Investment & Fund Management

The Greater Anatolia Guarantee Facility (GAGF) was launched to address the significant financing gap faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microenterprises in Turkey's less developed regions. Despite housing 25% of the country's SMEs, these regions only received 10% of the total SME lending, highlighting a critical need for financial support. The GAGF combines EUR 32 million of Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) with EUR 250 million in lending from the European Investment Bank (EIB), aiming to generate a minimum of EUR 500 million in new lending.

The GAGF operates through three main pillars. The first pillar involves a EUR 5 million counter-guarantee agreement with the Kredi Garanti Fonu (KGF), targeting around 1,500 microenterprises via financial intermediaries. The second pillar, with a commitment of EUR 25 million, provides direct guarantees to five partner financial intermediaries, which is expected to create a new SME portfolio of EUR 500 million in the target region. The final pillar allocates EUR 2 million for capacity building and promotion of the facility.

This initiative is particularly significant as it not only facilitates access to finance for SMEs and microenterprises but also contributes to the economic development of Turkey's most disadvantaged regions, thereby fostering entrepreneurship and growth in areas that have historically been underserved.