The International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Plan and International Cooperation to lay the foundation for leasing facilities to increase access to finance for small-scale entrepreneurs for them to strengthen and expand their businesses. Leasing is an innovative financing solution for small and medium enterprises that often lack the credit history or sufficient collateral required by most banks to finance the necessary equipment to heighten productivity.

Financial inclusion has a growing prominence on the global development agenda, with over 50 national-level policy-making and regulatory bodies publicly committing to financial inclusion strategies for their countries, according to the World Bank. There’s a strong consensus that access to suitable financial services can help poor households improve their lives while spurring economic activity. But what is the evidence for these positive impacts? CGAP tackled that topic in a recent Focus Note, which approaches the question from three angles: how financial inclusion can help poor households living and working in the informal economy; the impact it has at the microeconomic, local economy, and macroeconomic levels; and how inclusive, low-cost financial systems can generate additional, indirect benefits for both the public and private sector.

Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, has approved Federal Law No 2 of 2014, which will categorise SMEs, establish a dedicated council and determine incentives to be offered to small business owners.The legislation grants SMEs exemptions from customs tax for equipment, raw materials and goods for production purposes. It also exempts them the payment of bank guarantees that companies must pay per new worker.One of the goals of the legislation was to help raise the contribution of SMEs to the country’s economic output.

A general consensus has emerged around the key role that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can have in reducing poverty and achieving the MDGs in African countries. In order to make use of their potential, SMEs need increased access to bank credit. African SMEs historically lack access to finance, and this is likely to be exacerbated by the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the continent.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of our economy. According to a report by SPRING Singapore, SMEs account for over 90% of all enterprises, they contribute to 60% of the total value-added in the economy and employ seven out of 10 of the country's workforce.

Ministers of Finance, business leaders, accounting professionals, and academics from Europe and Central Asia, together with representatives of the World Bank and key EU and international institutions in financial reporting and auditing, met today in Vienna for the 5th Ministerial Conference of the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR). 

The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of economic development in any country and more so in India as we have a huge population to be served. They are the incubators for talent, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, which is key to a country's development. 
 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced that it had signed an advisory services agreement with Firstmonie, a subsidiary of FirstBank Nigeria Limited, to advance mobile financial services and agent banking in Nigeria. The partnership, it stated, was aimed at strengthening the supply of affordable financial services to low-income individuals and small-scale entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

The first blog in this series highlighted the context of the Mor Committee's recommendations and the significant gap between the supply of and demand for credit for small businesses. The second blog in the series examined the role of the banks, development finance institutions and non bank financial institutions (NBFCs) to examine why they have been so backward in coming forward to meet this gap. This concluding blog looks at the ways of measuring access to finance for small businesses.