About This Initiative2006 Activities
By the end of 2006, the Open Society Institute’s Economic and Business Development Program completed its merger with the Soros Economic Development Fund, an independent nonprofit foundation supported by OSI that provides loans, guarantees, and equity investments to financial institutions with strong social missions.
The following briefs describe some of the program’s activities and accomplishments in 2006.
Grantee Increases Microentrepreneur Access to Financial Services
The Soros Economic Development Fund awarded a grant to Tameer Microfinance Bank of Pakistan to provide its low-income clients access to 1,800 automated teller machines and 15,000 point-of-sale terminals throughout the country. In 2006, the bank was Pakistan’s fastest-growing microfinance institution, with 21,000 borrowing clients and 17,000 depositors across 17 branches in three cities.
Loan Helps Roma Communities Participate in EU Education Programs
Mikrohitel, a Hungarian microfinance lender, used a $500,000 loan from the Soros Economic Development Fund to finance after-school tutoring for Roma and other minority groups throughout Hungary. Borrower community organizations use the funds to cover the start-up costs of qualifying for European Union education grants, expanding much-needed services at no cost to marginalized students.
Programs Develop Roma Financial Planning Skills
The Economic and Business Development Program engaged leading Roma development organizations from Hungary and Slovakia to offer money-management training and matched savings accounts to low-income Roma. The programs encourage saving toward, among other things, home renovation or repair, small business start-ups, and vocational certification. The Hungary program opened 60 matched savings accounts by the end of the year, while the Slovakian program procured $150,000 in cofunding from Habitat for Humanity and prepared to open accounts in 2007.
Microlender Receives USAID Funding for Roma Entrepreneurs
A Bulgarian microfinance institution supported by the Soros Economic Development Fund won a $175,000 grant from USAID that will allow it to increase support to Roma entrepreneurs. MikrofondEAD will carry out the project with another Bulgarian microfinance organization and use the new grant to expand its Roma loan program, which currently represents 30 percent of its portfolio.
New Loan Capital Obtained for Depressed Regions in Moldova
Microinvest, a Moldovan microfinance institution and longstanding Soros Economic Development Fund partner, increased its capacity to reach entrepreneurs in economically depressed rural areas by attracting over $2.5 million in new loan capital. The investments, obtained from various microfinance investment funds, increase Microinvest’s loan capital by nearly two-thirds and allow it to add hundreds of new microentrepreneurs to its list of 1,500 clients.
