Luxembourg, 22 June 2022 – The SANAD Fund for MSME has released its Impact Report for 2021 ‘Digitalizing the future of Entrepreneurship’, which showcases the increasingly important role digitalization is playing in supporting the growth and prosperity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and sub-Saharan Africa regions.
In its eleventh year, the fund disbursed a record USD 112 million loans to financial institutions serving the MSME sector, giving entrepreneurs access to sufficient liquidity to continue operations, sustain jobs and livelihoods despite the ongoing Covid-related disruptions. The investments were complemented by the fund’s Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) initiatives, which totaled USD 2.3 million across 38 projects and focused strongly on digitalization.
These achievements are outlined in the SANAD Fund for MSME Report 2021: Digitalizing the future of entrepreneurship, which also provides greater detail on how the fund was able to empower entrepreneurs in its target regions and accelerate economic development through digitalization. Such initiatives included the launch of a first-of-its-kind digitalization grant by the SANAD TAF, combining SANAD debt financing with a grant component to facilitate the implementation of digital solutions. It also facilitated fintech knowledge exchanges between the fund’s two core regions through the launch of the Pan-African Fintech Accelerator Program.
SANAD Board Chairperson Dr. Daniela Beckmann said, “We are proud to share the SANAD Fund for MSME’s latest impact report, which highlights our commitment to building inclusive financial systems, strengthening financial intermediaries, and promoting financial innovation in our support of MSME development.”
In 2021, SANAD focused on raising awareness of the importance of digitalization as a tool to boost economic development and job creation and drive financial inclusion for the unbanked population. The equity sub-fund II’s equity investment into digital innovator and online marketplace POSRocket is a powerful example of delivering on our vision to expand the benefits of e-commerce to the local businesses driving the economy.”
Digitalization continues to play a key role for SANAD in supporting MSME finance, from advancing digitalization of partner institutions, to deepening co-operation with regulators and promoting digitalization in the financial sector, to fostering knowledge-exchange between its two core regions.
Learn more in the SANAD Fund for MSME Report 2021: Digitalizing the future of entrepreneurship.
About SANAD
The SANAD Fund for MSME finances micro, small, and medium enterprises and low-income households in the Middle East and North Africa and selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa via qualified local lenders. SANAD thereby fosters economic development and job creation – including youth employment – agriculture, affordable housing, and innovations in finance and financial technologies. SANAD strives to meet these goals by providing debt and equity financing to its local partners. The SANAD Technical Assistance Facility multiplies the fund’s development impact and outreach through capacity-building with partner institutions, developing financial infrastructures according to the principles of responsible finance and conducting much required R&D.
An impact investment fund advised by Finance in Motion, SANAD’s investors include the KfW Development Bank, which initiated the fund; the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); the European Union; Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO); OeEB, the Development Bank of Austria; Germany’s GLS Bank and GLS Treuhand; the Dutch development bank FMO; and Calvert Impact Capital.
For more information on the SANAD Fund for MSME, please visit: www.sanad.lu
For more information on Finance in Motion, please visit: www.finance-in-motion.com
Media contact – SANAD
Anne Johnson
Marketing & Communications
Phone: +49 69 271 035 742
Email: pressnoSpam@sanadnoSpam.lu
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