Microfinance

The CEB has broadened its support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by engaging with microfinance institutions (MFIs) that specifically target vulnerable populations, many of whom do not have access to mainstream banking.

The CEB expects to increase its support for MFIs, which face a widening financing gap – in the EU this gap is nearly €13 billion, according an EC report from 2020. CEB financing can support business micro-loans (for investment and working capital) and personal micro-loans with a social purpose, including housing improvements. The CEB’s loans to microfinance institutions often require guarantees to cover their high risk and this limits the lending room for the sector.

Beyond finance, the CEB offers guidance in support of the microfinance sector. On 16 October 2025 CEB launched a new toolkit for measuring the social impact of the microfinance sector. Built with the support of InvestEU, the new toolkit aims to fill overdue gaps in data and information, and provide microfinance professionals with insights, best practices and methods for enhancing the impact of their work.

The CEB considers microfinance as an important tool for facilitating the long-term integration of migrants and refugees, who generally suffer from financial exclusion. As a client segment, refugees and migrants may carry higher (real or perceived) credit risk for MFIs. For this reason, MFIs working with these populations require additional support in terms of grants and guarantees to ensure the long-term sustainability of their operations as well as the affordability of microcredit.

To increase the social impact of its intervention, the CEB is working with smaller, specialised MFIs that do not have access to the resources of other MDBs due to the cost-intensive nature of loans, which tend to be very small, and the high risk of these operations.

Read the CEB Strategic Framework 2023-2027
Visit also our page on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)