Our Partners
TUNISIA
Tunisia has an employment rate that is higher than that found in many developing countries, yet securing employment in formal jobs is difficult for uneducated people who typically live in the poorer suburbs. With a population of 10.4 million, the official unemployment rate is 14.2% and 7.4% of Tunisians live below the poverty line.
To date, no market study has been conducted to determine the potential microfinance market. However, increasing numbers of women have discovered that self-employment through microenterprise allows them to earn a reasonable living even without having the advantage of years of schooling. Many women work out of their homes as it allows them to give their children the education that they were denied.
Enda inter-arabe (enda), Grameen-Jameel’s only Tunisian partner, is the only best-practices provider of microfinance in the country. It is, not coincidentally, the only institution that is exempt from Law 99-67, which places an annual interest rate cap of 5% on all microfinance loans, having received authorization from the Ministry of Finance to grant microcredit using interest rates geared to cover its costs. As such, it relies upon official recognition for its activities at the highest levels to continue current business practices.
While more than 240 institutions practice microfinance, most maintain a client base of less than 2,500 clients, leaving enda as the dominant market leader.
Enda inter-arabe (enda): Enda was founded as a multi-sectoral development organization focusing on environment, health, education, and youth activities in Tunisia. In 1995, after a year-long field study and observation of ongoing microfinance projects in the region, enda launched a microfinance program with total capital of just $20,000. Enda’s client count slowly grew in the initial years and reached 10,534 by 2003. Since then, enda has exhibited strong growth, reaching 94,959 clients as of December 2008, and projecting to reach 240,000 clients by 2011. Gross loan portfolio has grown from US $3.7 million in 2004 to US $20.9 million in December 2008.
Enda targets people (77% female) in disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas of Tunisia. Enda has delivered consistently strong operating and financial results. Enda reached financial self sufficiency in 2003 becoming a sustainable financial institution. Portfolio quality is excellent, with Portfolio at Risk (PAR) >30 Days of 0.54% as of December 2008. Enda has maintained strong operational efficiencies in all aspects of operations. These efficiencies help enda deliver increasingly profitable results while passing on a portion of its cost savings to its clients in the form of lower interest rates.
Enda was rated A-/Positive Outlook by MicroRate in June 2008, along with an “Excellent” for Social Results and a “High” for Social Commitment in its first social rating from MicroRate. It was ranked #18 on the 2008 MIX Global 100 Composite list of top MFIs worldwide and #36 on the Forbes Top 50 MFIs worldwide for 2007.
Enda is the founding member of Sanabel, the Microfinance Network of Arab Countries that seeks to promote microfinance in the region. In 2006, it became a member of MFN, the Microfinance Network, and of MAIN, the African network.
Grameen-Jameel has worked with enda since 2003. As a Grameen-Jameel partner, enda has received technical assistance and support in areas such as staff training, MIS, and capacity-building aimed toward transformation. It is currently deep into the process of deploying Mifos, a loan-tracking system developed by Grameen Foundation and the only open-source loan tracking system for microfinance, across its branch network. Grameen-Jameel has shepherded enda through this deployment. In Q4 2008, enda participated in the Grameen-Jameel Dialogue for the Arab World and the first Arab Microfinance Investment Symposium in Dubai.
Enda is particularly interested in transforming into a commercially licensed company in the next few years, which Grameen-Jameel supports and believes will significantly enhance its ability to reach its outreach targets. Enda will need to receive considerable equity investment after its transformation in order to scale beyond the limits imposed by debt financing. www.endarabe.org.tn