ACAD Finance

Context:

ACAD-Finance (Arab Center for Agricultural Development) is a Palestinian microfinance institution that provides financial services tailored to women and families in precarious situations in the West Bank and Gaza, mainly in rural areas, in order to promote income-generating economic projects and jobs, and thus contribute to poverty reduction in this country.

The company:

ACAD started its activities in 1988 as an NGO. It is the first organisation in Palestine to be transformed in 2014 into a specialised financial institution. Mainly controlled by the founding NGO, ACAD-Finance’s mission is to help reduce the vulnerability of Palestinian families, in particular that of smallholder farmers, by giving them access to suitable financial services.

Impact:

ACAD-Finance offers loans to microenterprises as well as Islamic loans intended for customers who earn less than 1.5 times the national poverty line. The institution also offers agricultural development services, training and empowerment services for local communities. In addition, ACAD offers loans and technical assistance to agricultural cooperatives. ACAD-Finance is one of the only Palestinian microfinance institutions to focus on rural areas.