The Entrepreneurship Academy of the EU-funded SANAD Fund for MSME and Mowgli Mentoring have launched their second joint initiative, a mentoring program aimed at boosting the success of Syrian and Lebanese micro-entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

Following on the success of the six-month pilot project conducted in Jordan in 2018, the SANAD Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) Lebanon Mentoring Program officially kicked off with a Mentoring Awareness Session delivered in July, and a 5-day Kickstart workshop that took place end of September, both facilitated by Mowgli Mentoring. The Mentoring Awareness Sessions paved the way for a rigorous evaluation process that saw 15 business leaders and professionals selected and trained as mentors before being matched with 15 Lebanese and Syrian micro-entrepreneurs sourced from the client base of “Al Majmoua” and “Ibdaa” microfinance institutions.

This joint project intends to provide a support system for refugees and local entrepreneurs to engage in sustainable, income-generating activities that promote positive relations between them, and their host community. To contribute towards the success of this program, experienced professionals and business leaders from Lebanon are highly encouraged to register and apply as mentors by following this link.

The SANAD Fund was established in 2011 to foster economic development and create jobs, particularly for youth, in the Middle East and North Africa by providing debt and equity funding to local financial institutions that lend money to support MSMEs and housing development. The SANAD Technical Assistance Facility multiplies the fund’s development impact and outreach through capacity-building at partner institutions, developing financial infrastructures according to the principles of responsible finance and conducting much required R and D.

The SANAD Entrepreneurship Academy, a branch of the Technical Assistance Facility, provides targeted support to entrepreneurs in the form of training, networking, mentorship, financial technology, and connection to financing opportunities.

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Press release

SANAD Fund – website