Facebook has partnered with Lebanese and global organizations to launch the #LoveLocal Lebanon SMB Program, an initiative to support small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Lebanon amid the ongoing crisis.
Through its partnership with Strategy&, a Beirut-based business management consultant, Facebook aims to help SMBs, which are deemed the most affected by the economic crisis, survive the difficult conditions and recover.
To make this happen, the program will provide SMBs with “financial support and capability building programs aimed at enabling their economic recovery as they navigate challenging times,” Facebook said in a press release on Wednesday.
The #LoveLocal Lebanon SMB Program will contribute $600,000 — $300,000 in cash and the rest in Facebook ad credits.
The cash donation will go to LIFE, a Lebanese non-profit diaspora organization that helps push Lebanon toward a brighter future by establishing bonds between active Lebanese professionals.
LIFE will, in turn, allocate the funds to local SMBs, with help from 3QA, a third sector quality assurance organization based in Lebanon.
For the program, Facebook has also partnered with the Beirut-based ecommerce platform Ecomz, and Mindshare, a global media and marketing services company.
With these partnerships, Facebook launched Ecommerce Start – Lebanon, “a bootcamp program developed to support 100 SMBs as they look to build their e-commerce presence and become cross-border businesses.”
The selected SMBs will also be eligible to receive Facebook ad credit coupons.
SMBs in Lebanon will also benefit from a series of helpful free webinars that will be made available through Boost with Facebook, in collaboration with the global organization Seedstars.
In addition to the above, Facebook is collaborating with the International Chamber of Commerce-United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Centre of Entrepreneurship in Beirut.
This collaboration will support outreach to Lebanon-based SMBs and the #LoveLocal Lebanon SMB Program to ensure that the program is accessible for local SMBs. Applications can be submitted on the program’s dedicated webpage, here.
