New SME Financial Access Initiatives: Private Foundations' Path to Donor Partnerships
This paper reviews literature on the rationale for and against small and medium enterprise (SME) initiatives. It presents an overview of existing targeted U.S. Government (USG) and international financial institutions (IFI) programs. It offers several new, incremental options for private foundations to establish focused partnerships with donor agencies in support of their ongoing organizational goals.
A number of private foundations and organizations have launched initiatives to support promising entrepreneurs in developing countries in recent years. Simultaneously, the USG, other bilateral donors and IFIs have launched initiatives that provide financial and technical assistance to SMEs in developing countries. Collaboration between private foundations and donor agencies, however, has been limited, particularly on a strategic or globalized basis. Conclusions include:
- Private foundations can use donor programs targeting SMEs to address constraints on entrepreneurs’ access to expansion or operating capital;
- Private foundations must package proposed initiatives in a format consistent with ongoing USG and multilateral efforts;
- Large scale initiatives currently in development that could present opportune hooks include U.S. Entrepreneurship Initiative for Muslim Countries, G-20 Financial Inclusion Initiatives and U.S. Feed the Future Initiative.
