JMMB Bank, IDB Invest & Impact Investors Forge Partnership to Further Boost Financing to SMEs 

IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group, has forged another partnership with JMMB Bank (Jamaica) Limited, alongside global, microfinancing impact investors – BlueOrchard, Symbiotics and responsAbility, to further increase access to financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jamaica. 

This partnership will see JMMB Bank accessing US$31 million from these impact investors, through a syndication loan arranged by IDB Invest, with a 4.5-year tenor, starting July 2021. This is the first investment in Jamaica by these investors and is the first international syndicated loan made to JMMB Bank.  

The project will increase the availability of medium-term financing to JMMB Bank to support the growth of its SME lending, while contributing to the maturity and structure of its debt profile. It will also enhance the diversification of its funding sources; thus, decreasing the dependence on shorter-term deposits, which will augur to the benefit of SMEs.

Jerome Smalling, CEO of JMMB Bank outlined, “We are pleased to forge a deeper partnership with organizations like IDB Invest and these impact investors, as this enables us to better support the SME sector, especially at this time.  This sector has tremendous growth opportunity and, in leveraging further support to the sector, JMMB Bank is seeking to play its part in helping SMEs to realize their full potential and contribute even more to the country’s development and economic recovery.” Adding, “This loan agreement follows on a US$35M agreement made with IDB Invest, earlier this year, to increase long-term financing, over the next five years, to SMEs. This is in line with our commitment to support this sector, as we aim to off-lend to SMEs at competitive rates, thereby enabling them to maximize their profitability and increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace.”

IDB Invest has been bringing JMMB Bank closer to new sources of financing for the medium-term to increase access to financing for the Jamaican SME sector, as this remains a challenge for this sector. 

This agreement also underscores the strong creditworthiness and capacity of JMMB Bank, which is evidenced by its performance and support of the sector.   

JMMB Bank also signed a guarantee loan agreement, in June, with EXIM Bank, making this the third such loan agreement, since the start of the year. The move is in keeping with the JMMB Group’s strategy to add value to its SME clients, through the provision of financial partnership, resources, innovative financial solutions and a network, throughout these businesses’ life cycles; thereby, providing the necessary support for growth and filling the gaps that currently exist in the financial sector. It builds on efforts being made by the Group, having opened the doors of its SME Resource Centres in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, last year.