By Nibal Zgheib

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a financing package of US$ 10 million to Cairo Amman Bank Palestine (CABP) to increase access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the West Bank and Gaza. The new financing package will build on the EBRD’s successful partnership with Cairo Amman Bank Palestine which began in 2018 with the signing of a US$ 5 million SME credit line and a US$ 2 million trade-finance limit.

MSMEs in the West Bank and Gaza are a substantial segment of the local economy but their access to finance remains limited.

The financing package from the EBRD includes an MSME credit line of up to US$ 8 million, which will increase the availability of long-term funding to Palestinian businesses and support economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza. CABP will also receive US$ 2 million in the form of an EBRD Women in Business (WiB) facility.

This is the third WiB facility in the West Bank and Gaza, bringing the total amount of the EBRD’s WiB financing there to US$ 6 million to date.

The EBRD’s Advice for Small Businesses programme will offer consultancy services to CABP’s women sub-borrowers. The programme will help improve the competitiveness and business performance of women-led MSMEs through advice, training, mentorship and coaching services as well as the adoption of digital technologies in day-to-day business.

The EBRD will also provide a technical assistance package to develop sustainable credit mechanisms, including financial products and lending practices that meet the specific needs of women-led MSMEs. In addition, it will support the implementation of other measures such as marketing activities and the training of staff.

In 2017, the EBRD started investing in the West Bank and Gaza. To date, 18 projects have been signed for a total amount of US$ 81.8 million.