62620 SMEs TELLING OUR STORY Small & Medium Enterprises 2011 Vol. 5 / Issue 1 Raising incomes in Creating factory jobs MOZAMBIQUE in ALBANIA TELLING OUR STORY 2011 Vol. 5 / Issue 1 Opening new sources Supporting new opportunities of credit in MOROCCO for women in CAMBODIA INTRODUCTION SMEs: A KEY Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an essential focus of IFC’s FORCE FOR work, engines of job creation and growth in emerging markets that are central to the larger equation of development. Supporting GROWTH them is one of the most important ways we achieve our over-arching goal: Creating Opportunity Where It’s Needed Most. These dynamic, fast-moving firms make Message From a special contribution to local economies. It can be measured in many ways—levels of the Executive Vice new business formation; job creation and President and CEO retention; increased productivity, innova- tion, and value-added; or links with global value chains, to name but a few. Stories in this collection show that the entrepreneurs behind these growing enterprises—often women entrepreneurs—are a powerful, if 2009 IFC has been pleased to work closely often overlooked, force in the larger playing with the G20 in scaling up successful field of poverty reduction. models of SME finance, part of a larger But major obstacles stand in the way. agenda of improving access to financial They must be cleared to help these entre- services for the poor. preneurs do what they do best: building But IFC itself can never be the solution. businesses and creating jobs. Our role is to provide the right inputs to As a member of the World Bank Group, spark lasting change, helping governments, we bring decades of global experience in financial institutions, service providers, this critical field. IFC’s broad package of larger firms, and others play a bigger role Investment and Advisory Services helps in building small and mid-size businesses. emerging market countries at all income I am optimistic. Governments are levels build their SME sectors, and is rein- making SMEs a priority, and technology forced through strong partnerships with is providing effective new tools that are many other players. We focus our support bringing down the costs of reaching on working with governments to improve small customers. the investment climate, providing resources Together with our clients and partners, for management training, and promoting we can help lay a foundation for a future access to finance and markets. where SMEs live up to their full potential This integrated approach helps us for creating jobs, reducing poverty, and COVER In Mozambique provide innovative solutions to some improving living standards. (pictured) and countless other emerging markets, of the SME world’s difficult problems, SMEs are a driving force fitting within our larger efforts to promote of development. IFC’s broad-based package of sustainable and inclusive private sector LARS H. THUNELL support helps them grow. development in the poorest countries. Since Executive Vice President and CEO 2 SMEs: A DEFINITION Are commonly defined as registered businesses with less than 250 employees. Contribute heavily to employment and GDP, and grow in ways linked to the formalization of an economy Often have great difficulty accessing financial services in many emerging markets 3 GLOBAL THE G20 TURNS TO IFC A Global Challenge H.R.H. PRINCESS MÁXIMA The UN’s voice of financial inclusion. “Who puts all these pieces of the puzzle In giving us this special position, the together?” G20—widely considered the world’s It is an essential question, one asked foremost international economic policy by H.R.H. Princess Máxima of the coordination body—cited IFC’s work Netherlands, UN Secretary General Ban within the World Bank Group as an Ki-moon’s Special Advocate for Inclusive international agenda-setter on SME Finance for Development. finance development. This gives us a Passionate about poverty reduction and vast body of practical knowledge we deeply experienced in both investment bank- can share, drawn from our extensive ing and financial inclusion for development— investment, advisory, and policy and and wife of the heir to the Dutch throne, research work in every region, and H.R.H. Prince Willem-Alexander—the princess long-standing client relationships and is a major international voice on questions of partnerships with financial institutions, SME development. She travels and speaks donor agencies, and others. widely, reaching out to a broad spectrum In Pittsburgh, the G20 leaders launched of public, private, and nonprofit players to a new Financial Inclusion initiative, vowing raise awareness and promote action. to expand the world’s best work on SME In May 2010 she addressed a meeting finance as part of a broader mandate. in The Hague of the SME Finance sub- To do so, they sought IFC’s support, in group, a new body the G20 had created the close collaboration with World Bank year before in close coordination with IFC. expertise, on three central tasks: “A puzzle-maker is needed to ensure that all the different efforts talk to each Advising the Financial Inclusion , other, and to help us identify remaining Experts Group subgroup on SME a comprehensive report summarizing the information gaps,” she stressed. Finance, a new high-level body that SME finance gap and its challenges, with The G20 leaders have asked IFC to was tasked with sharing knowledge of summaries of 164 effective responses take on this role, making their request successful models of financial services from governments, development finance first at their November 2009 Pittsburgh delivery for the poor and scaling up institutions, and the private sector. summit, then again in Seoul in November access to finance for SMEs. This work 2010, and again for this year’s gathering, supported the creation of a new Global November 3–4, 2011 in Cannes. Partnership on Financial Inclusion. 4 The SME Finance Challenge, a global Finance Innovation Fund to implement SEOUL, NOVEMBER 2010 U.S. President Barack competition to produce innovative private winning proposals from the SME Finance Obama, South Korean sector–led proposals to strengthen SMEs, Challenge (see pp. 40–41) by November’s President Lee Myung- bak, and Canadian Prime achieving large-scale results by making the G20 meeting in Cannes. At the same time, Minister Stephen Harper most of limited amounts of public funding. we have been asked by the G20 to support congratulate winners the launch of the Global SME Finance of the SME Finance Challenge, including To help bring the benefits of financial Forum—a new knowledge-sharing initiative Sylvia Wisniwski of inclusion to millions, not just an elite few, to strengthen SMEs’ role in growth, the European Fund for Southeast Europe. IFC is working with Canada and other employment, and poverty reduction. partners to facilitate creation of an SME 5 INTRODUCTION SMEs AND JOB CREATION The Bigger Picture Smaller businesses are one of the to 240,000. The city of Hyderabad (now unique platform that enabled local firms developing world’s most powerful often called “Cyberabad”) anchors a to identify problems and propose solutions. economic forces, comprising