PROFIT Zambia Impact Assessment

Over the past decade, a new generation of private sector development programs has evolved. These programs emphasize sustainable and pro-poor economic growth while working through markets and private sector agents, reducing and eventually eliminating assistance provided to participating businesses. These projects often involve promoting the competitiveness of selected industries or value chains in global and domestic markets while increasing the participation of, and benefits to, farmers and other micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Activities aim to strengthen inter-firm cooperation, improve access to product markets, promote firm upgrading and bolster supporting markets for inputs, finance and business services – all in a sustainable and market-friendly manner.

The Private Sector Development Impact Assessment Initiative (PSD-IAI), funded by USAID under the Accelerated Microenterprise Advancement Project (AMAP), selected the Zambia Production, Finance and Improved Technology (PROFIT) project for a detailed impact assessment, because it exemplifies this new generation of economic growth projects and because it has the potential to generate information that could be used to inform decisions about the design of future projects.