The Luxembourg-based European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has decided to lend €2 million to MI-BOSPO, a micro-credit foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to help 3000 micro enterprises secure finance, the Luxemburger Wort reported. MI-BOSPO and the EFSE have previously supported thousands of business owners including low-income female entrepreneurs.

These new loans, half of which are earmarked for rural businesses, target micro enterprises that often face trouble accessing finance in a more traditional way.

The partnership between MI-BOSPO and the EFSE is already more than a decade old and has helped around 16,000 rural micro enterprises, among which many women entrepreneurs on low income in need of support to strengthen their position in society and the economy.

On the topic, EFSE Board Chairman Christoph Tiskens said: “Our latest investment in MI-BOSPO will further advance the EFSE goal of expanding access to responsible finance and signifies the success of our ongoing partnership.”

Launched in 2005, the EFSE is the first public-private partnership of its kind and the first privately managed finance-development fund leveraging funding for MSEs in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

More info here.