The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has granted a €25mn loan to Société Générale Maroc, including a €5mn trade finance facility.

The remaining €20mn will be used to finance Morocco’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises’ (MSMEs) other operations.

The project also includes transfer of skills to small business clients through donor-funded workshops aimed at improving their understanding of bank services and the quality of their loan applications.

Francis Malige, EBRD director financial institutions for Morocco, says: “The EBRD is delighted that its first loan in the Kingdom of Morocco is made in support of MSMEs, which are crucial for the sustainable development of the Moroccan real economy. This project with Société Générale Maroc will bring more financing to this sector, at a time when its access to finance remains limited.”

Khalid Chami, chairman of Société Générale Maroc, adds : “This is the result of the combination of two strategic objectives: that of the EBRD, which wants to support the economy in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, and that of Société Générale playing its role as a universal bank in Morocco and in particular to the benefit of small enterprises.”

By 2015, the EBRD expects to be investing up to €2.5bn a year across Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia – countries where the bank extended its support for the first time in May 2012, in response to the political changes in the region.