Europe, Middle East & North Africa

Sustainable Business Advisory

Our Work

Millions of young people will enter the region’s work force over the next decade, greatly increasing the demand for jobs. At the same time, water shortages, a scarcity of arable land and power shortfalls are already putting pressure on many economies in the region.

IFC’s Sustainable Business Advisory helps address those issues by working at the firm and sector level to develop inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and efficient markets. We also support female entrepreneurs, small-scale farmers, and small firms while engaging the private sector in climate change solutions.

To accomplish those goals, we:

• Help firms, including SMEs, improve their performance and competitiveness by supporting them as they adopt better management practices and more efficient technologies;
• Raise awareness among companies about the value of gender diversity and offer skills training to female entrepreneurs;
• Work with leading companies to identify opportunities and mobilize capital to invest in inclusive and sustainable businesses in the region; and
• Support businesses as they mitigate the effects of climate change.

IFC Sustainable Business Advisory is active across the Middle East and North Africa.

• In Tunisia, we completed a cleaner production audit for FUBA, a maker of circuit boards. Among other things, the audit found the company could save up to 2,000 MWh of power annually.
• In Lebanon, we helped the Green Building Council develop and implement the country’s first green building rating system.
• In the West Bank, we worked with olive oil producers, helping them develop a unified brand and secure $184,000 in export contracts.
• In Afghanistan, we helped pomegranate and raisin exporters market their products. The effort built on another IFC project to support fruit growers in Afghanistan.
• In Egypt and Jordan, our work with paper mills led to the implementation of environmentally friendly production procedures that also helped save money.
• In Jordan and Qatar, we launched local versions of IFC’s SME Toolkit, which offers entrepreneurs free, online, and around-the-clock access to expert information, interactive tools, and educational resources. That has helped them implement sound business management practices, access finance, and enter new markets.
• In Tunisia and Pakistan, we launched bank governance training for directors and senior executives of banks and financial institutions.
• In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Egypt we used the Business Edge training methodology to reach out to over 500 micro, small, and medium enterprises and over 5,800 people, 25 percent of whom were women.
• In Jordan, we provided technical assistance to develop corporate governance code for SMEs and a scorecard to help regulators promote corporate governance for standards of listed companies.