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The loan will support the intermediary, the microfinance platform Qredits, to on-lend to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), including start-ups and the self-employed, a target group that faces a suboptimal situation, due to the fact that lenders usually favour larger and well-established borrowers.
The aim is to provide the much needed financial support at favourable rates and conditions for the smaller project promoters in the Netherlands.
The proposed operation aligns with the InvestEU objective of promoting social investments, specifically microfinance, ethical finance, social enterprise finance, and the social economy.
The Project will target the smallest enterprises, including the self-employed and start-ups. This segment is often overlooked by large lenders who focus on financing larger, well-established corporate borrowers. Micro-SMEs and the self-employed thus face significant barriers to accessing credit due to their smaller size and thinner asset base, which is in turn hindering their investment capacity. The current economic uncertainty, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and the Ukraine war, has intensified these challenges which include the increased cost of financing.
By expanding Qredits' lending capacity at favourable terms, this operation is addressing this market gap, enabling investments and thus supporting micro-businesses' employment, sustainability, competitiveness and potential future growth.
The EIB's involvement is crucial, delivering funding diversification for the financial intermediary and a transfer of financial benefits to final beneficiaries. The ability of Qredits to continue providing microfinance support greatly depends on its access to diverse credit sources, which in turn allow to grow the existing loan portfolio and mitigate the refinancing risk, in the absence of access to capital markets. The InvestEU support not only enables the Project as a whole but also has a signalling effect to other lenders.
The project would not have been carried out to the same extent by the EIB without the InvestEU support.
Final beneficiaries will be requested to comply with applicable national and EU legislation, as appropriate.
Final beneficiaries will be requested to comply with applicable national and EU legislation, as appropriate.