Proparco partners with Vitas Palestine to support individuals and micro-entrepreneurs
published on 10 August 2020
Proparco’s $5 million credit line will help the microfinance institution further support the Palestinian private sector and will contribute to financial inclusion, which remains low in the Palestinian territories.
Vitas Palestine (formerly called Ryada) started as a project in the Gaza Strip in 1994 under a cooperative agreement between USAID and Global Communities (formerly CHF International). Since then, Vitas Palestine has evolved into a program with its own portfolio serving low to moderate-income individual business and homeowners who cannot access mainstream credit sources. It has expanded its branches, number of clients, product offering and gross loan portfolio significantly to become Palestine’s 2nd largest microfinance institution in terms of clients and size of loan portfolio, operating both in the West Bank and in the Gaza strip.
This is Proparco’s first operation with Vitas Palestine, a recognized actor in the microfinance sector known for its progress on social performance assessments.
Supporting individuals and micro-entrepreneurs throughout challenging times
More than 3,500 clients should benefit from a micro-loan thanks to Proparco’s financing, among which at least 20% should be women. Overall, about 800 jobs are expected to be directly or indirectly supported over the coming 5 years.
This project will thus contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 8 (Decent Jobs and Economic Growth), 5 (Gender Equality) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
This project testifies to Proparco’s commitment to supporting the private sector in fragile contexts.