the lion’s booming high-tech industry whose many It helped the garment sector become the share of employment and GDP. But SMEs and other players have changed country’s top industry, increasing employ- they should not be seen in isolation. the face of India’s fifth-largest state, ment from 80,000 to 350,000 since 1998. Under the right conditions, they can be benefiting from business-friendly policies In Kenya we are helping government and key parts of thriving, globally competitive and improved schools, financing, infra- private sector leaders build industries like industries, creating the large numbers structure, and links with larger firms. business process outsourcing, targeting of jobs needed to reduce poverty. In 2001 Ethiopia began supporting a job growth from 6,000 to 25,000 in the In the right business environment, SMEs nascent flower export industry with strong next four years. can grow into large firms, changing the collaboration between market players. This approach is part of the way IFC game locally, carving their niche globally. More than 25,000 permanent jobs emerged helps countries meet one of today’s greatest But even if remaining small or mid-size, they in the first six years, as roses and other needs: inclusive growth and development. can create significant income opportunities cut flowers became one of the country’s for their workers and generate new tax top foreign exchange earners. Morocco revenues for government services. They doubled its auto parts exports between do so by boosting their productivity and 2001 and 2006, building a work force of sales and supplying increasingly valuable 28,000 in firms benefiting from Special goods and services. The best ones cannot Economic Zones, free trade agreements, stay competitive if they stand alone. They and other incentives. are part of dynamic and growing value IFC helps countries set the conditions chains whose job opportunities raise SMEs need to become part of growing, incomes, increase living standards, competitive industries like these. Our and improve lives. advisory services help governments make The process starts with supportive the right reforms, and can be accompanied governments that create the right policy by World Bank lending to strengthen the environment, and then grows from there. foundations and build up intermediaries, In India, Andhra Pradesh state authorities plus IFC investments and advice for first began providing the IT sector with incen- rising players. tives in 1998. Employment in the industry In Cambodia, IFC cosponsored the has since grown 20-fold, rising from 12,000 Government–Private Sector Forum, a 6 Developing Competitive Industries In the Private Sector Ecosystem Capitalizing on Opportunities Removing constraints—accelerating Transformers development of trend-setters Key firms driving significant job creation, export revenues Intermediators FIRMS PROVIDING: Promoting Inclusive Growth Inputs Supporting SME development— Raw Materials linked into larger value chains Parts Components Specialized Services Creating the Conditions Fundamentals Laying the framework for Regulatory and Tax Environment growth—with policies set Access to New Technologies through public-private dialogue Access to Finance Skilled and Trained Labor Infrastructure 7 INTRODUCTION IFC Investment and Advisory Services Working Together IFC SUPPORT TO SMEs Connecting SMEs with ACCESS TO MARKETS new buyers and trading Creating Opportunity partners, financing their growth Where It’s Needed Most CONNECTING SMEs WITH LARGER FIRMS (Access to market information Jobs with formal sector SMEs give and new technologies) workers a solid future, frequently coming RAISING QUALITY with training, benefits, and opportunities STANDARDS ADOPTING NEW for advancement. The collective impact on SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS incomes is clear: higher income countries tend to have a greater share of formal sector SMEs in their economy (as opposed to informal sector microenterprises), World Bank research shows. The hard-working entrepreneurs behind successful smaller companies anchor local economies. But too often they are trapped—held back by difficult conditions Helping smaller companies in the local investment climate. They can access capital to make be too big for institutions targeting micro- investments and seize enterprises, but too small for those focused business opportunities, on big business. Many fail in their first few just like the big ones do years, just as they do in the developed world. Effective responses are needed, bringing SHORT-TERM FINANCE ACCESS TO considerable impact in local economies. (Working capital, trade finance) Providing both investment and LONG-TERM FINANCE (Local currency loans from local advisory services and present in more banks, equity from investment funds) than 80 countries, IFC is a global leader, FINANCE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR offering responses in every phase of SME FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS development. Our work focuses on: (Helping them target the SME market) Improving the Investment Climate STRENGTHENING FINANCIAL Building Management Skills INFRASTRUCTURE (Credit bureaus, collateral registries, Access to Finance payments systems) Access to Markets 8 IMPROVING THE Cutting the red tape INVESTMENT that holds SMEs back BUSINESS REGISTRATION CLIMATE (Making it easier to join the formal sector) TAX SIMPLIFICATION (Easing the burden in calculating and paying taxes owed) OTHER ISSUES (Reducing costs, improving competitiveness) BUILDING Sharing practical MANAGEMENT knowledge in running a business—building SKILLS competitiveness, productivity, and market share BUSINESS EDGE (Management training) THE SME TOOLKIT (Free online solutions) FARMER TRAINING (Strengthening technical skills, building productivity) BUILDING FINANCIAL LITERACY 9 2 1 4 3 1 2 3 4 IMPROVING THE BUILDING ACCESS TO ACCESS TO INVESTMENT CLIMATE MANAGEMENT SKILLS FINANCE MARKETS TONGA Women entrepreneurs KENYA Small private schools EGYPT Helping banks better BANGLADESH Growth in are raising their voice in this play a big role in African understand SME credit issues agriculture contributes more small Pacific island country, education, delivering good is one of the best ways to fill to poverty reduction than any where just 16 percent of the education at affordable rates. the financing gap. With IFC’s other sector. Studies show female population runs a An IFC investment/advisory input, Egypt opened North Bangladesh’s IFC-trained farmers registered business or works program helps leaders of Africa’s first private credit now make far better use of seeds for pay today. With IFC and these schools get the business bureau in 2009—a key piece than their competitors—cutting Australian support, they have advice and loans they need of financial infrastructure fertilizer and pesticide costs. This begun addressing the regulatory to grow—just like other SMEs. helping them make faster, helps them take a higher position challenges women face when More than 75,000 students more accurate loan decisions. on the value chain, raising profits doing business. have benefited to date. and increasing their incomes. 