To support Lebanon’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the World Bank has extended a $30 million, 17-year soft loan to Kafalat, the government-sponsored loan guarantee company. With this loan, Kafalat will be responsible for setting up a fund to support financing of SMEs, as Khater Abi Habib, chairman of Kafalat, mentioned in an exclusive Q&A with Executive back in November. In addition to providing bank loan guarantees, Kafalat will now also be granting up to $25 million in equity capital to SMEs as well as up to $2.5 million for entrepreneurs working on new ideas. To qualify for financing from this fund, the entrepreneurs would need to have secured funding from a private sector investor such as angel investors or venture capital firms. The remaining $2.5 million are destined for management expenses as well as training and marketing activities.
…and the European Union too
Also looking to support the country’s SMEs and entrepreneurs is the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture with the launch of the FARO Lebanon fund. Initiated by the French government with an aim at increasing innovation and cooperation among entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region, France established the first FARO fund in May 2010 with a budget of $1.3 million. Providing grants of up to $26,000 to finance the feasibility study of a project, the fund covers a maximum of 50 percent of the cost of the study. Lebanon’s FARO fund is based on the same principles. With a total budget of $500,000, which will be increased gradually, and with another $1.3 million pledged from the European Union for this year, the fund will grant up to $20,000 per project. To be eligible for financing, Lebanon’s entrepreneurs and SMEs must have an innovative product, service or business model, as well as a partner from a European or Mediterranean country.
1929 Palestinian banknote up for auction
A 1929 Palestine £100 banknote is estimated to collect between $110,000 and $160,000 at Spink’s World Banknotes auction, to be held in London on April 10 and 11. Founded in 1666, Spink is the world’s leading collectables auction house with a focus on stamps, coins, banknotes, medals, bonds and shares, autographs, books and fine wines. On the note there is the White Tower at Ramla, as well as signatures of several former members of the Palestine Currency Board: Sir Percy Ezechiel, Sir John Caulcutt and Roland Vanables. On its reverse, the note features the Tower of David and the Citadel of Jerusalem.
HSBC bans Syrian, Sudanese and Iranian accounts
British banking giant HSBC is closing accounts of clients from Syria, Sudan, Iran and other countries that faced significant European Union or American sanctions. The ban, due to take effect on March 20, was announced to clients at the beginning of February. While HSBC declined to specify which nationalities would be seeing their accounts closed down, it did state that nationals from countries in which the bank has branches are unaffected. Also, clients that have an “advance” account (minimum balance of $27,000) or “premium” account (minimum balance of $95,000) would not face a ban. According to a statement by HSBC, the ban is a result of the need to apply “enhanced oversight on any customer with connections to sanctioned countries.” The statement adds, “where we are unable to maintain sufficiently detailed information about such a customer through a relationship-managed account, we are having to discontinue that relationship.” HSBC, with operations in 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, was compelled to pay a penalty of $1.92 billion in December 2012 to United States authorities to settle money-laundering charges.
Lebanese company awarded world’s best app
Lebanon-based Dermandar Panorama, founded by Elie-Grégoire Khoury and Elias Fadel Khoury, was awarded the best application at the United Nations’ World Summit Award for mobile content (WSA-mobile), held in Abu Dhabi last month. The Lebanese company, established in September 2010, developed an online platform allowing users to create 360-degree panoramic pictures taken through the application, available on mobile devices. It was considered the “easiest-to-use panoramic picture app” by the Wall Street Journal and featured in Executive’s list of top 20 entrepreneurs in November 2012. By February, the application was downloaded six million times. Berytech owns 35 percent of the company and Georges Harik, a former Google employee, owns another 5 percent. WSA-mobile is a global event held on a biennial basis, allowing mobile app producers from around the world to present their innovation to high-ranking industry leaders.
Nasdaq Dubai eyeing equity markets for SMEs
Nasdaq Dubai Stock Exchange, with $29 billion in market capitalization, is eyeing an equity market for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) for this year, the first of its kind in the Middle East. After reducing the minimum market capitalization requirement from $50 million to $10 million in June 2012, the United Arab Emirates regulator has made it easier for SMEs to list on an exchange, and it would seem that Nasdaq Dubai is looking to build on that momentum. The exchange has established an advisory group of professionals with banking, accounting and legal backgrounds tasked with preparing a proposal for the establishment of an equity market for SMEs. According to Hamed Ali, the chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai, “high quality SMEs are vital to the expansion of the UAE’s economy, but many are starved of the capital they need to grow. An initial public offering on Nasdaq Dubai will enable them to raise the funds they need.” The exchange has estimated that more than 72,000 SMEs in Dubai contribute to more than 40 per cent of the emirate’s economy, a market it plans to attract for listings. The market will, however, also cater “for any company that does business in the region”, added Ali.
