A small loan from a specialized investment fund will have a big impact on the economic stability of dozens of Syrian and Palestinian refugees living in Jordan.
The Refugee Investment Facility extended financing to Ali Dates, an 11-year-old date farm and processor in the Jordan Valley to help the company acquire new equipment, which will enable it to increase production and employment.
The Danish Refugee Council and iGravity, which manage the fund, designed the terms of the debt to be compliant with the Islam’s definition of ethical finance, which does not allow financiers to charge interest. Under the terms, the fund paid upfront for Ali Dates’ equipment, and sold it to the company with a markup, as a means of generating a return. If Ali Dates hits specified impact targets around employment for refugee workers, and farm worker training and standards, the company can reduce by up to 50% the markup it owes on the equipment.
The deal is the fourth from the two-year-old Refugee Investment Facility and the first outside of Uganda. RIF has also supported Omia Agribusiness Development Group, which provides inputs, farming equipment, and training and extension services to smallholder farmers. Ag-Ploutos Company is improving access to markets for farmers in refugee settlements. Okeba Uganda aggregates and processes maize, beans and soy from thousands of refugee farmers.
RIF’s latest investment comes at a moment when financing and support for crisis-affected communities has itself been thrust into crisis, with the Trump administration’s gutting of the US’s aid agency and European nations’ retreat on donor commitments.