10 CONTENTS See videos on many of these stories in the online version of Telling Our Story—SMEs, available at ifc.org. Telling Our Story—SMEs | April 2011 IMPROVING THE ACCESS TO FINANCE ACCESS TO MARKETS INVESTMENT CLIMATE West Bank and Gaza Peru South Sudan 22 Trade Finance 30 Big Projects, 12 Open for Business Helping Importers Save Lives Small Businesses A Nation Begins Making the Missing Link Cameroon Global 24 Loans from Local Banks Ethiopia 14 Women Entrepreneurs Good for Both Sides 32 Growers Go Global Opening Access, The Coffee Connection Global Increasing Opportunity 26 SME Equity Funds Ghana A Force on the Frontier 34 Mobile Solutions Georgia For Small-Scale Farmers 16 Tax Simplification India The Impact on SMEs 28 Rajasthan Entrepreneurs on the Edge of India ANNEX: GROWTH AND INCLUSION BUILDING MANAGEMENT SKILLS Part I Haiti 38 Infrastructure: 18 Business Edge The Role of SMEs Classroom-Based SME Management Solutions Part II 40 The SME Finance Challenge Rwanda A Source of Good Ideas 20 Rwanda’s Rebound Opening Doors for Entrepreneurs 11 SOUTH SUDAN OPEN FOR Headed for independence, South Sudan is setting the conditions for business This includes seven commercial banks, including five microfinance institutions, BUSINESS growth—especially for the local SMEs serving more than 10,000 families. that are so critical to creating jobs and increasing living standards. . The needs are immense: it is one of the The newly created South Sudan Invest- A Nation Begins world’s poorest countries, with just 30 miles ment Authority helps attract potential of paved roads and only 15 percent literacy. investors and offer them the clear, But a new legal framework for investors is predictable rules they need to thrive. now in place, backed up by state institutions that will help improve the conditions for Drawing on their experience in helping investment. An IFC/World Bank team has set the conditions for SME-friendly Emerging from two helped the government reach this point, business growth in challenging frontier decades of devastating supporting it closely over the last three markets, IFC and World Bank colleagues war that claimed 2 million years in building a nascent private sector. have also helped the country create the lives, South Sudan is Key results include: South Sudan Business Forum, a new beginning to bounce back. public/private dialogue giving local . Six new laws have entrepreneurs a voice in policymaking. been enacted covering contracts, limited “This process would not have been partnerships, and other critical issues. easy if we had not gotten this unlimited support from IFC,” says Minister for . The existing business Legal and Constitutional Affairs John registry has been strengthened, with its Luk Jok. procedures simplified so that businesses IFC’s advisory services were provided can now incorporate within a day. Since under a $1.8 million partnership with 2006 more than 10,000 businesses—most Denmark, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, of them domestic and small or medium Norway, and the U.K. in size—have been registered, joining the Now the work is being intensified under formal sector whose growth prospects are a new $9 million IFC-managed program much greater than in the underground focusing on additional investment climate economy where they previously operated. reforms, SME training and capacity build- 12 IMPROVING THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE ing, and access to finance. Announced at ABOVE South Sudan voted a February 2011 meeting between South “THIS PROCESS WOULD for independence in January 2011. IFC advisory services Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit and NOT HAVE BEEN EASY IF help improve its investment IFC Vice President for Business Advisory WE HAD NOT GOTTEN climate for SMEs. Services Rachel Kyte, its primary funding comes from the governments of the THIS UNLIMITED Netherlands and South Sudan, with SUPPORT FROM IFC.” additional support from Denmark, JON LUK JOK, MINISTER FOR LEGAL AND Ireland, Norway and the U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS “Nations are built by the private sector,” South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar Teny said at the program launch. 13 GLOBAL WOMEN Gender barriers in the local investment climate often hinder women entrepreneurs court for a long time, involving many frustrating moments, and now it gives ENTREPRENEURS from creating jobs. Compounded by other me great pleasure to recommend difficulties such as a lack of education and KCDR’s mediation services to other training opportunities and too little access professional women who are going to finance, they often lead to high levels of through the same ordeal.” Opening Access, unemployment, under-employment, and To date, KCDR mediators have poverty among women. successfully resolved more than 1,000 Increasing Opportunity Overcoming some of these obstacles cases, releasing more than $21 million in ways that establish women’s full parti- of assets that would have otherwise cipation across all sectors of economic remained frozen in litigation. life is fundamental to development, Started as an investment climate Increasing women’s improving the lives of individuals as initiative in Karachi in 2006, it is now earnings is a powerful well as communities. expanding into Lahore, Peshawar, and catalyst of development. In Pakistan, courts can take a long time Quetta as well. to resolve business conflicts—typically Roughly a quarter of the center’s It generates new capital 976 days, tying up considerable capital mediators are women, and more than that is often reinvested in the process. By helping introduce 260 cases involving women-owned in the health, education, mediation onto the scene as a practical businesses’ disputes have been resolved and well-being of families, alternative, IFC helps women-owned to date. In 2009 the center undertook a building a future for the SMEs break the logjam. special initiative to build the confidence next generation. Sponsored by IFC with support of women, their lawyers, and the judiciary from the U.K., the Netherlands, and in mediation. As a result, $1.7 million tied local partners, the Karachi Center for up in family business disputes involving Dispute Resolution (KCDR) helps women litigants was released in three resolve commercial disputes quickly days on average, rather than the years and cost-effectively. of litigation that otherwise would have “Mediation saved my day,” says Rubina been the case. Rehman, owner of Karachi’s Lifestyle As part of our broader effort to build Gym. “I feel lucky to have come across inclusiveness, IFC mainstreams gender KCDR. My case had been pending in opportunities into all its investment 14 IMPROVING THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE climate reform efforts. Our experience PHOTOS Helping women entrepreneurs helps development. In Pakistan (left) also demonstrates that financing women mediation is an effective alternative entrepreneurs is profitable. This has led to litigation in resolving the business to gender being integrated into IFC’s disputes of women-owned SMEs, freeing up blocked assets for essential flagship SME Banking advisory product business needs. and a commitment that 25 percent of our financial markets investments for SME lending will be targeted to women- owned businesses. 