The Lebanese Association For Development - Al Majmoua

Al Majmoua is a Lebanese microfinance institution whose mission is to promote sustainable development by improving the economic and social conditions of low-income individuals, especially micro-entrepreneurs, with a focus on women and youth, through the provision of financial and non-financial services, all over Lebanon.Al Majmoua was established in 1994 by Save the Children–USA as a program with a mandate to provide sustainable financial services to low-income women micro-entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas of Lebanon. In 1998, the program spun off from Save the Children to become an independent, not for profit, Lebanese NGO.Al Majmoua's core business is to provide microcredit to any individual who have limited or no access to formal lending channels regardless of any political, religious, gender, nationality discrimination, provided he/she is a legal resident of Lebanon. To ensure a stable and regular source of income for their families, micro-entrepreneurs are keen to invest in and develop sustainable businesses.Since inception, Al Majmoua has disbursed more than USD 350 million. As of the 31st of December 2016, Al Majmoua had some 62,000 active clients (of whom 56% are women and 35% youth) for a total outstanding portfolio of USD 60 million. This puts Al Majmoua as the leading Microfinance Institution with the largest outreach in Lebanon among the MFIs following internationally accepted practice.Viewing development from an integrated perspective, believing that non financial services play a complementary role in improving the business and the quality of life of the most vulnerable and with its financial sustainability firmly established Al Majmoua also offers business development services and socially oriented activities with a focus on gender and women empowerment.The strategic decision of viewing economic development in an inclusive way and the fact of combining credit and non financial services has been a clear commitment of Majmoua since then. Since 2006, the organization has offered non financial services to more than 20,000 beneficiaries (80% of women).Al Majmoua delivers BDS all over Lebanon, these services are addressed to micro-entrepreneurs willing to start a small activity regardless if they are a client of Al Majmoua or not. These BDS are being delivered not only to individuals but also to other organizations in need for adapted capacity building and training services for beneficiaries and staff.