The European Commission is sponsoring a microfinance workshop in Albania, organized under the umbrella of the EaSI Technical Assistance for Microfinance programme.

The Program for Employment and Social Innovation is a financing instrument at European Community level to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, Guarantee and Social Protection, Fight against Social Exclusion and Poverty, and Improvement of Working Conditions.

It aims to help all interested Albanian microfinance institutions understand better what services are available to them under the EaSI Programme and how to apply for the Financial Instruments in particular.

The workshop is co-organised by the Albanian Microfinance Association.

Access to funding is an important and often challenging topic for many microfinance institutions, especially for smaller institutions which may not always be aware of all opportunities available to them.

The participants are representatives of Albanian microfinance institutions, who would learn how to access EaSI funding under the guidance of peers and experts.

The workshop is comprised of three sessions:

1.  An overview of the EaSI Financial Instruments and application conditions
2. A case study delivered by a peer organization – Fondi BESA, presenting their application process and contractual arrangements
3. Technical assistance services available to microfinance institutions to increase the quality of their internal processes

Thanks to the European Union’s support under the “Employment and Social Innovation” Program, to enhance the development of the agricultural sector and for supporting the entrepreneurial youth initiative, Fondi BESA and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have signed a Guarantee Facility to supporting these activities.

In the framework of this cooperation, Fondi BESA offers borrowers more competitive and attractive loan conditions than the normal credit conditions for agricultural loans provided so far.

So, customers benefit:

 • Reduced Interest rate
 • No collateral
 • Customers may decide for themselves how much money they want to repay monthly, thus pursuing their cash flow cycle.

During the seminar, Fondi BESA gives a detailed presentation of the entire process of application and implementation of the “Social Employment and Innovation” program as well as the process for obtaining the Cerificate of the Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Providers. Fondi BESA was awarded with this Cerificate on 20 April 2018, which once again confirms Fondi BESA position as one of the best microcredit providers in the country, being one of the few institutions in Europe and the only one in Albania qualified to receive this Certificate.

Source : https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1084&eventsId=1368&furtherEvents=yes