Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Limited is the first social business in the Middle East and North Africa. Grameen-Jameel was established as a company in 2003 and incorporated in 2007 as a joint venture between Grameen Foundation and Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, a subsidiary of Abdul Latif Jameel Group. The company’s mission is to help alleviate poverty by providing financial and technical assistance to microfinance institutions in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey Region (MENA&T).

 

Products and Services

Grameen-Jameel supports its MFI partners by delivering a suite of customized financial and non-financial products and services. Grameen-Jameel provides financing through its USD 50 million Grameen-Jameel Guarantee Fund and direct loan fund.

 

Financing	Grameen-Jameel extends financing in the form of guarantees and loans to its partner MFIs. As of August 2012, Grameen-Jameel has provided financial guarantees of over USD 25 million which has facilitated local currency financing of USD 55 million and provided direct loans of over USD seven million to more than 1,600,000 microfinance clients through its partner microfinance institutions in the MENA&T region.
Technical Assistance	Grameen-Jameel not only offers financing to eligible microfinance institutions, but also technical assistance. Our philosophy is the more efficient microfinance institutions can become, the less operating expenses they will have. These savings can be passed on to good clients in the form of discounted interest rates.   Our goal is to strengthen microfinance institutions throughout the region. By strengthening these companies through the right technical assistance, more clients will have access to capital. With access to capital, people can strengthen their micro and small businesses, providing a better quality of life for their families and future generations.   Grameen-Jameel can conduct a full-fledged institutional assessment by our team of professionals and help you to strengthen your microfinance company. Contact us for details on the relationship manager designated for your country.
Bankers without boarders MENA	Bankers without Borders® (BwB) is a global skills-based volunteer program that connects private individuals and companies with microfinance institutions and other pro-poor organizations to help break the cycle of global poverty. Launched in 2008 by Grameen Foundation, BwB is an international reserve corps of more than 9,700 business professionals and retirees with an array of backgrounds who are willing to contribute their time, skills, and experience — pro bono — to support social enterprises. Grameen-Jameel manages the BwB program in the MENA region.

 

Where We Work

Prior to entering a new market, Grameen-Jameel conducts a rigorous market assessment of the prospective country, market demand and growth potential of the MF sector, analyzing local MFIs, and the existing and anticipated legal and regulatory frameworks governing microfinance. Grameen-Jameel conducts a comprehensive due diligence to select microfinance institutions with whom to form partnerships with, this includes assessing all financial and operational aspects of leading MFIs in a given country. Grameen-Jameel currently has 17 microfinance institution (MFI) partners in nine countries in the MENA region.

 

About Grameen Foundation

Grameen Foundation helps the world’s poorest – especially women – improve their lives and escape poverty by providing them with access to appropriate financial services, such as microsavings and loans; real-time, life-changing information about health, agriculture and finances; and unique income-generating opportunities. It works directly with the poor, and partners with the organizations that support them, to make a real difference in the lives of those who have been left behind. Founded in 1997, Grameen Foundation has offices in Washington, DC; Seattle, WA; Colombia; Ghana; Hong Kong; Indonesia; Kenya; the Philippines; and Uganda. Microfinance pioneer Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, is a founding member of its Board of Directors, and now serves as director emeritus.

 

About Abdul Latif Jameel

Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel, the late Saudi visionary and entrepreneur, founded Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) in 1945. ALJ is the sole distributor of Toyota vehicles in Saudi Arabia. ALJ expanded its services to include real estate, trading, consumer finance, and community initiatives across the Arab World. Community services programs are among the most important initiatives adopted by the Abdul Latif Jameel Group since the early efforts of Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel, may Allah rest him in peace, who actively contributed to different social programs.