AKIPRESS.COM - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said is providing fresh funds and creating new growth opportunities for grassroot businesses in Tajikistan by offering a financial package of US$ 7 million to one of the country’s largest lenders Bank Arvand.

The package consists of a US$ 3 million loan under the Bank’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), which will help increase access to green technologies for local households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country. This loan is supported by concessional financing of US$ 0.75 million provided by the Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The GEFF, supported in Tajikistan by GCF and the Republic of Korea, will also use funds from the European Union’s Enhanced Competitiveness of Tajik Agribusiness Programme (ECTAP), which promotes competitiveness in the agribusiness sector.

The US$ 1 million part of the package is provided under the EBRD’s Women of the Steppe Programme supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and Switzerland through the Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF). This component of the package will help promote women’s entrepreneurship and business activity by assisting with access to finance, know-how and technical advice.

The two financial institutions are also signing a risk-sharing agreement of up to US$ 3 million under which the EBRD will share up to 50 per cent of the risk on loans provided by Bank Arvand. This will allow the Tajikistan lender to provide much needed loans to SMEs in rural and remote parts of the country. Arvand Bank is the third financial institution in the country to sign such a facility with the EBRD.

The GEFF programme is part of the Bank’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. It operates through a network of more than 145 local financial institutions across 27 countries, supported by more than €4.6 billion of EBRD finance for 190,000 clients to date. These projects have led to annual CO2 emission reductions of more than 8.6 million tonnes so far.

To date, the Bank has supported more than 90,000 women across 24 economies with financing and business advisory projects, training and mentoring as part of its Women in Business initiative.

To date, the EBRD has invested €854 million through 148 projects in Tajikistan’s economy.