MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Lends $20m to Lebanon’s Byblos Bank

The Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), a provider of loans and equity to financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa, recently announced it will loan USD 20 million to Byblos Bank, a commercial bank based in Lebanon, to on-lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Semaan Bassil, the Chairman and General Manager of Byblos, added that “SME lending has always been an important business line to Byblos Bank, given the significant contribution of SMEs to job creation, growth and development. Our strong corporate culture, sound lending practices, and large network across the country are all geared to promote the development of SMEs in Lebanon.”

Established in 1950 and headquartered in Beirut, Byblos Bank operates 86 branches across Lebanon, employs 2,350 people and has a presence in ten countries across three continents. As of 2016, Byblos reported total assets of LBP 31.4 trillion (USD 21 billion), total deposits of LBP 25.6 trillion (USD 17 billion), a gross loan portfolio LBP 8.2 trillion (USD 5.4 billion), return on assets of 0.81 percent and return on equity of 9.21 percent.

Sanad, which is named for the Arabic word meaning “support,” was founded in 2011 and is domiciled in Luxembourg. It is an initiative of German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and is funded by KfW, Germany’s GLS Bank and the EU as well as development finance institutions of the Austrian, German and Swiss governments. Sanad invests in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen with an emphasis on Egypt and Tunisia. As of 2016, the fund has raised total investor commitments of USD 186 million. It is advised by Germany’s Finance in Motion, which manages assets valued at EUR 1.6 billion (USD 1.7 billion) as of 2017.

By Matthew O’Neill, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources:

Byblos press release:
https://www.byblosbank.com/about/news-room/byblos-bank-and-sanad-sign-a-loan-agreement

Byblos annual report, 2016:
https://www.byblosbank.com/Library/Assets//Gallery/FinancialResult/AnnualReports/Downloadthefull2015AnnualReport/Annual%20Report%202016.pdf

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Investing $15m in Equity in Sanad Fund for MSME for On-lending in the Middle East, North Africa:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fmo-investing-15m-equity-sanad-fund-msme-lending-middle-east-north-africa/

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Lends $1.5m for Women’s Enterprises in Palestine via Microfinance Institution Asala:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-sanad-fund-msme-lends-1-5m-womens-enterprises-palestine-via-microfinance-institution-asala/

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