MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Fund for MSME Raises $26m from ASN Bank, Calvert Impact to Boost Financial Inclusion, Resilience in MENA

The Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME recently agreed to borrow EUR 15 million (USD 16.5 million) from Algemene Spaarbank voor Nederland (ASN) Bank, a retail banking member of the Netherlands’ de Volksbank, and USD 10 million from the US-based NGO Calvert Impact Capital. Sanad intends to use the fresh funds to facilitate

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Foodics Buys Equity Stake in POSRocket from Sanad Fund for MSME, Linking Providers of Financial, Business Technology to Restaurants in MENA

Foodics, a technology firm serving restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa, recently bought an equity stake of unspecified size in POSRocket, a point-of-sale (POS) platform supporting businesses in the food, beverage and other industries. Foodics purchased the holding from the Sanad Fund for MSME, a Luxembourg-domiciled investor in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which Sanad had held it through its second equity sub-fund (ESF II). Subsequent to the deal, POSRocket’s customers

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad, Aavishkaar, Uncovered Participate in $4m Equity Raise by Sky.Garden of Kenya to Expand Its Digital Marketplace to Middle East, North Africa

The Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME recently led a Series A investment in Sky.Garden, a Kenya-based e-commerce platform serving 15,000 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Sky.Garden plans to use the fresh USD 4 million to expand into

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Applications for $60k Arab Financial Inclusion Innovation Prize (AFIIP) Open Through June 25, 2021

The organizers of the Arab Financial Inclusion Innovative Prize (AFIIP) are now accepting applications from financial services practitioners to compete for an award of USD 60,000 plus technical assistance in implementing their ideas. In past years, AFIIP has offered a financial inclusion prize for innovation in Arab nations that improves financial services catering to poor people as well as

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

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sanad Technical Assistance Facility, Egyptian Credit Bureau I-Score Seek to Boost Finance for Farmers; Agricultural Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt

The Sanad Technical Assistance Facility, which is affiliated with the Luxembourg-domiciled Sanad Fund for MSME (Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), has collaborated with the Egyptian Credit Bureau, also known as I-Score, to build an Agricultural Credit Evaluation and Risk Assessment System (ACERS). I-Score will implement this “web-based credit assessment and scoring tool,” with the goal of