Africa’s first specialist rural microfinance fund supporting fair trade and organic small business, FEFISOL, the European Solidarity Financing Fund for Africa, was launched earlier today by the European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement and a broad grouping of development bodies, social investors and microfinance service providers. The EUR 15 million FEFISOL fund will provide much needed microfinance funds for poor rural households across Africa and help finance small scale investment in agricultural activities.
Three social investors with more than 25 years of experience working with microfinance  institutions, agricultural cooperatives and small businesses in emerging countries will provide specialist support to the fund. These include French development association Solidarite International pour le Developpement et l’Investissement (SIDI), who will manage of the FEFISOL fund, Belgian development organisation Alterfin and Etimos from Italy. The FEFISOL fund is expected to double in size by 2013 and will assist microfinance institutions that help poor households in rural areas where no formal lending exists. Rural microfinance will support income generating activities and reduce dependence on outside help. “The European Investment Bank recognises FEFISOL’s dedicated support for organic. (RAPID, BEI/11/116, 21.7.2011)