Emkan for Sustainable Microfinance & Community Development (Emkan) is a Lebanese non-governmental organization (NGO) that was initially established in 2008 by the Hariri Group with two components, namely Economic Development Activities and Microfinance.
Emkan engages in community development activities through the implementation of sustainable economic development projects and programs. It aims to improve the income level of marginalized low wage earners, stimulate economic activities and create job opportunities for low-income groups in urban and rural communities, including youth and women.
Emkan microfinance operations originally started in 2009 under Emkan NGO, which provided access to microloans for the economically active poor in Lebanon, thereby providing them with access to microfinance services unavailable to them in the formal banking sector. Today the microfinance activities are provided through Emkan Finance S.A.L, which is a Lebanese financial institution licensed by the Central bank of Lebanon (Banque du Liban, BDL) and established by BankMed in June 2011.
As of 2011, Emkan NGO was focused on Economic Development Activities and thus promoting sustainable economic growth by increasing the livelihood and employment generation activities for the economically active poor in Lebanon.