Bucharest, Romania, August 3, 2021—Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania will improve their access to finance with a new investment that aims to support SMEs, including women entrepreneurs, that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo credit: Garanti BBVA Leasing
IFC's €10 million loan to Garanti BBVA Leasing Romania, a dynamic financial group in the local market, will help small businesses in the country continue their operations, protect jobs, and accelerate recovery.
In Romania, 34 percent of formal micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are women-owned, however they continue to represent an underserved segment of the SMEs in the country, according to the latest MSME Finance Gap database. With this investment from IFC, Garanti Leasing will be able to expand its lending program and support SMEs in Romania, with at least 40 percent of the funding earmarked for businesses owned or managed by women.
The financing package is part of IFC's $8 billion global COVID-19 fast-track financing facility, which aims to support private companies and their employees hurt by the economic downturn caused by the global pandemic.
"The effects of the pandemic are being felt throughout the economy, and companies, SMEs in particular, are in great need of our support," said Okan Yurtsever, Garanti BBVA Leasing`s General Manager. "We have a long-standing partnership with IFC and became in 2017 the first leasing company in Romania that financed women-owned or managed SMEs. Now, we intend to continue our strategy in 2021 toward this direction and we are also very proud to have an aligned mission of supporting the post-pandemic return to normalcy."
The project is supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) in the form of a performance-based incentive. WEOF is an initiative launched by IFC—in partnership with the Goldman Sachs Foundation—to help expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs in developing countries and demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in women.
"We need to support female entrepreneurs through access to capital in order to facilitate their growth, particularly given the impact of COVID-19," said Charlotte Keenan, Global Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. "We are pleased to continue to support the Garanti BBVA Leasing as it expands lending to women-owned businesses in Romania under this challenging time."
"Given the pandemic, supporting SMEs is pivotal for Romania's economic recovery. With this funding, IFC takes another step toward supporting small businesses, including women entrepreneurs, so that they can grow their businesses and generate new employment," said Ary Naïm, IFC's Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe. "The goal is to help SMEs overcome the disruptions caused by COVID-19, enabling them to explore new business opportunities as the country recovers from an unprecedented crisis."
This investment builds on IFC's long-standing relationship with Garanti BBVA Leasing. Since 2014, IFC has provided several investment products to the company to support the SME sector, including energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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About Garanti BBVA Leasing Romania
Garanti BBVA Leasing (the brand under which the company Motoractive IFN SA operates) is part of the financial group Garanti BBVA Romania. The Group also brings together Garanti BBVA and Garanti BBVA Consumer Finance (the brand under which Ralfi IFN operates). With a tradition of over 20 years on the Romanian leasing market, Garanti BBVA Leasing completes Garanti BBVA Group's range of products and services with offers for vehicles, equipment and real estate leasing, sale & lease-back. Garanti BBVA Group Romania is held by Garanti BBVA Turkey (TGB), whose majority shareholder is the Spanish financial group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). For more information, visit www.garantibbvaleasing.ro.
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women is an initiative to foster economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business and management education and access to capital. The initiative has reached women from over 100 countries through a network of academic, nonprofit, and bank partners. In partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women launched the first of its kind global finance facility in 2014 to enable access to capital to more women entrepreneurs. And now, in its thirteenth year, the 10,000 Women curriculum is available online through Coursera, creating access to a business education in more corners of the world. For more information, visit https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/.
