By Neil King
A $120m fund is set to be launched to support SMEs in countries including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank have come together to offer the fund, which is part of the first agreement between the EBRD and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) – the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank.
The fund will extend financing to SMEs using equity and quasi-equity structures, with the two institutions contributing capital to the fund and seeking additional institutional investors and donors, according to a statement by the ICD.
Since the region’s uprisings in 2011, EBRD has been expanding its role to Arab countries.
Established in 1999, the ICD supports the economic development of its 51 member countries by financing private sector projects which follow Islamic principles.
