Countries
Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru

Local project partner
Bolivien: FinRural, UNIBOL
Ecuador: Banco Codesarrollo
Kolumbien: FNG, Banco Contactar
Kuba: BANDEC, BPA, BCC
Mexiko: Alianza, Concamex, FIRA, INMUJERES

German project partner
OSV, Sparkasse Bamberg, Sparkasse Bremen

Donor
BMZ

Duration
01.10.2022 - 30.09.2024

In Central America, MSMEs are the national economic engine and support the economic development of national economies, particularly through their contribution to promoting employment. Despite their economic relevance, the majority of MSMEs face major challenges because, among other things, they often have no or only limited access to formal financing options. Companies in the agricultural sector face particular challenges: a large proportion of the food they need is imported, which can lead to dependencies and possibly inadequate food supplies. Therefore, strengthening domestic agriculture is a high political and economic priority. At the same time, however, existing structures often hinder the development process.

The project objective is a sustainable transformation of the financial sector for MSMEs and rural areas to strengthen a sustainable, resilient local economic system, with a particular focus on improving access to financial services for women-led MSMEs. To this end, the following priorities are being pursued:

• Improving the quality of demand-driven financial products and, building on this, more intensive use by MSMEs.
• Increasing the financial inclusion, productivity and sustainability of smallholder farmers and agricultural MSMEs through the use of special financial technologies.
• Professionalization of partner institutions to offer improved financial services for MSMEs, especially in rural regions.
• Strengthening the financial inclusion of women in business through needs-based training programs and networks.

Tasks

• Selection and analysis of potential partner institutions
• Needs assessment of MSMEs as well as for smallholder farmers in the agricultural sector in terms of their financial needs and specific financial products and services.
• Advising MFIs on the use of a digital solution for loan evaluation
• Supporting smallholder farmers in overcoming challenges within the agricultural supply chain
• Supporting the implementation of professionalisation measures at partner institutions, e.g. dual vocational training and the S-finance concept
• Development and implementation of national and institutional financial and entrepreneurial education strategies for smallholder farmers and MSMEs.