15 GEORGIA TAX Given the right support, small business In response, an IFC/World Bank team owners in emerging markets can succeed— advised the government on a new tax code SIMPLIFICATION overcoming the obstacles, creating jobs, that was adopted in September 2010, then and changing lives. But their time is money. brought business leaders together with top They lack bigger firms’ resources to cut Finance Ministry officials to discuss it at a the bureaucratic red tape that diverts them two-day roundtable. The Impact on SMEs from running their businesses, adding costs Before, SMEs had to guess their potential that block productivity. tax liabilities when considering a new capital In 2001 Nodar Chinchaladze started investment, then pay considerable fines a furniture materials importing company in if inaccurate, having little way to appeal. Unleashing the power Georgia with just five workers. Called Imeri But now they can get firm estimates in of entrepreneurs is 7, it now employs more than 80 people. advance, reducing the uncertainty. An one of the best ways to With financing from Bank of Georgia, independent tax ombudsman’s office build local economies. a local standout that IFC helped focus has also been created to settle disputes, Reducing their cost on the SME market, it has successfully focusing especially on SMEs. of doing business expanded into production and sells Supported by the Netherlands, helps them do so. thousands of different products—furni- Luxemburg, and Austria, new IFC ture, flooring, ceramic tiles, and more. Advisory services will help the government The IFC–World Bank Doing Business implement these important new terms— report ranks Georgia as a world leader in improving the investment climate for pro-business reforms. But still more must the SMEs that form the backbone of the be done to improve the overall conditions Georgian economy. for growth companies like Imeri 7. In recent years, local SMEs have called the business tax regime especially burden- some. Determining how to comply with its many complex terms was costly, they have said, with the appeals process time-consuming and biased in favor of the authorities. 16 IMPROVING THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE ABOVE Imeri 7, like other 2001—5 WORKERS Georgian SMEs, stands to benefit from a simplified 2011—80 WORKERS tax regime. 17 HAITI RIGHT Haiti’s Sharlene DuBuisson always had the vision. Now she has stronger management skills as well, and is turning her Western Union money transfer office into some- thing more. BUSINESS Sharlene owns a small shop in Port- au-Prince. Spared in the January 2010 EDGE catastrophe that claimed 230,000 lives and left another 2 million homeless, it arranges wire transfers that are a lifeline for many. Helping local people access funds sent Classroom-Based back by overseas relatives, its low-cost service plays a vital role in the Western SME Management Hemisphere’s poorest country. Solutions Successful at a small scale, Sharlene always wanted to grow. But she didn’t know how. Like so many developing country entrepreneurs, her lack of An earthquake devastated business training held her back. Haiti. An entrepreneur Then she heard about Business Edge, is helping it rebuild. part of IFC’s suite of farmer and SME training products. Taught for a fair fee by Her name is local training companies, its courses build Sharlene DuBuisson. skills in finance, management, strategic planning, and other essential areas. IFC develops and translates the content, then uses rigorous quality standards to find local partners to deliver it commercially. management and soon saw the investment First developed in Vietnam nine years pay off. Her staff now offers stronger ago, it now reaches more than 135,000 customer service, and her shop has begun SMEs in the world’s poorest countries. selling complementary products like The Haitian program was developed computers and cell phones. In the six with Dutch and Caribbean Development months since taking the class, her revenues Bank support. have increased by 25 percent, allowing her Sharlene paid $100 each for several to hire six additional workers and start training workshops in human resource thinking of ways to expand further. 18 BUILDING MANAGEMENT SKILLS She is one of the more than 800 local users of Business Edge—just one part of TRAINING TO IFC’s contribution to helping the private BUILD YOUR sector create 5,000 jobs and safeguard 5,000 others as part of the World Bank BUSINESS Group’s $479 million support package in response to the earthquake. 19 RWANDA RWANDA’S Building a successful small business requires steady access to finance, product get government jobs,” she says. “But gone are those days. Today we are in REBOUND and market information, and tips from times of business.” peers who’ve been there before and know She credits her Business Edge Intro- how tough it is. Entering this knowledge duction and six-day, $200 SME Toolkit loop is critical—but hard for SME classroom experience with showing Opening Doors owners in the poorest countries. her how to use a business plan to chart This is why IFC’s farmer and SME the future, backed by additional free for Entrepreneurs training products also include a free Web-based learning from the Toolkit. online component, the SME Toolkit. She is one of nearly 1,000 SMEs to Developed with IBM and local partners use the products since their Rwandan hosting portals in 35 countries—big ones launch in 2009 in partnership with the Training alone is like Brazil and India, smaller ones like local subsidiary of Kenyan Commercial not always enough. Madagascar, and many others—its down- Bank, which has identified $3.6 million Ongoing support loadable products and networking tools in potential new business with tourism and management can connect entrepreneurs with opportu- sector SMEs as a result. This portfolio tools can also play nities for continuous improvement and was linked to a new IFC local currency a big role. competitiveness-building long after their facility with the Central Bank designed Business Edge classes are done. to provide Rwanda’s economy with new It is an especially important part of long-term funding. IFC investment teams IFC’s presence in Rwanda, where a new are currently reviewing requests for up generation of young entrepreneurs is to $5 million to be drawn on this facility. building a dynamic growth economy Globally, the various SME Toolkit Web to replace the old one destroyed in the sites have more than 4.5 million unique 1994 genocide. One of them is Annette visitors each year. Additional support in Karenzi, owner of the Elegencya, a Rwanda has come from the EU, the small hotel in capital city Kigali. Netherlands, and Japan. While still early “When I was growing up, business days, 150 Rwandan jobs have already was basically for people who were not been created through the program. fortunate enough to finish school or And there’s more to come. 20 BUILDING MANAGEMENT SKILLS “TODAY WE ARE IN TIMES OF BUSINESS.” ANNETTE KARENZI, HOTEL OWNER, KIGALI LEFT Access to the SME Toolkit provides Rwandan entrepreneurs with constant support once they have completed their Business Edge training. 