Faten MSME SSL (IFC-51216)

Countries
  • Palestine, West Bank, Gaza
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Feb 12, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 5.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Feb 6, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jan 12, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed project entails a US$5 million senior unsecured loan to Palestine for Credit and Development (“FATEN”), the leading microfinance institution (MFI) in West Bank & Gaza (WB&G). The loan proceeds will be used to strengthen Faten’s resilience and support its lending activities to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), including those owned by women, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees, and to provide countercyclical funding to the leading MFI with a widespread outreach and operations.The Project is expected to be supported by the Global SME Finance Facility (GSMEF) as described in the Blended Finance Section.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The Project is a US$5 million senior unsecured loan to Palestine for Credit and Development (“FATEN” or the “MFI”), the largest Microfinance Institution (MFI) in West Bank & Gaza, and a previous IFC investment and advisory services client. The loan proceeds will be used to support FATEN’s lending activities to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in West Bank & Gaza.
The E&S risks and potential impacts associated with the supported MSME activities are considered limited and readily addressed through mitigation measures. Thus, the Project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with IFC’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The proposed IFC investment is up to $5 million A loan for IFC’s own account.

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

The project sponsor is Palestine for Credit and Development, Faten, the leading MFI in WB&G that started as a microfinance program under the international nongovernmental organization Save the Children in 1995 and thereafter the program was spun off into a non-profit Limited Liability Company in 1999. Faten’s vision is to enable low-income earners and the productive poor to improve their social and living standards through loans. Faten is the largest MFI in WB&G with 52% market share of aggregate loan portfolio among all MFIs.

Faten is headquartered in Ramallah in the West Bank and operates through 34 branches covering different areas.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN)
Anwar Jayousi
Executive Director
+970 2 2961471
info@faten.org
Ramallah, Al Masyoun
www.faten.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works