The Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees (ICBG) is a privately-owned non-banking financial institution that guarantees repayment of up to 75% of loans, ranging from $5,000 up to $250,000, that private commercial banks extend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq. Early this year, the company reached a significant milestone when it surpassed $50 million […]
Business training offered in Iraq’s Small Business Development Centers is helping shape a new generation of Iraqi entrepreneurs whose companies someday may become significant private sector employers. So says a survey published this month of 4,329 trainees who graduated last year from SBDC programs that include the two most popular courses, ”How to Start a […]
In his joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on December 12, 2011, President Barak Obama noted that “In the coming years, it’s estimated that Iraq’s economy will grow even faster than China’s or India’s.” Foreign and regional investors interested in Iraq’s economic potential, but uncertain about the country’s investment regulations, arbitration laws […]
Iraq’s 12 microfinance institutions in cooperation with the USAID-Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program are holding an Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders Conference in Erbil on October 3 and 4. The theme of this year’s microfinance event will be “Transforming Inclusive Financial Services for Increasing Outreach”. The conference will bring together leaders from 12 microfinance institutions (MFIs) […]
USAID-Tijara’s Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders’ Conference began with a pledge to provide greater financial services to people living below Iraq’s poverty line of $2.20 a day and ended with a celebration of innovative loan products that have created or sustained 203,500 jobs since 2003. Participants at the Nov. 28-30 symposium in Erbil debated new Iraqi […]
The USAID-Tijara “Putting the Poor First” microfinance symposium, a program supported by the U.S. Government, will be held November 28-30 in Erbil. The Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders’ Conference will bring together leaders from the 12 microfinance institutions (MFIs) that provide financial services throughout Iraq. The forum will attract Iraqi policy makers, donors, banks, small business […]
