The EIB invests in emerging economies to help them diversify and integrate into global systems as they move towards increased prosperity. To do this, our partner countries need to create decent and diverse jobs for the coming generations, the women and men who will shape their economic destinies.
At this workshop in our Brussels office on Thursday 15 March, we heard from Jean-Philippe Stijns, Senior Economist at the EIB, who explained how the EU Bank supports entrepreneurship outside the EU. His presentation was followed by concrete project examples from Jordan, Ethiopia and a multinational initiative focusing on sub-Saharan Africa.
We welcomed Lama Zawati, Deputy General Manager for Finance and Administration of the Microfund for Women (MFW), who told us how the MFW contributes to support poverty reduction and social inclusion through the promotion of decent work conditions and access to essential services, including funding, for micro-enterprises in Jordan.
We also heard from Faith Chisulo, head of the company that runs the M-Birr platform in Ethiopia. M-Birr focuses on the provision of mobile money services in the country, and solutions which simplify the process for payment of goods and services between individuals and small businesses.
Finally we learnt about Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), thanks to Jean-Michel Severino, CEO of I&P, who told us about his impact investing group, which gathers three impact funds representing EUR 75m, and has supported more than 60 SMEs, located in 15 African countries.