Ethiopia: SME Finance Project

The development objective of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) Finance Project for Ethiopia is to increase access to finance for eligible small and medium enterprises in the recipient’s territory. The project comprises of four components. The first component, financial services to SMEs is to establish a credit facility providing access to finance for (a) working capital and leasing finance for participating financial institutions (PFIs) which in turn lend to eligible SMEs and (b) leasing finance for eligible SMEs. Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) will provide both direct financing to SMEs and wholesale finance to other financial intermediaries for on-lending to SMEs. A Technical Assistance (TA) facility will be established to complement and reinforce project implementation.