Success Story: Building Skills to Improve Access to Finance for Haitian Entrepreneurs

Access to finance is a key element needed by successful micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, in Haiti, access to credit for MSMEs is limited by cultural factors, regulatory requirements, credit policies of financial institutions. Most entrepreneurs have limited exposure to financial institutions and an insufficient understanding of criteria lenders use to identify and analyze “bankable enterprises.”

In January, USAID/Haiti and the HIFIVE project hosted the “Access to Finance for Entrepreneurs” workshop at the University of Quisqueya, in Port au Prince. Addressing the question of finance from several perspectives, the workshop aimed to help entrepreneurs better understand how credit and investment decisions are made, how bankers think and how the entrepreneurs’ own information can improve opportunities. This success story provides a short report from the event.

HIFIVE is a USAID-funded project implemented by the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and AED. It empowers Haitians by providing access to innovative financial products and services with a focus on rural areas, value chains, remittances and use of technology to expand financial inclusion.