FIF - Bank of Palestine SME Credit Line II

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Provision of a USD 30.0m (EUR 27.5m) senior unsecured facility to the Bank of Palestine (BoP). The facility will be used for on-lending to eligible local micro-, small and medium-sized (MSME) enterprises in the West Bank which are facing increased financing needs following the events of October 7th, 2023 and the subsequent acute economic impact.

Project ID 55046

Status Signed

Location

West Bank and Gaza

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Catherine Halteh
catherine.halteh@bankofpalestine.com
+972 599 390429
+970 2 2979230
www.bankofpalestine.com/en
Bank of Palestine P.O. Box 471| Ramallah | Palestine

Project ID 55046

Status Signed

Location

West Bank and Gaza

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

07 Feb 2024

Disclosure date

08 Jan 2024

FIF - Bank of Palestine SME Credit Line II (Arabic) (PDF, 0.22MB)

Project description

Project objectives

The proceeds of the loan will be on-lent by BoP to eligible MSMEs in the West Bank.

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

petitive: The project supports BoP's lending to private MSMEs in the West Bank to support the continued flow of credit to SMEs, which represent the vast majority of private enterprises in the West Bank, at a time of acute economic crisis. The project focuses on regional outreach across the West Bank and supports BoP's market expansion and the plan to increase its loan portfolio, including in the MSME segment in the coming years.

Resilient: BoP will be expected to maintain adequate portfolio quality and ensure prudent lending practices.

Client information

BANK OF PALESTINE

Bank of Palestine is the largest bank in the West Bank and Gaza with assets of USD 6.6 billion at H1 2023. It was founded in 1960, in Gaza. Headquartered in Ramallah, the bank operates a total of 73 branches across the West Bank and Gaza. BoP has a total of 1,799 employees and serves over one million clients.

The BoP banking group also encompasses an Islamic banking arm, a brokerage company, and an e- payment solutions and fintech arm.

BoP offers a broad array of financial products and services including retail, corporate, Islamic banking, e-banking and SME lending. BoP also focuses on providing services to promote the financial inclusion of women and youth.

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR .00

SME loan: USD 30,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 27,486,371.34

SME loan: USD 30,000,000.00

Additionality

The project offers term financing targeting MSME sub-borrowers.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (ESP 2019): Bank of Palestine is an existing Client of the Bank and has been satisfactorily complying with EBRD's requirements thus far. BoP is required to continue to comply with PRs 2, 4 & 9, and with EBRD's TFP Environmental & Social ("E&S") Procedures and the applicable Risk Management Procedures for Micro, SME and Corporate Lending. The Borrower will be required to submit annual environmental and social reports to the Bank to monitor their E&S performance and progress.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

None

Company Contact Information

Catherine Halteh
catherine.halteh@bankofpalestine.com
+972 599 390429
+970 2 2979230
www.bankofpalestine.com/en
Bank of Palestine P.O. Box 471| Ramallah | Palestine

PSD last updated

08 Jan 2024

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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FIF - Bank of Palestine SME Credit Line II

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)