Share the page
Support to micro and small businesses affected by the Beirut blast
Project
-
Project start date
-
Status
Ongoing
-
Project duration
-
9 months
-
AFD financing amount
-
1 000 000 €
-
Country and region
-
Location
-
Beyrouth
-
Type of financing
-
Grant, Minka Peace and Resilience Fund
-
Beneficiaries
-
Mercy Corps Europe
On August 4 2020, a massive explosion ripped through Beirut, damaging the areas up to 5km from the epicenter. With the support of AFD, Mercy Corps contributes to the recovery of micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the blast, by providing cash-assistance support to more than 250 businesses in various sectors, such as retail or food and beverage supply. This project is part of France’s commitment to stand alongside Lebanon.
Context
Mercy Corps aims to support the rapid financial recovery of micro and small enterprises damaged by the explosions in Beirut on August 4, 2020, in order to revive the economic activity of the affected Lebanese and Syrians, especially women. Mercy Corps’ aim is to support more than 250 micro or small businesses, through disbursement of cash-assistance.
Description
Description
Mercy Corps provides support to businesses located in Mazraa, Ain el Mrayse, Basta Tahta, Furn el Hayek, Mar Maroun and Bachoura. Areas of intervention include:
- Unconditional and unrestricted cash-assistance to 250 shops. Businesses can --freely use the funds disbursed. Value of cash transfers are between USD 2 500 and USD 4 500, paid as a one-off grant in cash, while transfer value is determined depending for instance on the size of the business, and the damage score given by a vulnerability and needs assessment conducted in August 2020.
- The learning agenda is to produce and disseminate a political economy analysis, --providing insight on how small businesses used social capital to cope with, recover and respond to the Beirut Port explosion.
Impacts
The cash support enables owners, for example, to rehabilitate their shops, replenish stocks or fund salaries to retain employees. In order to select the beneficiaries of the business cash-assistance program, Mercy Corps has developed several tools in coordination with 8 NGOs present in Lebanon, including a criteria weighting system. Selection criteria include gender of the owner (prioritizing women-owned businesses), women’s employment, owner’s financial situation, damage assessed, and the resilience capacity of the business.
The political economy analysis produced in this program will allow a deeper understanding of Beirut’s local economic fabric, and will inform longer-term economic interventions for small enterprises in Lebanon.