Brussels, 02/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, will make his first official visit to Tunisia on 3-5 December. In addition to taking part in a companies seminar in Sousse, he will sign new financing agreements for small- and very small-sized enterprises (SMEs and VSEs), especially in micro-finance. The objective is to strengthen the use of micro-credit in disadvantaged regions of the country in order to help small farmers, breeders and young people, according to an EIB press release.
The EIB will also sign a financing agreement with the Tunisian-Kuwaiti Bank (TKB), as part of a partnership to help Tunisian VSEs by granting non-guaranteed loans for their initial years of activity, says the EIB press release. It adds that this will be “innovative financing with a strong social value for the EIB, which is above all keen to help small project holders finding it hard to gain access to credit”.
Hoyer's visit will have “particular significance for the Tunisians and their top international supplier of finance”. Indeed his visit comes at a key moment in the political transition. Tunisia is currently focusing on a presidential election, and is between the two voting rounds.
The EIB recalls that “for 2014 alone, over half a billion in new loans, including 60% for the private sector, was dedicated to implementing new projects in key sectors of the Tunisian economy - such as energy, SMEs and micro-enterprises, infrastructure, social housing and youth education” (our translation throughout). (FB)