SPECIAL FEATURE
PRIVATE SECTOR
Photo: Karol Moraes/ Shutterstock
Supporting microfinance investments globally
“Our main lessons are: Be flexible, listen to your clients and adapt to their needs.” Tareq Alnassar, Vice President, Private Sector, OPEC Fund
Country: Global Type: Equity First transaction: 2009
The Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) was created in 2009 by the International Finance Corporation, KfW Development Bank and the Development Bank of Austria in response to the financial crisis and liquidity challenges faced by microfinance institutions worldwide. The OPEC Fund invested US$20 million in 2009, followed by an additional US$20 million in 2014. Between 2009 and 2022, MEF invested US$2.9 billion across 312 microfinance institutions in 64 countries, reaching 740,000 end borrowers – of which 78 percent were women and 69 percent were living in rural areas.
OPEC Fund total commitment: US$40 million Implementation Status: Completed
As chair of the Supervisory Board of the Microfinance Enhancement Facility I would like to warmly congratulate the OPEC Fund for International Development on its 25 th anniversary and would like to thank you for the support you have provided to MEF since the start, when our fund was set up to protect microfinance institutions against the e ff ects of the global financial crisis. We leveraged your investment, providing nearly US$3 billion of financing to more than 300 financial institutions in over 60 countries. We thank you for enabling us to create such a positive impact, and we wish you a very happy 25 th anniversary. Thank you.
OFQ : What are the three main lessons learned in 25 years and what is your outlook for the next 25 years? TA: Our main lessons are: Be flexible, listen to your clients and adapt to their needs. Work with partners and try to align requirements as much as possible in order to increase operational e ffi ciency and amplify development impact. Our goal is to help bridge the financing gap faced by private sector entities in partner countries, especially in regions where access to traditional banking and capital markets is limited. This involves providing both direct financing and encouraging other investors to contribute through resource mobilization or de-risking. We aim to further expand our geographic reach in Africa and to smaller size economies. The world has changed dramatically
Ruurd Brouwer, Supervisory Board Chair, MEF
in recent years, so we need to continue to adapt to the changing business landscape. Risk, be it perceived or actual, is the main constraint to private investment in our partner countries. We need to continue working with our partners on providing solutions to manage these. We foresee our Private Sector Department operations further increasing in relevance, serving as an engine of growth and job creation across our partner countries.
To date, the OPEC Fund has facilitated over US$12 billion in support for international trade.
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