21 WEST BANK AND GAZA TRADE Bashar Al Barghouthi is in the business head of the International Trade and of helping save lives in the West Bank Settlements Division at Bank of Palestine. FINANCE and Gaza, and IFC is in the business of In addition to Bank of Palestine, helping firms like Intermed Palestine, IFC provides trade finance support to where Barghouthi is general manager, Al Rafah Microfinance Bank to further grow stronger through its Global Trade stimulate private sector growth in West Helping Importers Finance Program (GTFP). Bank and Gaza. Since its inception in Intermed, founded in 1984, imports, 2005, IFC’s trade finance program has Save Lives installs, and maintains high-tech medical issued 146 guarantees worth $16 million equipment from the U.S., Japan, and to Bank of Palestine and Al Rafah. Europe for hospitals, clinics, and other IFC’s guarantees support the import health centers in the West Bank and Gaza. of machinery, agricultural goods, iron To import these critical devices, Intermed and steel, and medical equipment to arranges letters of credit through Bank of the West Bank and Gaza, where the Palestine. These are guaranteed by IFC shifting security situation often makes under its GTFP, helping big global banks foreign firms hesitant to enter into take on Bank of Palestine exposure and large trade deals with businesses based allowing foreign suppliers to ship goods in the territories. to Intermed promptly. IFC’s backing extends and comple- “This kind of finance guarantee is very ments banks’ capacities to deliver trade important to our business,” says Bar- finance, providing risk mitigation on a ghouthi. “Bringing equipment into Gaza, per-transaction basis in challenging for example, can sometimes be delayed for markets where trade lines may be limited. six months, so it is important that we have The program gives priority support to Bank of Palestine and IFC supporting us.” trade flows that promote critical sectors “Our partnership in IFC’s Global Trade such as health care, agriculture, and Finance Program is supporting us to meet energy efficiency, targets SME importers the needs of our clients and help them and exporters, and drives trade between increase their business in new markets emerging markets—particularly trade with around the globe as our relationship with IDA countries (the poorest developing Intermed shows,” says Tarek J. Gharbia, markets as classified by the World Bank). 22 ACCESS TO FINANCE LEFT IFC’s trade facilitation helped a Palestinian importer obtain breast cancer screening equipment for Hebron Hospital, saving women’s lives in the West Bank and Gaza. IFC Importing Medical Equipment: IFC’s Role 100% Guarantee INTERMED BANK OF BNP-FORTIS, HOLOGIC PALESTINE BELGIUM Payment Payment Payment Exporter Palestinian SME importer in Europe Requests Issuing bank Issues Confirming bank Confirms Letter of in West Bank Letter of in Europe Letter of and Gaza Credit Credit Credit Issues Letter of Credit in Favor of Exporter Medical Equipment ($74,000) 23 CAMEROON RIGHT Jules Manjia, electrical entrepreneur— breaking through with local loans. LOANS FROM Jules Manjia lost his job at a lighting products supplier in 2000, joining the helps them increase their SME loan portfolios by at least 30 percent over three LOCAL BANKS ranks of Cameroon’s unemployed. years, then continue to grow profitably Today, bolstered by local financing once our support phases out. The results from IFC partner Ecobank, he runs his are good for business and development: own successful electrical goods importing as of June 2010, partner banks held more Good for Both Sides company employing 30 people. His than $1 billion in outstanding loans to future looks bright. smaller businesses, supporting the rising This is the goal of IFC’s Africa Micro, tide of job-creating entrepreneurs who are Small, and Medium Enterprise Program. remaking Africa. The program also often It helps local banks tailor products and comes with access to Business Edge and expand their lending to rising clients other forms of management training. like Jules, who need specialized financial With IFC’s support, Ecobank backing to break through—but often Cameroon increased its lending to lack access to the banking world. SMEs from about $9 million in 2009 Receiving more than $1 million in to $15 million in 2010. The bank aims Ecobank financing since 2008, Jules’ to have an SME business unit in all its once-small company Noticam is now a 22 branches in Cameroon by the end major player on the local scene, supplying of 2011 and to reach smaller businesses South African telecom giant MTN and across the country. other large firms with electrical products “Only about 4 percent of people and technical solutions. in Cameroon have a bank account, so “You can work hard, but that’s not the challenge with working with small enough,” Jules says. “I know a lot of business owners is immense,” says Marie- people who worked hard but have failed Andree Bembong, head of Ecobank businesses. Partners are as important as Cameroon’s SME Department. “IFC is hard work. I have some good partners, helping change our culture and showing including Ecobank, who have helped us that we can successfully reach out to me win big contracts.” those in what was once perceived a risky IFC’s program finances and advises and difficult market.” banks in 15 African countries. It typically 24 ACCESS TO FINANCE ECOBANK AND IFC: FINANCING AFRICAN SMEs 25 GLOBAL SME EQUITY It is not a match for conventional private equity funds. Opportunities exist, FUNDS but mainstream investors go elsewhere, where deals are bigger, conditions safer, and upsides easier to reach. Many high-potential frontier market A Force on SMEs need the risk capital and strategic advice that private equity provides. But the Frontier private investors are unready to play this role in the poorest countries. So IFC steps in, working with world-class fund managers to fill the equity gap. High-growth companies. For small businesses—typically needing High-risk countries. investments of up to $500,000, plus business advice—we have a new family of funds, SME Ventures. The first to invest is the one for Bangladesh managed by SEAF, a U.S.-based emerging market SME specialist active in 22 countries. The $12 million SEAF Bangladesh building Papua New Guinea’s leading Ventures fund has invested in local private helicopter company, Heli Niugini, software developer Systems Solutions investing $1.8 million under challenging & Development Technologies Ltd. (SSD). conditions in 2001. It serves both financial institutions and With its oil, gas, and mining clients firms, including all six mobile operators caught in a downturn at the time, Heli in Bangladesh and others in Malaysia, Niugini lost money until 2005. But Aureos’ Bhutan, and Nepal. turnaround expertise proved critical. By For larger SMEs, which can need up to 2009 Heli Niugini was stable and profitable $10 million, we back initiatives like Aureos with $18 million in revenues, allowing the Capital’s Kula Fund, a $16.9 million vehicle Kula Fund to sell its stake for more than for the South Pacific. It played a vital role in three times what it paid. 26 ACCESS TO FINANCE Now a follow-on $22 million Kula II PHOTOS Investing in pooled equity vehicles like Aureos Fund is in place, backing other rising Capital’s Kula Funds, IFC SMEs in Papua New Guinea like KK helps build SMEs in Papua New Guinea like remote Kingston, a 500-employee retailer/ transport services company manufacturer that has grown to be one Heli Niugini and retailer/ of the country’s largest private businesses. manufacturer KK Kingston. IFC has invested $4 million of its own to complement Kula II’s stake in the firm, helping it expand operations and increase staff in response to growing demand. 