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At the Tunisia 2020 Conference, in addition to several memoranda of understanding and financing agreements signed by AFD Group, Proparco has signed an agreement to provide support for the Enda microfinance institution, rounding out two recent agreements signed last October which are also designed to help the Tunisian microfinace sector to grow.

Microfinance has really taken off in Tunisia and is beginning to play a key role in promoting the financial inclusion of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, combating poverty and creating employment.

-    Enda Tamweel the pioneering Tunisian microfinance NGO is currently the biggest micro finance institution (MFI) in the country with some 260,000 – essentially female – customers spread throughout urban and rural areas. To help it deal with increasing demand, Proparco granted Enda an €8 million loan on October 26 last. These funds will enable this MFI to expand the range of loans it provides to the least well-off, especially in rural areas, in a context where many new Tunisian MFIs are focusing their lending on urban SMEs.
On 29 November at Tunisia 2020, Proparco rounded out its support by signing an agreement to provide €150,000 worth of technical assistance over a four-year period. This initiative seeks to bolster Enda's "gender" strategy of giving women greater access to micro-loans.
For more information and to view the related report, go to Enda. 

-    The nascent CFE (Centre Financier aux Entrepreneurs) was only created last year as a specialised MFI providing financial services to micro-businesses (i.e., between 1 and 10 employees). There is a specific focus on lending to female entrepreneurs – who continue all too frequently to be excluded from financial systems – and to young entrepreneurs. CFE helps these businesses move from the informal into the formal economy and promotes their financial inclusion by gradually making them eligible for bank loans.
On 19 October last, Proparco agreed to invest €1 million in CFE Tunisie's equity with a view to partnering its development. This operation rounds out the €1 million technical support agreement signed between AFD and CFE at Tunisia 2020 which will help this MFI both to continue to grow its business and to leverage financing over the next few years.

 

 Tunisia 2020: €31.1 million for Tunisian private sector businesses 
On 28 and 29 November at the Tunisia 2020 Conference, AFD Group, which has been partnering Tunisian businesses for nearly 25 years, signed several memoranda of understanding and financing agreements. In total, AFD Group has pledged over €200 million worth of financing and €31.1 million of this amount has been put up by its subsidiary Proparco, which focuses on developing the private sector. In addition to support for the Enda microfinance institution, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the commercial bank UBCI to help meet the financing needs of Tunisian businesses, especially SMEs.
UBCI has long-standing ties with AFD Group and the new agreement it has signed with Proparco should culminate in the provision of a €30 million line of credit. As investment recovers in Tunisia but credit remains tight, this agreement is intended to support UBCI in its role as medium- and long-term lender to business. 60% of UBCI's loanbook is made up of businesses and 22% represent loans to help SME's to grow which is one of Proparco's key priorities.