Jordan’s liwwa wants to set up shop in Egypt: Jordanian SME lender liwwa has secured (pdf) a USD 5 mn loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) which will be used for on-lending to SMEs in Jordan and supporting the company’s plan to launch in Egypt, liwwa’s CEO Dennis Ardis (LinkedIn) told Enterprise.

When will Egypt operations kick off? Liwwa is currently raising funds to meet the paid-in-capital requirement for the SME finance license in Egypt, Ardis told us. Egypt is expected to add USD 11.5 mn to the company’s portfolio during the first year of launch, he said.

More on liwwa: Founded in 2013, liwwa is an online marketplace for debt that connects SMEs with potential lenders. The company focuses on retail and wholesale businesses, with its largest segments being the food and beverage and pharma sectors, Ardis said.

Liwwa has raised USD 13.9 mn in equity since its inception, Ardis told us. Meanwhile, on the debt front, the company has raised USD 20.5 mn in term loans so far.

Liwwa seeks to provide loans at competitive rates for SMEs in Egypt: “We hope to leverage our ability to attract international funding — largely from DFIs — to provide competitive rates,” Ardis said, adding that the company offers credit facilities that are “tailored to small and medium businesses, which often require [larger facilities than] what is available through microfinance providers.”

Flexible financing options that cater to SMEs needs could make liwwa stand out: Liwwa prides itself on its ability to cater to the financial needs of SMEs — the majority of fintech lenders which focus on consumer finance and microfinance, according to Ardis. “We also feel that our ability to offer fast flexible financing, without the same type of formal financial documents required by others, makes our value proposition particularly compelling.”

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