The EBRD is providing a €3 million loan to Mikrokreditna Fondacija Mi-Bospo Tuzla (Mi-Bospo) to support, with sub-loans, various micro and small businesses, especially enterprises run by women and active in the agribusiness sector, EBRD writes.
Mi-Bospo, based in Tuzla in north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the fourth-largest microfinance institution in the country and was established as a World Bank pilot project in 1996. The EBRD provided a first loan to Mi-Bospo in 2007, launching a successful cooperation that continues to this day.
The EBRD funds will allow Mi-Bospo to expand and provide more finance to local and regional businesses with growth potential. Access to finance remains an obstacle for many small firms in Bosnia and Herzegovina despite the fact that they form the backbone of the country’s economy.
Since it began operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996, the EBRD has invested €2.5 billion in 171 projects there. Boosted by the EBRD’s 2019 Annual Meeting in Sarajevo in May, the Bank has registered a new record result for the country, with investments of €315 million in 20 project last year alone.
