Cooperation with the World Bank's International Development Association

Developing small and medium businesses (SMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of IFC's strategic goals: it is seen as one of the best hopes for building economies and alleviating poverty. But SMEs are often limited in their access to financial resources. IFC's efforts aim to bridge this gap, in collaboration with the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional lending arm.

Together with IDA we are improving access to finance by strengthening the local environment for financial markets, enhancing the ability of local financial institutions to lend profitably to SMEs, and developing innovative vehicles to supply risk capital. We also use structured finance instruments, such as partial credit guarantees, to help local banks refinance their lending to SMEs.

For further information on the IDA/IFC pilot program, contact:
Tamara Lansky | T: 202.473.4078
Sylvia Zulu | T: 202.458.9612