27 INDIA RAJASTHAN Entrepreneurs on For all its many gains, India still has more poor than any other country—with almost as many living in just its 14 low-income states, in fact, as in all of sub-Saharan Africa. IFC focuses on these frontier areas the Edge of India otherwise largely left out of the emerging market investment boom, combining investment and advisory services to create jobs and reduce poverty. The targets Focus on include Rajasthan, a large desert state low-income in western India with a population of states. 60 million and per capita income of just $440, far below the national average. Receiving relatively little foreign investment to date, Rajasthan now has a progressive state government receiving our support with investment climate reforms. As they take shape, it is critical to increase support for self-starters at the base of its pyramid, like Manohar Singh Rajawat. Just four years ago Manohar struggled finance company, customizing its products to earn a living as a laborer. Today he is to the needs of small-scale entrepreneurs a self-employed success. He is moving in remote areas untouched by banks. his business forward with five trucks These include vehicle loans for cars, bought with loans from Au Financiers, trucks, three-wheelers, and tractors; small an innovative IFC client set to reach business loans with maturities of up to five 180,000 other small borrowers over years; insurance; and others. Most of its the next five years. borrowers are first-time buyers and small Named for gold’s chemical symbol, Au fleet operators in smaller cities and rural Financiers is neither a bank nor a micro- areas of Rajasthan as well as Maharashtra finance institution. It is a specialized and Gujarat. 28 ACCESS TO FINANCE Au FINANCIERS: REACHING AREAS UNTOUCHED BY LOCAL BANKS The firm is taking its cutting-edge PHOTOS Entrepreneurs hold the key to private business model to the next level with sector development in new investment from IFC and a top Rajasthan, one of India’s Mumbai private equity house, Motilal poorest states. Manohar Singh Rajawat built his Oswal. Its CEO, Vishal Tulsyan, says small trucking company the combined 550 million rupee with vehicle financing from IFC client Au Financiers. ($12.2 million) 2010 transaction will help AU Financiers become “the most respected nonbanking finance company in India with a rural focus.” 29 PERU RIGHT Wood products company Industrias Rendas is growing stronger with new ties to the $3.8 billion Peru LNG project. BIG In Peru, the answer is clear. The $3.8 billion Peru LNG project PROJECTS, is Peru’s largest-ever foreign direct investment. Sponsored by Hunt Oil Co. of the U.S. with partners from Spain, SMALL South Korea, and Japan, it opened in 2010 as Latin America’s first liquefied natural gas project, shipping from a BUSINESSES terminal 170 km south of Lima. Financed by IFC, it contributes heavily to national tax revenues. Yet its highly automated operations created only 200 permanent Making the jobs, and its demand for locally sourced products is modest. Missing Link How else could this major wealth producer make a positive contribution to local communities? This is a question Peru LNG’s Large oil and gas socially responsible sponsors brought affordable skill-building courses they projects, sponsored by to IFC in 2009. never could have taken otherwise. A foreign multinationals, The response: creation of ForPYME, trade fair then connected participants selling into global a two-year, $1.3 million program to with large corporations, generating markets—can they be increase business opportunities for SMEs $2 million in new sales. good for the little guy (PYMEs in Spanish) in the nearby towns “ForPYME has helped change our in local economies? of Chincha and Cañete. business perspective,” says Sergio Kamo Heavily involved in this field for a of Chincha wood products company decade, IFC had much global expertise to Industrias Rendas. “I’ve learned to share, and a network of proven partners delegate, something I was particularly like training specialists Swisscontact and reluctant to do before. This has given Recursos S.A.C., which diagnosed local me more time for other things, and led SMEs’ business needs and then offered to new business opportunities that in 30 ACCESS TO MARKETS OPPORTUNITIES THAT “IN THE PAST WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE” the past would have been impossible for me to find due to lack of time.” Industrias Rendas is one of 49 local SMEs that have experienced at least 20 percent revenue growth under the program, one whose basic model IFC applies with many other oil, gas, and mining clients around the world. 31 ETHIOPIA RIGHT Pell entes que odio turpis, adipiscing id pre- tium eu, tincidunt non orci. GROWERS Ethiopia is Africa’s largest coffee producer. But its industry operates far GO GLOBAL below potential. Only 20 percent of its crop is export quality, leaving most farmers earning little. In response, IFC is teaming with a The Coffee leading local bank and a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation–funded NGO, Connection pioneering an innovative solution to Ethiopian growers’ three key problems: lack of access to finance, knowledge, and markets. The initiative increased It’s a long way from thousands of small-scale farmers’ Alaga Sekala to major incomes in its first year, improving coffee retailers in the their coffee’s quality while reducing U.S. and Europe. its environmental impact. Mohammed Abajeeru, 49, belongs Making the connection to the Alaga Sekala Coffee Co-op in gives Ethiopian coffee southwestern Ethiopia. He never attended farmers better lives. school, and only began coffee farming six Using $2 million a year in Gates years ago, with no formal training or links funding, Technoserve trains selected to the big banks in distant Addis Ababa. coffee co-ops, raising members’ quality But through support from Technoserve, a dramatically. It then partners with IFC U.S. NGO bringing business solutions to in a $10 million risk-sharing facility rural poverty, he has increased his quality that has encouraged Nib International and now commands much higher prices. Bank to begin lending to these co-ops. He has plans for the extra income. Strengthened with the new financing, the “I will expand my farm and over time co-ops can now sell the higher-grade send my children to improved schools so coffee to demanding international buyers, they may have a better life than me,” passing the profits on to members like Mohammed says. the Abajeerus. 