The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a $50 million loan to private Turkish lender Yapi Kredi for on-lending to women-led small- and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey, the bank said Monday.
The loan, part of the EBRD’s Women in Business program, aims to strengthen the role of women in the Turkish economy and promote inclusive sustainable growth, by providing them with credit lines, advisory support, training, mentoring, and access to business networks, it said in a statement.
The Women in Business program, which helped over 20,000 women entrepreneurs since 2014, is supported by a risk-sharing mechanism through the Turkish Credit Guarantee Fund (KGF) and the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry, it said.
The EU is also providing grants to fund the technical consultancy that will help Yapi Kredi develop more products and services dedicated to women-led businesses, it added.
The loan is part of €600 million ($676 million) in financing dedicated to Turkish women entrepreneurs announced by the EBRD earlier this year.
