Blog

Story Originally posted on NextBillion.

The December 7, 2023 Finance Champions meeting featured four finance-focused presentations on:

Introduction

In her November 2021 speech, “A New Vision for Development,” USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced two ambitious goals. One, that USAID will provide at least a quarter of program funds directly to local partners by the end of FY 2025.

Society Development Committee, or SDC, based in Faridpur, Bangladesh, is a microfinance partner of the Feed the Future Bangladesh Livestock and Nutrition Activity, funded by USAID and implemented by ACDI/VOCA. Through this partnership, thousands of people working in Bangladesh’s livestock sector have benefited from microfinance products.

In Sri Lanka, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) face an estimated $17 billion financing gap. Women-led enterprises comprise a significant proportion of this financing need and face greater barriers in accessing finance.

Accessible finance is vital for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Yet, oftentimes, they struggle to access financing from traditional sources because they lack the knowledge to produce comprehensive financial documentation required by banks. Meanwhile, financial institutions may perceive small businesses as higher risk clients due to their size, limited track record, and insufficient collateral. In many countries, like Rwanda, financial institutions have limited knowledge in the livestock value chain financing opportunities compared to crops value chain.

The final blog in this series inspired by the four take-away messages from USAID’s primer on private-sector engagement in fragile and conflict-affected situations demonstrates why going beyond financial support is essential to provide partners with the coaching, networking, and advocacy needed to succeed in particularly complex, fragile and conflict-affected environments. It draws on the experience of the Strengthening Livelihoods and Resilience Activity in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This blog, the third in a series inspired by the four take-away messages from USAID’s primer on private-sector engagement in fragile and conflict-affected situations, focuses on the Strengthening Livelihoods and Resilience Activity's experience vetting private-sector actors as potential development partners in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where a paucity of enterprise data, low standards for company operations, and an absence of familiar business norms make it difficult to apply a typical approach to partner prospecting.

This blog, the second in a series inspired by the four take-away messages from USAID’s primer on private-sector engagement in fragile and conflict-affected situations, focuses on managing private-sector actors who are problematically invested in maintaining a fragile, humanitarian-dependent socioeconomic system dominated by conflict. It describes the strategy of the Strengthening Livelihoods and Resilience Activity for selecting partners and co-creating activities with communities in a conflict-sensitive way in the eastern DRC and explores the team's discomfort with some aspects of the 'bad actor' paradigm.

This blog, the first in a series inspired by the four take-away lessons from USAID’s primer on private-sector engagement in fragile and conflict-affected situations, focuses on adding social inclusion and conflict sensitivity as a third dimension to shared value in the partnerships of the USAID Strengthening Livelihoods and Resilience Activity in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In rapid response to the abrupt trade disruptions resulting from Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea—a tactic in its war on Ukraine, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI)-Ukraine. AGRI-Ukraine is critical to supporting Ukraine’s export and agricultural sector needs, which are expected to remain vulnerable to the Russian Federation’s aggression in the months and years to come.

The USAID CATALYZE Engines of Growth (EoG) Activity and the USAID Diaspora Invest Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina are creating new investment opportunities in the country. While domestic family businesses have developed over generations, they need to prepare to find investors and for future investments. This was the driving force behind the organization of the “Family Business: Next Generation” workshop, which brought together representatives from 28 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

USAID CATALYZE Partners with the Private Sector to Propel the Growth of Women-owned Businesses through Innovative FinancingA CASE STUDYBackground

In the Western Balkans, women entrepreneurs face notable challenges in accessing finance, stemming from issues such as high collateral requirements, societal norms, and financial literacy gaps. USAID CATALYZE Engines of Growth (EoG) in the Western Balkans addresses these challenges by establishing a network of Business Advisory Service Providers (BASPs) and promoting alternative financing sources tailored to SME needs.Learning from Experience:

How to measure LGBTQIA+ inclusive market systems development

A level legal playing field in employment, entrepreneurship, and access to and control of resources is an essential component of women’s economic empowerment (WEE). Government laws and business policies can restrict or remove impediments to women’s ability to fully and independently participate in the economy. Additionally, laws and policies that support women’s economic empowerment create the basis for legal recourse and consequences for violations.

Growing evidence suggests that companies which increase women’s equitable participation experience overall business growth, stronger financial performance, and increased productivity. According to the evidence, these companies can attract the best talent, focus on innovation, and gain access to new and changing markets. To create a detailed review of what evidence currently exists, this study looks at policies, practices, and programs for increasing women’s equitable participation. 

The Finance Champions group was established in March 2023 with the aim to share innovative approaches being tested by USAID Missions, Bureaus and Independent Offices and to exchange learning on the topic of mobilizing finance in development. This group, which is internal to USAID, meets every six weeks, and has grown from an initial group of 20 to 160 members.

Developed through a partnership between the USAID and Mastercard, Project Kirana focused on helping women micro entrepreneurs gain the tools they need to grow their businesses in India. Project Kirana recognized the complex set of problems encountered by women micro entrepreneurs in India: limited business and digital financial capabilities, and limited access to formal financial services. By equipping women entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they needed — including financial and digital literacy expertise, business management skills, and strategies for addressing cultural barriers — over 2,500 women were able to grow their small retail businesses and increase their incomes.

To address the lack of food safety certifications available at the SME level and validate the implementation of project trainings, Feed the Future Business Drivers for Food Safety designed the BD4FS Pre-HACCP Validation Badge program. Working with growing food businesses (GFBs) interested in earning a Validation Badge, BD4FS held specialized trainings, offered technical assistance, and organized a professional food safety audit of 21 Senegalese GFBs.

Lack of access to finance is universally regarded as one of the most significant constraints to economic development. Without affordable and appropriate capital, Northern Kenyan individuals and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are prevented from participating in the formal economy, capitalizing on business opportunities, investing in their livelihoods, and responding to shocks, such as natural disasters.

This blog was originally posted on Climatelinks as a collaboration during COP28.

Safe food supports national economies and global trade, in addition to contributing to food security, nutrition, and sustainable development. Governments can facilitate a culture of food safety by creating clear food safety regulations, policies and an enabling environment where small and medium-sized enterprises can thrive. Ethiopia’s government has been continuously upgrading its food safety laws and regulations to meet the requirements of both international buyers and its fast-growing food retail and wholesale establishments.

What if I told you that the financial sector has been favoring the wrong gender - that often women entrepreneurs are a better credit-risk than men and their businesses have higher returns?