MEII was created to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the MENA region access finance in order to grow their businesses and create jobs. The core of MEII’s programs is stimulating SME lending by providing local financial intermediaries – primarily banks – with loan guarantees and technical assistance. This enables these institutions to expand their SME client base and structure loans to meet borrower working capital and longer-term financial needs.

We are thrilled to announce that MEII officially reached $300 million dollars in approved loans as of February 28, 2019.  Founded in 2007, MEII’s loan guarantee program (LGF) has had a meaningful impact on the MENA region, with a combined total of 25,390 new jobs sustained (23,172 in West Bank/Gaza and 2,218 in Tunisia). In the Palestinian territories, 33% of loan recipients were new bank clients and 11% were startups.  Additionally, in Tunisia, 62% of loan recipients were new bank clients and 53% were startups. We are also very proud of our combined 1.4% total loss rate for our loan guarantee program.

Thank you to our hardworking teams in Ramallah and Tunis for helping us reach this important benchmark!