Portfolio Partner Profile
SANAD Fund For MSME
The SANAD Fund for MSME is an impact investment fund dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa. By providing much-needed access to financial resources, SANAD, which means “support” in Arabic, aims to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the region fulfil their role as engines of inclusive economic growth, job creation, and prosperity.
Preserving and generating jobs in the Middle East and North Africa is quite unthinkable without MSMEs. This sector accounts for nearly two-thirds of GDP and almost three-quarters of employment in the region. Since it was established in 2011, SANAD has partnered with over 30 local financial institutions to enable cumulative funding of more than USD 635 million to MSMEs throughout the MENA region.
Calvert Impact Capital has been working with Finance in Motion, the Germany-based fund manager of SANAD Fund for MSME, since 2017. Finance in Motion values our financing because it has allowed them to grow their base of private investors, says their Managing Director Sylvia Wisniwski. “Calvert Impact Capital’s financing has had a positive impact on our ability to raise additional capital for the funds we manage, particularly from US investors. Their support has had a signalling effect, as many of our other investors see Calvert’s financing as a stamp of approval given their reputation as a robust and serious impact investor. Calvert Impact Capital has a name that travels.”
Featured Impact Story
Impact Story
Supporting womenpreneurs through the SANAD Entrepreneur Academy
Labor markets are rapidly being transformed by robotics, artificial intelligence, and other digital advancements. And according to the World Economic Forum, the jobs under the greatest threat of automation and displacement are disproportionately held by women.
To address this issue and encourage women’s engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics driven businesses, the SANAD Entrepreneurship Academy launched a project together with the non-profit Womenpreneur Initiative, to draw attention and funds to women-led tech enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa – a first of its kind! The Womenpreneur Tour aimed not only to showcase the region’s female digital talents, but also to discover the challenges they face and explore possible solutions.
From October to December 2019, the Womenpreneur Tour van traveled across Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan to interview women business leaders in technology and bring together bright minds to explore the state of the Arabic startup ecosystem. All in all, the Womenpreneur Tour conducted 43 interviews with startup founders, established business owners, representatives of the local financial industry, policymakers, and experts across the three countries. These one-on-one discussions were supplemented by an industry event in each country, in which financial system players met to identify ways to facilitate investment in women in the form of capital, resources, and advocacy.
Now, the Womenpreneur Tour is rolling out its findings in the form of video documentaries and an informational campaign. Watch the van’s journey in the Womenpreneur Tour video above, and discover what the crew learned about promoting female entrepreneurship in the Womenpreneur Tour results video.