The Road to the SDGs

PURPOSE SMEs represent 90% of businesses in West Africa and provide 80% of private sector jobs. Within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) zone, they are one of the main vectors of economic and social progress. X However, organisational problems, compounded by difficulties in structuring, low levels of training and limited financial capacity, mean that SMEs struggle to convince FIs of their creditworthiness. X An important area of intervention for ITFC, one of IsDB Group’s private sector entities, is to provide support for SMEs in their efforts to engage in the economy. To this end, it has established the US$ 18 million West Africa SMEs Programme, which has four components: – Capacity development for selected SMEs – Capacity building and SME assessment tools for the partner banks – Line of trade finance to partner banks – Support for successful SMEs in the submission process of their bankable projects. METHOD X The programme, which was launched in 2018, aims to reduce the trade finance gap for SMEs in the region. X It provides financing lines, capacity building and advisory services to partner banks and SMEs within the WAEMU zone, which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. X The overall aim is to enhance the capacity of selected SMEs and partner banks to achieve a better approval rate and to improve the utilisation rate of lines of finance placed at partner banks. X Given the programme’s regional reach, it was important for ITFC to select local partners who share the same objectives and scope. Coris Bank International (CBI) was selected as a key partner for two pilots of the programme, in Burkina Faso and in Senegal, thanks to its strong presence in the region. – In Burkina Faso, the Maison de l’Entreprise organised five training modules for SMEs and also reviewed and resubmitted their projects to CBI – In Senegal, where support focused on capacity building, a partnership was set up between the Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and CBI. I sDB is helping to reduce the gap between SMEs’ abilities and their trade finance requirements through capacity building and better assessment tools West African SMEs SMEs are identified based on predefined criteria relating to business and organisational readiness, 20% being reserved for women-led enterprises [ 98 ] SDGs