Microfinance can Bring Socio-Economic Stability to Middle East

CHF International, a leading non-profit global development organization, in association with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, has highlighted the key role microfinance can play in creating socially innovative solutions for Middle East and North Africa.

More than 30 percent of the population in Middle East and North Africa is between the age group 15 and 29. This represents over 100 million youth in this region, making it critically important to create about 40 million jobs over the next decade merely to maintain pace with the youth bulge. In absence of socially innovative and entrepreneurial solutions, it may not be possible to achieve this huge goal, and it may weaken the stability of this fragile region further.

Youth unemployment in the Middle East continues to remain the highest in the region at 25 percent. In Egypt, for instance, almost 90 percent of the country's unemployed are below the age of 30. CHF is playing a crucial role in the region with its diverse programs in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.

Elissa McCarter, V.P. of Development Finance at CHF International says, "While political instability tends to cause investor flight, now more than ever is the time to invest in this region's entrepreneurs, and its youth. The political and social transformation currently taking place offers tremendous opportunities to address the economic disparity and lack of opportunity faced by the majority of the population today. Supporting entrepreneurship and the growth of small businesses will accelerate equitable economic growth and job creation."

CHF's programs range from community led infrastructure and access to microfinance in Iraq to entrepreneurship opportunities for youth and women in West Bank and Gaza. Craig Newmark, a persistent believer in the power of social entrepreneurship says, "The best thing you can do for another person is help them get a job. Microfinance makes that happen -- in very real and sustainable ways."

CHF International is the largest global network of microfinance lending in the Middle East. Its outstanding portfolio of $157 million is largely concentrated in Lebanon, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, and Iraq. CHF has about 55,000 clients and more than 680 staff members, all of whom are of Arab origin. Since 2004, CHF has provided more than $620 million in microfinance loans that has help created an estimated half a million jobs in the region.

Photo Credit: ilco