Trademark registration finalised for Mena MicroFinance

[Geetha Balvannanathan]

Finally my trademark MENA MICROFINANCE has been published in two local arabic newspapers and has been entered into the ministry's website. Now the trademark will also be published in the official gazette cd of the Ministry of Economy.

The entity could only be created as a trading company as the two possibilities of being a charitable organisation or a financial institution are not feasible options, one for lack of legal possibility (only pre-existing charitable organisations or organisations recognised by Emiri Decree are allowed to be considered as charitable entities in the UAE) or for lack of adequacy (the financial means required in terms of capital and structure costs would go beyond the scope and means avaiable to this enterprise that is currently solely financed by me via an initial grant of AED 100,000 of which already 45,000 AED have been absorbed by legal work and registration fees).

The machines that were meant to be given to ladies wanting to initiate their own business at home (sewing, embroidery, beading, among others) will be sold under a Murabaha agreement that will provide ultimately for the same effects as that of a Kard el Hasan model (forgivable loan type of structure).

This is very good news and although the progress on the matter has been quite slow, it is a clear advance in the field of making Microfinance a socially recognised concept in the UAE and not a mere financial institution as it has tended to overwhelmingly transform into a business consideration rather than a socially responsible initiative in many other parts of the world.