MICROCAPITAL STORY: Fransabank SAL and Ameen Launch New Microfinance Partnership to Provide Microfinance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon’s Jbeil Region

On November 7, Fransabank SAL, an international commercial bank active primarily in the Middle East, and Ameen, a Lebanese microfinance institution (MFI), created a new microfinance partnership to help small businesses in the Jbeil region of Lebanon.  The program will enable owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand their businesses by providing them with loans that range from USD 337 (LBP 500,000) to USD 2,023 (LBP 3,000,000) with credit facilities ranging from six months to 18 months.  Loan applicants can also avail of technical and administrative support services.

According to Ziad Halaby, the general manager of Ameen, the program grew out of an initiative by the mayors of several Byblos towns where Ameen has a strong presence.  With both Fransabank and the local mayors’ association, the Development Committee in Jbeil inked a new cooperation agreement that distributes about 75 interest-free loans totaling USD 78,851 (LBP 112.5 million) and 25 grants totaling USD 25,284 (LBP 37.5 million) in support of the program.  Interior Minister Ziad Baroud lauded the new initiative, stressing the importance of supporting SMEs to help limit the 20 percent unemployment rate in a country where one-third of the population live below the poverty line.

Fransabank SAL is a Lebanese bank based in Beirut that provides a broad range of retail, commercial, corporate, investment, and international banking services.  Established in 1921, it is now the fifth largest private Lebanese bank, and its operations extend to France, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Libya and Belarus.  Since March 2008, Fransabank has cooperated with Ameen in providing micro-loans between USD 300 and USD 5,000 to entrepreneurs in the South, Mount Lebanon, Bekaa, and Beirut.  In its 2007 financial statement, Fransabank claimed USD 7.2 billion in assets, of which USD 1.4 billion were listed as “loans and advances.”  The company achieved a capital adequacy of 17.89 percent; it earned 12.81 percent on its shareholders’ equity and .98 percent on its assets.

Established in 1998, Ameen is a Lebanese microfinance institution based in Baabda.  The MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, gave Ameen four out of five diamonds as a rating of its informational transparency.  At the end of September 2007, the organization lent to 8,427 active borrowers a gross loan portfolio of USD 7.3 million.  The total debt-equity ratio was 236.76 percent.  The organization achieved a 1.52 percent return on its assets and a 4.99 percent return on its equity.  Please click here for Ameen’s audited financial statements.

Additional Resources:

Ameen

CHF International: “Fransabank Launches the Ameen Loan Project

The Daily Star of Lebanon: “Bank, NGO launch new micro-credit plan in Jbeil

Fransabank SAL

Similar Posts: