Ebdaa microfinance company Bahrain co-organized a training workshop entitled “SMEs Strategic Planning and Development of Financial Expectations”.

The workshop was organized under the supervision of the Microfinance Unit of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) and in collaboration with the National Bank for SMEs Finance in Jordan. Over seven days, cadres working in the field of microfinance from Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and Mauritania participated in it.

“This workshop's mission was to advance the knowledge and expertise of Arab cadres in the area of strategic planning for the microfinance business in line with AGFUND's goals for promoting regional growth, nurturing more start-ups, and expanding employment possibilities.” According to Ebdaa’s CEO, Dr Khalid Al Ghazzawi.

Dr Al Ghazzawi., who supervised the workshop, added that Bahrain's involvement in this workshop, whether through the organisation or the physical presence of the Ebdaa company cadres, embodies the development of the microfinance sector in Bahrain as the first Gulf nation to join the "AGFUND" programme, as well as the Kingdom's accumulated experiences in this sector over nearly 12 years. Additionally, he showcased successful examples of Bahrainis who had expanded and developed their ventures even outside of Bahrain thanks to Ebdaa company’s soft loans.

"We concentrated on teaching participants how to strategically plan for their organisations, researching the environment around the institution, including legislation, regulations, and market conditions, as well as assessing the institution itself, the performance of its staff, the financing products it offers, its strengths and weaknesses, and developing a broad strategy for three to five years.” Dr Al Ghazzawi said.

Dr Al Ghazzawi affirmed that additional topics in the workshop were discussed covering analysis of functions needed by the microfinance institution, strategies for adding new branches, managing expenses, extracting, and analysing financial statements, how to develop a loan specialist's portfolio, and the best way to move loan amounts around the market. Additionally, he mentioned that Mr Sameh Al-Maharik, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the "Tanmia" Network, a network that unites all microfinance institutions in Jordan, awarded diplomas to workshop participants at its conclusion.