32 ACCESS TO MARKETS According to Technoserve, 45,000 ABOVE In Ethiopia, better coffee means better lives participating producers saw their for Mohammed Abajeeru per-bag prices rise by 48 percent in and his family. the first year of operations. Additional IFC support will take Nib Bank deeper into the sector in the coming year, bringing the benefits of this new model to many more local farmers. 33 GHANA RIGHT Pell entes que odio turpis, adipiscing id pre- tium eu, tincidunt non orci. MOBILE In rural Africa, better knowledge means higher incomes for small-scale farmers— SOLUTIONS especially when it is knowledge of the latest market prices, delivered to remote villages by mobile phone. Suddenly power goes to the producer, for Small-Scale not just the consumer. This is part of the value propositions of Farmers Ghana-based IT company Esoko Networks. It sells market price information to local agricultural co-ops, whose members then receive them via text messages. Knowledge Not knowing the prices being paid in is power. other parts of Ghana, Ama Prosper used to sell her peanuts at home—in small quantities, at low prices, with no room to negotiate. For years, she went to the local market once a week to sell a 5-kilo bowl, her future limited by her lack of options. “People always cheat you,” she says. No more. Now she gets Esoko price alerts stating better prices paid for Similar mobile services have long peanuts in Accra and regularly gives been offered noncommercially in Africa, friends going there a 100 kg bag to sell, working for a while, then leaving farmers generating higher profits. disappointed when they disappear as Once Esoko informed Chief Saaka donor funding runs out. Esoko is the first Mahama of prices available elsewhere, private business to tap this large base-of- he turned away a trader who came to buy the-pyramid market. An SME itself, it sells his cashews. A week later the same buyer subscription services to co-ops and other returned and paid the higher price—giving associations as well as businesses and the Chief 700 cedis ($70) more. individuals, while also offering technology 34 ACCESS TO MARKETS MARKET INFORMATION IN RURAL AFRICA solutions to large projects, and is looking ABOVE Like other small- scale farmers in Ghana, to expand across Africa via franchising. Chief Saaka Mahama now In the market for just a year and not yet uses Esoko to get much profitable, Esoko is a high-risk investment better prices for his crops. for IFC, but one with great potential. With no local venture capital funding available, our $1.25 million equity stake fills a big gap in this African high-tech start-up. We believe in it. 35 UNDER CONSTRUCTION Small-scale hydropower in Armenia. GROWTH ANNEX AND INCLUSION 38 PART I INFRASTRUCTURE The Role of SMEs 40 PART II THE SME FINANCE CHALLENGE A Source of Good Ideas PART I INFRASTRUCTURE The Role of SMEs ARMENIA Hydropower Small-Scale, Big Impact Gagik Ghazaryan is a clean energy entrepreneur. He scouts out profitable projects to help Armenia’s fight against climate change. For years he had in mind a small- scale hydroelectric project in the southern city of Jermuk, but couldn’t get the necessary financing. Then local financial institution Ameriabank provided a $2 million loan, made possible by IFC financing, The $3.2 million “small hydro” inde- of energy efficiency and renewable energy completing the project’s financing pendent power project, Jermuk-2, carries financing by 2015. IFC’s sustainable needs. Applied with IFC’s strict an installed capacity of 2.3 megawatts. energy work in Armenia builds on similar environmental and social standards, it Knowing Ameriabank was one of IFC experience in Russia that has helped enabled Ghazaryan to seize the local Armenia’s strongest, most innovative 11 domestic banks lend nearly $175 market’s attractive terms for renewables banks—and seeking to pioneer local million for clean energy projects. projects, including 15-year power renewable energy financing—IFC lent Ameriabank’s focus on the growing purchase agreements and preferential it $15 million in December 2009 for a renewable energy and SME markets has tariffs. The loan was all he needed. series of smaller green sub-loans. Related now made Ghazaryan’s vision a reality: “The loan conditions were afford- advisory services from the Armenia Jermuk-2 is generating safe, renewable able, and had long-enough maturity Sustainable Energy Finance Project helped energy that reduces his country’s reliance and very competitive interest rates,” staff learn to develop sound sustainable on foreign energy resources, and the said Ghazaryan. “Ameriabank’s credit energy finance products. resulting greenhouse gas emissions. officers were also quite proficient in The project is part of an Austrian- ABOVE A $2 million IFC-supported loan the technicalities of renewable energy supported program intended to help from a local bank helped put a new small projects.” local banks provide at least $35 million hydro plant under construction. 38 ANNEX UGANDA year management contract that will keep prices at their current affordable levels. Rural Water Ugandan authorities began the process Supply by retaining IFC to structure an innovative public-private partnership to increase cover- age in Busembatia at the lowest possible cost. With Austrian support, IFC then A Business Solution set up a competitive bidding, challenging private operators to expand the system for a reimbursable capital expenditure of Nationwide, some 40 percent of no more than $300,000, then operate it Uganda’s people lack access to clean commercially thereafter. Funding for the drinking water, living at risk of contracting reimbursement was promised from the deadly water-borne diseases. Global Partnership on Output-Based But the situation is even worse in Aid, a multidonor program housed at the Busembatia, a town of 15,000 about 150 World Bank that pays contractors only kilometers east of Kampala. There most after they have actually increased poor people have no running water. They must communities’ access to basic services. walk daily to the nearest river or bore- Trandint won the bid, agreeing to do the holes, even when the water is unsafe project for just $270,000. With IFC’s help, for household use. it then received the DFCU loan to cover Only about 2,400 people in Busembatia some of its initial costs in building out have easy access to tap water today. But the system to the levels needed to trigger soon that number will rise to 5,400, thanks the reimbursement grant. Construction ABOVE A rural Ugandan to an IFC-supported system expansion will be complete in the next few months, village is increasing its that a local SME is financing with loans creating an effective new model for others clean water connections with new financing from from a leading Kampala bank. to follow in overcoming SME infrastruc- an IFC partner bank. Trandint Ltd is a small, private ture providers’ biggest obstacle—access Ugandan water company. The manager to finance. of a dozen other small water systems across the country, it had never before received commercial financing. But now it