The multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently agreed to loan up to MAD 220 million (USD 21.5 million) to Banque Marocaine pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (BMCI) in support of the Women in Business (WiB) program, through which EBRD serves women-led micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in multiple countries. The objectives include fostering entrepreneurship among women, such as via consulting services and access to finance. BMCI also will support women-led MSMEs in building partnerships among one another and will work to create financial products that meet the specific needs of women entrepreneurs. A portion of the new funding targets women impacted by the earthquakes that occurred in western Morocco in September.
BMCI is a Morocco-based institution that is majority-owned by the French financial group BNP Paribas. BMCI’s assets total approximately USD 7.3 billion as of December 2021. The bank’s services include business and retail banking, consulting, insurance and asset management.
Founded in 1991, EBRD aims to further “market-oriented economies and the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiatives” in Eurasia and North Africa. It is based in the UK and is owned by 71 countries, the EU and the European Investment Bank. During 2022, EBRD disbursed investments totaling EUR 13 billion (USD 14 billion), ending the year with EUR 30 billion (USD 32 billion) in total assets.
By Rohan Kumar Agarwal, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
EBRD press release
https://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/projects/psd/54657.html
BMCI press release
https://www.bmci.ma/actualite/la-bmci-accompagne-les-femmes-entrepreneurs-a-travers-le-programme-women-in-business/
BMCI annual report (2022)
https://www.bmci.ma/wp-content/blogs.dir/sites/2/2023/05/Rapport-Financier-annuel-2022-V6_RFA-DEF_compressed.pdf
BNP Paribas homepage
https://group.bnpparibas/
EBRD strategy for Morocco
https://www.ebrd.com/morocco.html#:~:text=In%20 Morocco%20we%20 focus%20on,and%20facilitating%20non%2Dsovereign%20financing
EBRD investments (1991-2022)
https://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/ebrd-investments.xlsx
Previous MicroCapital article on EBRD
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-ebrd-loans-4-4m-to-kep-trust-for-msmes-in-kosovo-with-focus-on-rural-women-led-msmes/#more-49812
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