Access to Finance Advisory Services

Advisory Services to expand access to finance (A2F) often accompanies our financial investments, giving clients the benefit of in-house expertise from seasoned sector specialists. We also partner with consultants familiar with local conditions to provide solutions suited to the unique characteristics of a particular country. Our A2F advisory services projects include assistance to banks and specialized financial institutions in improving their ability to provide financial services to micro, small, and medium enterprises.

IFC offers access to finance advisory services for the following areas:

Agribusiness Finance Collateral Registries/Secured Lending Credit Bureaus Gender Access to Finance Housing Finance Insurance Leasing Microfinance

Payment Systems & Remittances (Retail Payments, Mobile Banking Risk Management Loan Portfolio Monitoring & Workout Securities Markets SME Banking Sustainable Energy Finance Trade Finance

2009 A2F Highlights Report
This report highlights IFC’s progress in access to finance (A2F) advisory services. A2F advisory services work is a driving force in establishing local financial institutions. IFC’s A2F advisory services continue to grow, with over 298 projects and programs in 72 countries- 141 projects in IDA countries and 58 in fragile and conflict-affected countries in FY09. More than half of the services are directly linked to IFC investments and over 70 percent serve micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).


2009 Microscope Index
This IFC-MIF-CAF-EIU Global microscope reports on and ranks the microfinance business environment. September 2009.



2009 Outreach Data & Factsheets
IFC Outreach Data and Factsheets communicate achievements and showcase successes in our MSME Access to Finance Strategy. They present aggregated results achieved by IFC supported financial intermediaries (excluding investment funds) with their MSME clients.



SME Banking Knowledge Guide
The guide supports financial institutions in making informed choices by sharing challenges, opportunities, and effective practices in SME banking operational models from across the globe and through practical examples of SME banking provided by a number of featured financial institutions.




For more information on IFC’s Access to Finance Advisory Services, contact:

Leila Search | Email: LSearch@ifc.org