Eligibility

Eligible applicants are SMEs with less than 40 registered employees operating in the Agricultural Sector.

Legal Forms

All types of legal economic entities are eligible for Kafalat Agriculture Loans. The borrower may be an individual, a sole proprietorship, a simple partnership, a limited liability company, a joint stock company, a cooperative or an NGO.

The business activity has to take place in Lebanon and be registered as an entity in Lebanon.

Criteria for existing SMEs and Start-ups

Priority will be given to start-ups and SMEs having the following criteria:

• Potential to generate significant value added for the business and the Lebanese Economy.
• No default under any credit facility should have occurred for 3-years preceeding the date of the loan request.
• Potential to use local raw materials.
   

Previous Kafalat Beneficiaries

SMEs which currently benefit or have already benefited from a Kafalat guarantee in other programmes are not eligible to benefit from Kafalat Small Agriculture loan.

SME Development Phase           

Both newly founded and already existing SMEs are eligible to benefit from Kafalat Agriculture.

Not Eligible Activities

SMEs aiming to finance the following are not eligible for a Kafalat Agriculture Loan:

• Repayment of existing debts.
• Payment for business expenses incurred prior to the issuance of the guarantee.
• Manufacturing or selling arms, weapon, or ammunitions.
• Activities that contribute to the violation of international labour law and human rights conventions or Lebanese Labour laws.
• Any activity defined as illegal, environmentally hazardous or dangerous for human health.
• All activities revolving around the gambling industry.
• Activities involved in currency speculation.
• Security investments or other types of financial assets.
• Activities in the real estate sector.