Project Development Facilities (PDF)

This is a synthesis evaluation of four IFC-supported small and medium enterprise (SME) facilities. The report summarizes the findings of evaluations of four SME facilities sponsored and managed by IFC to support the development of small businesses. It examines five broad issues:

1. Relevance - whether the facilities’ efforts are justified by their likely impact on development;
2. Efficacy and impact - the extent to which the facilities are contributing to the development of sustainable SMEs and business service providers and to improvements in the business climate;
3. Efficiency - the facilities’ own efficiency in providing services and the extent to which the benefits generated justify the overall costs and the subsidies provided;
4. Sustainability of the services provided by the facilities and by the business service providers the facilities support;
5. Structural and administrative issues - including collaboration among the facilities and with other parts of the World Bank Group; management information systems and reporting; and learning from experience.

The study is based primarily on the IEG-IFC directed evaluations of the four facilities listed below, which are still supported by IFC and are sufficiently mature for evaluation, but draws also on evaluations and material on other programs that pursue similar objectives.

Full Report [pdf]; Annexes [pdf]
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Evaluation of the African Management Services Company (AMSCO):
DFC Ltd., a consulting firm based in London, prepared this report for AMSCO, the donors supporting AMSCO's activities, International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Independent Evaluation Group (IEG-IFC) and the World Bank Group Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Department. The report was prepared under IEG's general oversight and supervision, and was presented to the donors in January 2003. The report feeds into a larger Project Development Facility (PDF) study that IEG-IFC delivered to IFC's Senior Management and to IFC's Board in 2004.

Summary [pdf]
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Evaluation of the Mekong Project Development Facility (MPDF):
Nexus Associates, a U.S. consulting firm, prepared this report for the MPDF, the donors supporting MPDF's activities, IEG-IFC and the SME Department. The report was prepared under IEG-IFC's general oversight and supervision, and was presented to the donors in June 2002. The report feeds into a larger PDF study that IEG-IFC delivered to IFC's Senior Management and to IFC's Board in 2004.

Summary [pdf] Full Report [pdf]
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Evaluation of the Africa Project Development Facility (APDF):
Nexus Associates, a U.S. consulting firm, prepared this report for the APDF, the donors supporting APDF's activities, the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Independent Evaluation Group (IEG-IFC) and the World Bank Group's Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Department. The report was prepared under IEG-IFC's general oversight and supervision, and was presented to the donors in November 2003. The report feeds into a larger Small and Medium Enterprise Facilities study that IEG-IFC delivered to IFC's Senior Management and to IFC's Board in 2004.

Full Report [pdf]; Appendices [pdf]
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Evaluation of the Southeast Europe Enterprise Development (SEED):
Nexus Associates, a U.S. consulting firm, prepared this report for SEED, the donors supporting SEED's activities, the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Independent Evaluation Group (IEG-I
FC) and the World Bank Group's Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Department. The report was prepared under IEG's general oversight and supervision, and was presented to the donors in October 2003. The report feeds into a larger Small and Medium Enterprise Facilities study that IEG-IFC will deliver to IFC's Senior Management and to IFC's Board in 2004.

Full Report [pdf]; Appendices [pdf]