In rural Iraq, access to finance remains structurally misaligned with how people live, work, and generate income. In Anbar Governorate, years of conflict, displacement, and erosion of institutions have left micro- and small-scale enterprises operating largely outside of formal banking systems. Cash-based trade dominates, informal lending fills critical gaps, and formal financial products remain inaccessible to many rural entrepreneurs. This inaccessibility is particularly experienced by women and youth, who face additional barriers regarding documentation, mobility, and collateral.
Beatrice Maneshi and Massara Al Fikiri of Catalystas Consulting were engaged to support the design and introduction of a revolving credit fund for rural and peri-urban communities in Anbar. Rather than beginning with a predetermined financial product, the assignment focused on central questions: what kind of revolving credit mechanism could realistically function in this context, at what scale, and under which institutional and financial conditions? To answer these inquiries, Catalystas led a comprehensive Market Research, Demand Assessment, and Feasibility Study, ensuring that the design of the fund would be viable, inclusive, and grounded in empirical evidence. Catalystas led the assignment from inception to final delivery, translating field-level evidence into a bank-aware, gender-responsive revolving credit fund design. The work was led by Catalystas’ founder and senior gender and economic development expert, who drew on extensive experience working across Iraq’s rural economies, financial inclusion programming, and post-conflict regulatory environments.
From the outset, the research was structured to directly inform core financial and operational decisions, including fund size, deployment pace, loan structure, and risk mitigation strategies.
The study was conducted across rural and peri-urban locations in Anbar Governorate, including Fallujah and surrounding rural districts. These areas were selected due to high levels of economic vulnerability, limited access to financial institutions, and a concentration of informal enterprises in the agriculture, livestock, trade, and service sectors. The geographic spread enabled comparison between rural villages and adjacent markets, highlighting how access to finance, income volatility, and repayment capacity vary by location and gender.
Catalystas applied a mixed-methods, gender-responsive research approach to ensure that both market demand and institutional feasibility directly informed the design of the revolving credit fund. The methodology was implemented in line with Catalystas’ Ethical Data Collection Protocol and supported by seven trained female local researchers, who led primary data collection to address information gaps identified during the desk-based review of publicly available sources. Primary research included:
All research tools were custom-designed by Catalystas and implemented in accordance with ethical research standards, ensuring data quality, contextual relevance, and the meaningful inclusion of women participants.
The research identified strong unmet demand for credit among rural micro-entrepreneurs, particularly women and youth, alongside limited market absorption capacity. Most enterprises require small, short-term loans to manage working capital needs, agricultural inputs, and basic equipment, rather than large capital investments. Survey data indicated strong willingness to repay when loan terms aligned with seasonal income patterns and livelihood cycles.
Based on demand segmentation, repayment capacity analysis, and institutional readiness, Catalystas concluded that an initial revolving credit fund in the low single-digit millions (USD) would be realistic and feasible as a pilot. Larger or rapidly deployed funds were found to increase portfolio risk due to income volatility, limited borrower experience with formal lending, and institutional constraints in rural areas.
Gender analysis was central to these conclusions. Despite systemic exclusion from formal finance, women borrowers demonstrated consistent demand and strong repayment discipline when products were designed around their realities, including flexible repayment schedules and collateral-free eligibility.
A central outcome of the study was a clear articulation of the conditions under which a revolving credit fund could operate sustainably in rural Iraq. Sustainability was assessed in terms of portfolio performance, capital preservation, and risk management, rather than scale alone. The study found that sustainability depends less on the size of the fund and more on how capital is sequenced, governed, and aligned with local economic realities. From a financial institution perspective, the following conditions were identified as essential:
These conditions were found to significantly reduce credit risk while maintaining accessibility for rural and women borrowers. Catalystas delivered a set of practical, decision-oriented outputs directly supporting the establishment of the revolving credit fund, including:
Synopsis: Catalystas designed a gender-responsive revolving credit fund for rural Iraq through market research and feasibility analysis, grounding financial design in local demand, regulatory realities, and risk-aware deployment conditions.
Amélie is a French-Canadian strategic development consultant with over 15 years of international experience on all continents, with the past six years focused on Asia Pacific and East Africa. Former social entrepreneur, regional NGO exec, researcher and lawyer-by-trade among other titles; she is a diverse professional currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. Amélie has worked in consulting on and off for 11 years across a range of industries and sectors, and has notably provided multiple market penetration and M&E analysis services, as well as risk assessments on the topics of forced labor and child labor in supply chains in Africa and in Asia.
Amélie completed her law degree in Quebec, Canada, and holds a Masters in International Law gained in Beijing, China. She has worked with organizations including the Thomson Reuters Foundation as Asia Pacific Manager (2019-2021), where she managed a portfolio of 250+ human rights research and advisory projects, prior to which she co-founded a social enterprise in the renewable energy sector in Rwanda, on the border of the DRC.
Amélie is proud to dedicate her time to driving social change through economic development and sustainable growth projects concretely in Southeast Asia and East Africa, and globally virtually. Amelie loves travelling, eating, and getting out of her comfort zone.
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