IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, approved a €35 million loan to Garanti Bank Romania to help finance the country’s small and medium businesses, with €20 million for on-lending to companies owned or managed by women.

This is IFC’s second loan to Garanti specifically designed to support women entrepreneurs in Romania. In 2012, IFC provided a €22.5 million loan to Garanti to back more than 160 small and medium companies in the textile industry, trade, construction, tourism, and services.

“Garanti Bank has been supporting entrepreneurs, with a focus on women-led small and medium-sized enterprises, for the past four years,” said Ufuk Tandogan, CEO Garanti Bank Romania. “By providing loans to this sector we want to help them develop, increase competitiveness and overcome obstacles they are facing in the current challenging economic environment.”

Romania is home to more than 400,000 women entrepreneurs, representing 36 percent of shareholders and associates in local firms. Garanti Bank has a portfolio of 25,000 smaller business clients in Romania.

“Strengthening women’s participation in the Romanian private sector empowers women and harnesses untapped potential for advancing development,” said K. Aftab Ahmed, IFC Director for Financial Institutions and Private Equity Group. “Our partnership with Garanti Bank Romania ensures that smaller companies and women entrepreneurs will continue to have access to funds needed for their growth.”

Romania became an IFC member in 1990, and IFC has invested a total of $2.2 billion in the country since then. IFC’s financial markets strategy in Central and Southern Europe is to partner with systemic banks in order to sustain economic growth and job creation. IFC has invested across a variety of sectors and works to provide access to finance for smaller businesses and support women entrepreneurs across the region.

Source: IFC press release