Benin Market

USAID West Africa Trade Hub

In African countries, entrepreneurs have a hard time accessing financing, markets and resources needed to compete in the global marketplace. Small businesses made up of one or two workers challenged accessing capital look to microfinance institutions to help them get their businesses started. The microenterprise sector, often made up of small and medium enterprises, depends on assistance from microfinance institutions to get a head start.

The USAID Microenterprise and Private Enterprise Promotion program focuses on expanding access to finance, markets and resources through:

• Financial and business development services
• Connecting farmers to market opportunities
• Supporting commercial enterprises critical to achieving development outcomes
• Adopting laws and policies that expand financial services access to the poor
• Capacity building to create greater opportunities for small and medium enterprises

The microfinance programs developed by USAID are encouraging entrepreneurs to take the ideas they have for starting a new business and putting those ideas into action.

Examples of our work in microenterprise in Africa include:

• In Madagascar, USAID’s PlaNet Finance microfinance program offered access to microcredit and loans for women and youth in the Comoros.  From December 2012 to March 2014, the program trained 1,659 people in business and entrepreneurship.
• In Namibia, USAID’s Microfinance Development Program provides key business services to small and medium enterprises through training, corporate mentorship and support.  To date, the program has enabled over 6,000 SMEs to access microcredit.