For more than 35 years USAID has supported microenterprise development around the world. As a result of decades of support from USAID and the international donor community, the microfinance industry reached an estimated $95.1 billion in 2013. In 2013 and 2014, the annual increase in the number of borrowers was roughly 10 percent. It now relies much less on donor support. In fact, more than half of the financing provided by microfinance institutions (MFIs) now comes from deposits, with much of the remaining from private capital sources.

Building on the success of the microfinance industry, USAID microenterprise efforts have evolved from focusing on microfinance to an approach that places greater emphasis on financial inclusion. This approach is designed to: catalyze private capital investment in microfinance institutions and microenterprises; engage a wider set of institutions in providing financial services and products; and use digital financial services, such as mobile banking, to reach greater numbers of customers at lower cost, especially women, the extreme poor and the most vulnerable. Acknowledging that the development and growth of local enterprises is critical to ending extreme poverty and that financial inclusion is important to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals, USAID incorporates microenterprise development into its activities in a number of sectors.