JASMINE
Joint Action to Support Microfinance Institutions

What is JASMINE?

JASMINE (Joint Action to Support Microfinance Institutions) is a pilot initiative launched in 2008 by the European Commission, the EIB Group and the European Parliament. JASMINE acts as a doorstep to potential funding at a second stage under EIF-managed microfinance mandates, helping non-bank microfinance institutions to scale up their operations and maximise the impact of microfinance products on microenterprises development and unemployment reduction within the European Union.

MFIs are selected by EIF through a due diligence screening applications resulting from a “Call for Expression of Interest” launched by the EIF.
EIF provides Technical Assistance to selected microfinance institutions (MFIs) and micro-credit providers active in the European Union to increase the quality of their internal processes. In details, the benefits for selected microcredit providers are:

• free access to an institutional diagnosis, or an in-depth rating report performed by Microfinanza Rating or Planet Rating
• up to 12 days of advisory, tailor-made consulting and training offered to both management and staff, delivered by experts from the Microfinance Centre addressing any weaknesses identified during the institutional assessment.

Which microfinance providers have benefited from JASMINE?

Since its launch in 2010, 71 European microcredit providers (including non-bank microfinance institutions) have received support from JASMINE Technical Assistance. JASMINE is financed by the European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy and it is free of charge to the beneficiary institutions. The 30 microcredit providers below have been selected by EIF to benefit from JASMINE in 2013 following a call for expression of interest launched in December 2012 and closed on 28 February 2013 :

• Supporting Micro-credit providers with JASMINE [pdf] - A brochure by the European Commission (Nov. 2010)

• European Commission - Directorate general for Regional Policy website