CEB and REDI sign €5 million loan to expand access to finance for Roma entrepreneurs

Paris - The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and REDI Economic Development S.A. (the REDI Fund), Europe's first microfinance investment vehicle dedicated to Roma entrepreneurship, have signed a new €5 million loan to help Roma-owned and Roma-employing micro and small enterprises in Albania, Kosovo, the Republic of Moldova and Romania access affordable credit.

Roma are Europe's largest ethnic minority, with an estimated 10 to 12 million people across the continent. They remain twice as likely as other groups to live in poverty, while financial exclusion remains particularly acute. In Romania, Roma communities still face significant barriers to accessing financial services. Many small entrepreneurs are left to rely on informal lenders, often on highly unfavourable terms.

The new loan, which was signed by CEB Vice-Governor Tomáš Boček and REDI Fund Director Petrică Dulgheru, will be backed by a guarantee from the CEB's Social Impact Account. It is expected to unlock more than €8 million in microloans between 2026 and 2028, supporting over 1 000 businesses and helping create or maintain more than 2 000 jobs.

The REDI Fund will on-lend the CEB resources to local microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the four target countries. These MFIs will then provide microloans to Roma entrepreneurs for productive assets, equipment and working capital.

• At least 40% of the CEB loan will go to Roma-owned businesses; the remainder to micro and small enterprises with a direct link to Roma communities, including those employing Roma staff.
• REDI Fund aims to allocate at least 30% of sub-loans to women entrepreneurs, who face combined barriers related to gender and ethnicity.
• The average microloan is expected to be around €7 000, typically financing small farms, family retail businesses, crafts and services.

Finance is paired with tailored support from REDI Fund's non-profit shareholder, the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI NGO). It provides business development services, financial literacy training and loan application support, and trains Roma loan officers within partner MFIs. This combination lowers risk and helps MFIs reach clients that would otherwise remain outside formal finance.

Tomáš Boček, Vice-Governor, CEB: “Financial inclusion is essential to social cohesion. Through our partnership with the REDI Fund, we can help Roma entrepreneurs access the finance they need to build and grow their businesses. This second loan builds on a partnership that is already making a real difference.”

Petrică Dulgheru, REDI Fund Director: “Roma entrepreneurs have never lacked ideas or the will to work, but too often lenders saw stereotypes instead of a business plan. Our borrowers have shown that they repay like any other client. Financing Roma businesses is an investment that pays back in jobs, taxes and stronger local economies, and this loan shows the CEB sees it that way too.”

This is the second CEB loan to the REDI Fund. The first, a €3 million programme approved in 2021, financed MFIs in North Macedonia and Romania. Together with REDI's wider portfolio, it has supported around 460 borrowers to date, including 300 Roma entrepreneurs, with women-led businesses making up 60% of the portfolio.

About the CEB

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is a multilateral development bank with an exclusively social mandate from its 43 member countries. The CEB finances investment projects and provides technical assistance in social sectors such as education, health and affordable housing, while focusing on the needs of vulnerable people, as well as on the social dimensions of climate change and the environment. Borrowers include governments, local and regional authorities, public and private banks, non-profit organisations and others. The CEB, which has a triple-A credit rating, funds itself through international capital markets. In addition, the CEB receives funds from donors to complement its activities.

About REDI

The Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative opens access to affordable loans, business coaching and new markets for Roma entrepreneurs. Founded in Bucharest in 2016, it now works across Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Türkiye. Its non-profit network runs business clubs, digital skills training and field facilitators who connect micro-enterprises with lenders. It trains Roma loan officers and places them inside banks and microfinance institutions. REDI also connects entrepreneurs with markets, online and in retail. In 2019, REDI set up the REDI Fund in Luxembourg, as Europe’s first investment vehicle dedicated to Roma entrepreneurs.