JEDDAH — Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance, the Saudi Arabian microlending institution, is expanding its support for Saudi women’s employment and livelihoods through a new Shariah-compliant finance product offered as part of its Group Financing (Productive Household) Program.

The program supported 5,216 women in 2018, while it helped, since its establishment in 2003, more than 250,000 Saudi Arabian men and women in and into work with more than 789 million loan disbursements.

Through the Group Financing (Productive Household) Program, Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance is striving to support the ability of women to succeed in businesses and projects. The program reflects the institution’s confidence in the key social and economic role played by the beneficiary families.

Amal Al Howaiti, operations manager at Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance, said: “Since its inception, Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance has been committed to developing Saudi productive households and advancing the status of Saudi women as a partner in the development process. To this end, we have been active in supporting productive families projects by a series of training and marketing programs and initiatives. We encouraged them to set up home-based micro projects or to sell their products at pallets, booths or via social media. In 2019, we will exert more efforts in collaboration with all concerned parties to reach 8000 women beneficiaries throughout the Kingdom, taking the product diversity into consideration.”

Reem Al Sayadi, a beneficiary of the Group Financing (Productive Household) Program, spoke about her experience: «My soap making business started two years ago after completing a training course on soap making. I benefited from a trainer in this field and within a short span of time I was able to build a customer base. I applied for Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance to finance the purchase of the necessary raw materials and equipment to meet the customer demands. Thanks to the financial and moral support provided by Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance, I was able to meet all the customer demands, use fragrance oil and other natural ingredients and to add many attractive soap molds».

«After my experience in raw soap and natural fragrance ingredients such as rose water and other natural fragrances, I am ambitious to expand and develop my activity into a corporate business and to provide training in this field, as well as to be recognized as a renowned brand in this industry,» she added.

Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance provides a wide range of microfinance products, including the women-focused Group Financing (Productive Household), Home Business Finance and Small Business Finance. The company offers flexible and affordable payment plans with easy monthly installments. Since establishment in 2003, the company provided more than 2 billion loan disbursements.

Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance is the first company licensed by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) for microfinance activities in Saudi Arabia. Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance provides financing through its branches across the Kingdom or via its online e-portal for SMEs and beneficiaries from its productive families and home-based work programs. — SG