News
Jan 17, 2019
SME Finance Forum member, The European Investment Bank (EIB), is lending EUR 22.3m to Garanti Bank Romania to support businesses in Romania. EUR 5m of the loan amount is devoted to female entrepreneurs, matched by another EUR 5m from Garanti Bank. This transaction is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial...
Jan 17, 2019
SME Finance Forum member The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an agency of the U.S. government that facilitates investment by U.S.-based firms in developing countries, recently loaned Banco Regional SAECA USD $138 million for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Paraguay. A portion of the loan proceeds are intended to...
Jan 16, 2019
Washington, D.C. January 29, 2019 – Morocco Credit Guarantee Corporation (CCG) became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. “200 million...
Jan 15, 2019
Every month the SME Finance Forum organizes a webinar for its members. We invite industry experts from leading banks or innovative fintechs to talk about their approach to small business finance. Members can tune in to the webinars via WebEx or the phone. The webinars are designed to be interactive and we encourage members to ask questions and...
Jan 10, 2019
Washington, D.C. January 8, 2019 – Nova Credit Limited (Nova Credit) became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. “200 million businesses...
Jan 07, 2019
Aiming to further support the development of the real economy, optimize the liquidity structure and lower financing costs, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) has decided to lower the required reserve ratio for financial institutions by 1 percentage point, 0.5 percentage point of which will be cut on January 15, 2019 and a further 0.5 percentage...
Jan 02, 2019
SME Finance Forum member, the European Investment Bank (EIB), signed a new loan with the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation “to further boost female economic inclusion and empowerment across the country.” Accordingly, the EIB will provide a €30 million long term loan to the Ethiopia Women Entrepreneurship Development Project (...
Dec 26, 2018
SME Finance Forum member Gulf African Bank has signed a deal to finance women in the mining industry. The lender is partnering with the Association of Women in Energy and Extractives Kenya (AWEIK). Under the partnership, women who are interested in supplying items to mining industry players will submit their invoices to the mining, oil and gas...
Dec 19, 2018
Washington, D.C. December 18, 2018 – Federación de Cajas de Crédito y de Bancos de Los Trabajadores (Fedecrédito) became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote...
Dec 12, 2018
Washington, D.C. December 11, 2018 – United Commercial Bank (UCB) Limited became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. “200 million businesses...