Women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Georgia are to benefit from fresh funds, thanks to a loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), supported by the European Union and Sweden and announced today.
A credit line of €8 million to ProCredit Bank, one of Georgia’s leading banks and a longstanding EBRD partner, will be made available to women-led firms to finance investments to boost growth and development.
This is the first time ProCredit Bank has extended gender-focused financing. It is joining the EBRD’s Women in Business (WiB) programme, which, with the support of the EU and Sweden, enables women’s access to finance and know-how through advisory services, mentoring and training.
The EU is supporting the loan for women entrepreneurs under its European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) guarantee programme.
Women-led firms are often seen as a riskier segment in the economies where the EBRD invests due to their small size and lack of hard collateral, the EBRD explained in a press release. Under the new credit line, women entrepreneurs will benefit from risk sharing, allowing more women entrepreneurs who would not be able to provide hard collateral to qualify for and secure finance.
