MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Loans $1.1m to Microcredit Foundation Lider to Reduce Energy Costs, Carbon Emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Green for Growth Fund (GGF), a Luxembourg-based public-private partnership, recently loaned EUR 1 million (USD 1.14 million) to Lider, a microcredit foundation based in Sarajevo, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in rural regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lider will on-lend the funds to households and small-scale farmers to purchase equipment that uses less conventional energy or produces renewable energy.

Lider, which was founded in 2002 by US-based NGO Global Communities, has 22 offices serving 40 municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina as of 2019. As of December 2018, it has an loan portfolio of BAM 20.1 million (USD 11.5 million) outstanding to 6,486 borrowers. These loans are intended mainly for farming, other entrepreneurial activity and housing.

GGF, founded in 2009 by the European Investment Bank and Germany-based KfW Development Bank, specializes in reducing carbon dioxide emissions through direct investments as well as financing retail lenders to support projects increasing energy efficiency or the usage of renewable energy. As of 2018, GGF held an outstanding investment portfolio of EUR 429 million (USD 485 million) disbursed via 52 partner institutions in 19 markets of Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

By Research Associate, Shuyang Sun

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with Lider

GGF press release
https://www.ggf.lu/fileadmin/user_upload/08_press/pdf/2019-02-Press_Release_-_GGF_and_LIDER_join_efforts_to_promote_energy_efficiency_and_CO2_emissions_reduction.pdf

Lider homepage
https://lider.ba

GGF homepage
http://www.ggf.lu

GGF fact sheet
https://www.ggf.lu/downloads/fact-sheets/

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