Swiss based Enabling Qapital makes its maiden investment in Sri Lanka with Alliance Finance Co. PLC

To support MSME entrepreneurs across the country

Sri Lanka’s oldest finance company, Alliance Finance Company PLC (AFC), has secured a USD 5 Mn medium term financing facility from impact investing fund, EMF Microfinance Fund AGmvK, Liechtenstein advised by Swiss based Enabling Qapital S.A. The financing facility will be used to support Covid impacted Micro SME entrepreneurs across the country in line with AFC’s strong mandate to uplift the livelihood of marginalized communities and developing micro-SME entrepreneurs.

ENABLING QAPITAL (EQ) is an Impact Investment Advisory Company with strong ties, expertise and a proven track record in Impact Investing. EQ has built a state-of-the-art approach when it comes to Microfinance and Impact Investments. EQ is the exclusive advisor to the Enabling Microfinance Fund (EMF). EQ has a global footprint with teams based in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Africa, Central Asia, East Asia and Latin America. Investments of EQ have reached over 6.2 Mn micro-finance customers around the world and out of whom,51% are females.

Mr. Romani de Silva, Deputy Chairman & Managing Director of AFC elaborates: “This is a significant milestone for AFC and the funding provided by EQ will further strengthen our mandate for sustainable finance. Furthermore, I am very grateful to EQ for identifying AFC as the preferred channel for its maiden investment into the MSME sector in Sri Lanka. It is also a reflection of the trust placed in our sustainable business model and the confidence placed in the MSME sector of Sri Lanka. In the year 2017, AFC became the first financial institution in Sri Lanka’s NBFI sector to commit to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, when they signed the ‘Karlsruhe Resolution’. In recent years, AFC has been investing 3% – 4% of its profit annually on social and environmental sustainability initiatives despite the extremely challenging external environment.

AFC has demonstrated strong improvements in all of its performance indicators such as growth, profitability and portfolio quality in recent times, especially after the successful restructuring program implemented with the technical assistance of IFC.

Incorporated in 1956, Alliance Finance Company PLC (AFC) is Sri Lanka’s oldest Non-Banking Finance Institution (NBFI), or the oldest ‘Finance Company’ in the country. It has served four generations of Sri Lankans for over 65 years, and as Sri Lanka’s pioneering finance entity, operates on the principle of Eternal Friendship. An enterprise that has been built on trust, integrity and a shared vision with its customers, Alliance Finance aims to make the world a better place through sustainable financing. AFC has garnered many prestigious awards and mentions on sustainability including the first Value Driven Financial Institution in South Asia to be Certified at Level 4 for Environmental and Social Sustainability in Banking and Finance. Becoming an ISO 22301 certified NBFI in 2012, Alliance Finance serves a diverse portfolio of clients with its Savings, Fixed Deposits, Leasing, Speed Cash, Development Finance, Gold Loans, and Personal Loans.