enda inter-arabe is an international non-profit NGO governed by law n° 93-80 dated 26 July 1993 which provides the legal framework under which international non-governmental organisations can set up and operate in Tunisia. A member of ENDA Third-World based in Senegal, we have been operating in Tunisia for 20 years; 15 of which has been spent providing microcredit. enda inter-arabe was founded in 1990 by Essma Ben Hamida, currently Executive Director and Michael Cracknell, currently Secretary General.

Initial activities were mainly ecological projects such as the development of Ichkeul national park (with EU funding), desertification (with funding from IDRC - Canada) and medicinal plants (funded by enda third-world). In addition, during the ‘90s, enda inter-arabe organised six international conferences in Tunisia around the same themes as the major UN thematic conferences of that period.

In 1993, enda launched an integrated economic and social development programme in a poor suburb of Tunis which included outreach such as vocational training for school drop-outs and raising awareness about health issues for women. These activities were mainly financed by the European Union and the Spanish international co-operation agency.

In 1995, enda also began providing microcredit and by 2000, decided to focus almost entirely on providing support to micro-entrepreneurs, essentially through financial services (in particular microcredit) and support to micro-enterprises (training, marketing, advice…).

In 2003, enda reached operational and financial self-sufficiency (income covers operating expenses and the cost of borrowing money) thanks to years of applying internationally recognised microfinance “good practices”.

In May 2005, enda was authorised by the Ministry of Finance to grant microcredit in the framework of law n° 99-67 dated 15 July 1999 which allows associations to grant microcredit. In June of the same year, the Central Bank of Tunisia granted enda "resident" status which opened up access to loans from Tunisian banks to finance our growth.

Since 2006, enda inter-arabe has received regular ratings from specialised rating agencies. In July 2008, MicroRate granted enda-ia an "a-" rating for financial performance and "excellent" for the social rating. In 2006, we received a "B+ for positive trend" rating from Planet Rating.

In December 2008, the MIX Market (MIX Top 100 MFIs in the world) ranked enda-ia 18th out of the best-performing MFIs in the world (ranked 30th in 2007).

Additionally, enda is a founding member of the Microfinance Network of Arab Countries, Sanabel.  The Executive Director of enda-ia served as chairman of the board of Sanabel from December 2005 to May 2008 and in May 2008, enda inter-arabe hosted the 5th Annual Sanabel Conference in Tunisia.

enda is also a member of the Microfinance Network (MFN) which is based in Mexico and groups 50 of the top MFIs as well as a member of the Women’s World Banking (WWB) network based in New York and African Microfinance Transparency (AMT) based in Luxembourg.

Vision
Inclusive financial services, available to all.

Values

• Integrity and honesty
• Transparency
• Listening to and respecting clients
• Respect for the environment