Grameen-Jameel, the first social business in the Middle East, and the Al-Karama microcredit to promote Moroccan microenterprises, signed a loan agreement of $500,000, payable over three years.

The signing took place in Casablanca in the presence of Julia Assaad, general manager of Grameen-Jameel and Abdelmajid El Gasmi, president of Al-Karama microcredit.

The loan agreement, the culmination of six years of technical and financial cooperation between the two organizations, aims to help finance the portfolio of Al Karama for 2011 in addition to supporting its growth strategy.

Al-Karama focuses mainly on the poorest populations and contributes to the development and microcredit financing of very small businesses in Morocco. It   currently serves nearly 16,000 clients for a total outstanding loan portfolio of $5 million, and aims to extend its intervention to reach 60,000 clients by 2014, a statement said.

Grameen-Jameel alleviates poverty by providing financial and technical assistance to microfinance institutions, the statement added.

As of the end of March, Grameen-Jameel has provided $3.3 million in loans and financial guarantees of over $24 million, which has facilitated local currency financing of over $53 million, according to the statement. – TradeArabia News Service