has a $100,000 loan from a long-time IFC partner, DFCU Bank, and is expand- ing coverage in Busembatia under a five- 39 PART II THE SME FINANCE CHALLENGE A Source of Good Ideas “We have entered a GLOBAL new era,” says Magda Jordanov, who runs food producer KIM in Innovation FYR Macedonia with her daughter Marija and her husband in Action Slavko. Their firm took off with local financial Results for SMEs backing arranged by the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), an IFC client KIM is one of FYR Macedonia’s leading targeted for expansion under the SME Finance consumer brands, selling ketchup and Challenge. other food products in major supermarkets across the country. With 30 employees, it is a solid small business, growing fast and starting to enter the export market. But just nine years ago, it was a micro- enterprise. Owner Slavko Jordanov was stuck in the smalltime, unable to find anyone to finance his expansion plans. Then he met EC Bank, which under- stood his vision and lent him €100,000 over time to improve his production, packaging, and marketing. It put him on a path to success. “KIM’s excellent repayment discipline is a reflection of their hard work and dedication to quality,” says EC Bank Loan Officer Krste Angelokov. “We are convinced they have a promising future.” EC Bank is one of over 60 local financial institutions supported by the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), an innovative partnership that IFC helped to create in 2005 along with 40 ANNEX Investing with a purpose Germany’s KfW and others. EFSE Other winning proposals include: a U.S.-based nonprofit channeled €957 million of funds largely social investment fund that has lent sourced from private investors to local a Mumbai fund manager $256 million to small and growing busi- financial partners, securing and creating investing in Indian base-of-the pyramid nesses in Africa and Latin America 265,000 jobs in the poorest parts of social enterprises that now plans to since 1999 with a near-perfect repay- Europe since its inception in 2005. invest $1 billion over the next 10 years, ment record while also providing Building on this success, EFSE is now reaching the poor in 600,000 villages financial education and training; having considering extending and enhancing its with profitable new models of agricul- reached 450,000 farmers and artisans to product offering for SMEs. It was one of ture, education, energy, and healthcare. date, it now seeks to expand even several IFC clients whose groundbreaking further. proposals were among the 14 winners a of the SME Finance Challenge contest leading commercial bank in the announced at the November 2010 Phillipines, it seeks to expand its IFC/ developer of a low-cost, adaptable tech- G20 Summit. Global Environment Facility–supported nology that accurately predicts credit EFSE realizes that many clients like Sustainable Energy Finance program risk and upside potential in the absence KIM have outgrown microenterprise that pioneered commercial bank lending of credit history or collateral, something status, yet still face serious constraints. for SME sustainable energy investments not available for most SMEs. It breaches To fill the void and to protect SMEs in its country in 2009. the existing finance gap by vetting against potential foreign currency risk, it high-potential, growth-generating SMEs is developing a €200 million, 14-country a in Latin America and Africa, providing local currency SME finance window U.S.-based fund manager making high- access to capital for the developing blending public and private funds. The impact base-of-the-pyramid investments world’s “missing middle.” vehicle would help local partners reach that plans a $10 million East African 10,000 SMEs over the next five years Rural Enterprise Facility, leveraging its with loans above the threshold relationships with a Kenyan agricultural of €10,000 considered as micro loans. asset financing institution and an East This is just one of several SME Finance African farm equipment distributor. Challenge winners IFC is considering invest- ing in, part of our commitment to helping the G20 meet its goal of increasing the world’s stockpile of solutions in SME development. 41 CONTACT US IFC has offices in more than Headquarters Sub-Saharan Africa 80 countries around the world. Washington, D.C. Johannesburg IFC Corporate Relations 14 Fricker Road, Illova, 2196 2121Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Johannesburg, South Africa Washington, D.C. 20433 USA Telephone: (27-11) 731-3000 Telephone: (1-202) 473-3800 Latin America Western Europe and the Carribean Paris Washington, D.C. 66 Ave. d’Iéna 2121Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. 75116 Paris, France Washington, D.C. 20433 USA Telephone: (33-1) 4069-3060 Telephone: (1-202) 473-3800 Europe, Middle East, and North Africa Istanbul Buyukdere Cad. No: 185 Kanyon Ofis Blogu Kat 10 Levent 34394 Istanbul, Turkey Telephone: (90-212) 385-3000 East Asia and the Pacific Hong Kong 14/F, One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Road Hong Kong Telephone: (85-2) 2509-8100 South Asia New Delhi Maruti Suzuki Bldg Plot No.1, Nelson Mandela Road Vasant Kunj New Delhi, India 110070 Telephone: (91-11) 4111-1000 42 CREDITS Telling Our Story—SMEs Zaven Khachikyan (pages 36–37 and 38) Hydroconseil Consultant (page 39) Produced by IFC Corporate Relations Design Partner Design Army Photography Business Partners International Printing (front and inside covers and page 15) Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc. European Fund for Southeast Europe (inside cover and pages 15 and 40) Kemal Cakici/IFC (pages 1 and 11) Tang Chhin Sothy (page 1) Kris Tripplaar/PhotoLab/World Bank (pages 2 and 4) Yonhap News Agency (page 5) Joanna Lester, Slum Doctor Programme, Kemal Cakici/IFC, and Jimmy Sylvester/IFC (page 10) Tim McKulka/Reuters/Landov (page 13) Jenny Matthews/Panos Pictures (page 15) Giorgi Abdaladze (pages 17) Michele Egan/World Bank (pages 18–19) Berry Oduma Odhiambo/IFC and Ryan Rayburn/PhotoLab/ World Bank (page 21) Xinhua/Landov (page 23) Ecobank (page 25) Heli Niugini, Richard Dellman (pages 26–27) Cairn India, Au Financiers (pages 28–29) Industrias Rendas, Peru LNG (pages 30–31) Technoserve (pages 32–33) Esoko (pages 34–35) OUR VISION That people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. OUR CORE CORPORATE VALUES Excellence Commitment Integrity Teamwork OUR PURPOSE To create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives by catalyzing the means for inclusive and sustainable growth, through: Mobilizing other sources of finance for private enterprise development Promoting open and competitive markets in developing countries Supporting companies and other private sector partners where there is a gap Helping generate productive jobs and deliver essential services to the poor and vulnerable To achieve its purpose, IFC offers development- impact solutions through firm-level interventions (direct investments, Advisory Services, and the IFC Asset Management Company); promoting global collective action, strengthening governance and standard-setting; and business enabling environment work. ifc.org 2011