt portfolio of USD 232 million. It is advised by Germany’s Finance in Motion, which manages assets valued at EUR 2.5 billion (USD 2.7 billion), also as of 2020.

By Sophie Fiala, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Sanad press release
https://sanad.lu/latest-updates/sanad-and-amen-bank-commit-eur-14-million-to-support-tunisian-small-businesses-in-overcoming-covid-19-crisis

Sanad homepage
https://sanad.lu/

Amen Bank homepage
https://www.amenbank.com.tn/

Amen Bank financial statements
https://www.amenbank.com.tn/en/informations-financieres.html

Amen Group homepage
http://amengroup.ovh/

Wall Street Journal profile on Amen Bank
https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/TN/XTUN/AB/financials

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