Remarks at Ceremony to Mark Self-Sustaining Capacity of Jordan Microcredit Company

It is a pleasure for me to participate in this ceremony marking the Graduation of the Jordan Micro Credit Company from USAID’s Wholesale Funding Facility. By graduation, we mean that JMCC has become fully independent in its management of a large and active micro enterprise portfolio, assisted initially through the Wholesale Funding Facility. This is an exciting accomplishment.

Sustainability is a term we throw around quite a lot. But here, today, we are witnessing the real thing.

I would like to congratulate JMCC’s Board of Directors, and its chairman His Excellency Shaker bin Zaid; Director General, Mr. Khaled Al-Gazawi and every member of JMCC’s staff of dedicated and talented professionals who have made this achievement possible. Your work is directly responsible for helping people achieve their dreams, and at the end of the day, that’s quite a thing to be able to claim.

Allow me also to recognize Anne Aarnes and her staff at USAID, as well as the management and staff of the AMIR program involved in making microfinance a successful and important part of the US assistance program in Jordan.

JMCC is the first graduate of the Wholesale Funding Facility. This Facility was a USAID initiative begun some four years ago to provide $4.2 million in seed money for the establishment of four microenterprise institutions in Jordan. JMCC is one of those four institutions.

Graduation is not automatic. In order to become sustainable and independent, JMCC partnered with Citibank and developed commercial relationships with numerous other Jordanian banks.

It instituted best practices, whether in loan administration or in the professional development of its staff. It developed personal relations with its clients that included regular business advice and assistance as these new borrowers set about the hard work to realize their dreams.

Combined with technical assistance, and working through the AMIR program, USAID’s partnership with JMCC; Ahli Microfinance Company; Middle East Microfinance Company; and the Micro Fund for Women has seen great successes: nearly 16,000 new loans in 2003 ranging from as low as 100 Jordanian dinars to as large as 15,000 dinars.; Sixty-three percent of active clients among the four institutions are women. 59 percent of active borrowers are located outside Amman.
Through the life of the program, almost 150,000 loans have been disbursed to more than 64,500 clients throughout Jordan.

And the percentage of repeat borrowers overall exeeds 60 percent, which indicates a sustainability all on its own: that of clients repaying their first loans and returning with bigger plans, bigger responsibilities, and, of course, bigger rewards.

I mentioned that in 2003, some 16,000 new loans were disbursed by the four institutions partnered with USAID. With an average firm size of 3 employees, we calculate this to mean some 48,000 direct beneficiaries. When factoring in average family size, we further calculate something on the order of an additional 190,000 indirect beneficiaries of these loans.

We can throw out all kinds of statistics and numbers to describe the impact of microfinance in Jordan, but as we all know, statistics don’t really capture the full impact of these programs.

Microfinance and microenterprise is about a lot more than loan amounts and repayment rates. It is about giving people who might otherwise have nowhere else to turn a chance at a better life. It is about believing in people, and the hope that comes to a borrower who knows that someone is out there willing to believe in them. This is a philosophy, and it works.

The efforts of institutions like JMCC lead to hope and self esteem in addition to creating jobs and raising living standards. These efforts create a grass roots community of people who maybe for the first time are participating in the life of the society outside the home. These efforts are creating an entrepreneurial spirit in Jordan and giving life to dreams long held.

USAID and other US assistance organizations are involved in a number of activities in Jordan aimed at supporting His Majesty’s government as it works to bring about improved living standards and greater opportunity in Jordan. Our assistance portfolio here is among the largest with any country around the world, both in total size, and certainly when measured on a per capita basis. And while Microfinance composes a relatively small portion of our overall aid disbursement, there are few programs as inspiring.

I would like to congratulate JMCC again on this great achievement and thank you for your partnership, your professionalism and your dedication in bringing hope and success to so many people. Your achievements have been significant so far; and we look forward to many more in the future.