A seven-day workshop on the new trends in microfinance was held recently by the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development (Agfund) through its microfinance division, in collaboration with ‘Ebdaa Bahrain’ for microfinance.

 

The workshop was conducted by the CEO of Ebdaa Bahrain, Dr Khaled Al-Ghazzawi, for 19 participants, 11 from Bahrain, five from Jordan, two from Mauritania, and one from Sudan.

 

According to Dr Al-Ghazzawi, the goal of this workshop was to introduce and teach participants on the new trends in microfinance management, as well as the significance of this kind of financing in providing liquidity to emerging entrepreneurs through soft loans without guarantees. 

 

He added that the workshop also discussed the processes to be followed to guarantee the borrowers' entitlement, avoid default, and make proper use of the micro-loan in growing their projects and expanding their potential to generate jobs and support the GDP.

 

Organising such training workshops in Bahrain in the presence of workers in the field of microfinance from many Arab countries, according to Dr Al-Ghazzawi, confirms once again that the kingdom has become a reference in the microfinance industry after accumulating years of experience over the previous years. 

 

“This workshop explored the government's incentives to companies, including micro-enterprises, particularly during the Corona pandemic, as well as the Central Bank of Bahrain's significant role in encouraging banks to defer borrowers' instalments, in addition to the role of Benefit Company and the distinctive services it provides in the field of customer credit analysis,” Dr Al-Ghazzawi concluded.

 

The training covered a wide range of topics, including the fundamentals of studying and analysing the microfinance market, developing lending products that meet the needs of borrowers, customer selection criteria, financial and social analysis, in addition to loan granting mechanisms.-- TradeArabia News Service