Contents -- Abbreviations -- Definitions of Evaluation Terms -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- Avant-propos -- Prólogo -- Executive Summary -- Résumé analytique -- Resumen -- IFC Management Response to IEG-IFC -- Chairperson's Summary: Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) -- 1 Study Objective, Report Organization, and Methodology -- Key Evaluative Questions -- Evaluation Scope, Methodology, and Study Limitations -- 2 IFC Support of MSMEs in Frontier Countries, FY94-FY06 -- Supporting MSMEs Is Pivotal for Private Sector Development -- Paradigm Shift Helped IFC's Entry and Current Major Role in Global Microfinance -- IFC Strategic Priorities: MSME Support and a Focus on Frontier Countries -- MSME-FI Operations in Frontier Countries Are Consistent with Strategic Priorities -- Project Design Parameters for Commercially Oriented MFIs -- Different Types of Financial Entities Used to Support Microenterprises -- Introduction of MFI Holding Company Structure -- IFC's Recent (Not Operationally Mature) MFI Projects -- IFC Support Involves a Combination of Financing and Advisory Services -- 3 Evaluation of the MFI Proj -- MFIs Maintain High-Quality Loan Portfolios and Many Clients -- MFIs Achieved Early Profitability -- Foreign Currency Loans Are Crucial for MFIs but Have Consequences -- Successful Development Outcome Ratings for High Percentage of Projects -- Savings Services for Poor Households and Small Businesses -- The Need to Transition Out of Donor Dependency -- IFC Equity Investment Returns in MFIs -- Regions with Better Development and IFC Equity Outcomes -- Seven Major Factors Contributed to High Development-Outcome Success Rates -- IFC's Role and Contribution -- 4 Evaluation of the SME-FI Projects -- SME-FI Borrower Base and Returns on Equity -- SME-FI Development Outcome Success Rate.

Savings Services for Households and Businesses, and Credit for SMEs -- IFC's Investment Outcome Success Rate in the SME-FIs -- Performance of IFC Equity Investments in the SME-FIs -- Regional SME-FI Success Rates -- Advisory Services Contributed to Success -- Six Major Factors Drive the Development Outcome Success Rate -- IFC Work Quality and Contribution Played Major Roles -- 5 EHS Performance of Projects in the Evaluated Populations -- EHS Requirements for MSME-FIs and Their Subprojects -- EHS Compliance Requirements and Rates -- MSME-FI Subprojects Achieved Higher EHS Compliance Rates -- EHS Appraisal Work and Supervision -- Subprojects with Medium Risk in IFC's EHS Framework -- Developing the Use of Local EHS Consultant Capacity -- EHS Success Factors for MSMEs -- New EHS Inititatives to Improve Supervision -- 6 Main Findings and Recommendations -- Evaluation Findings and Conclusions -- Findings and Conclusions Specific to MFIs -- Findings and Conclusions Specific to SME-FIs -- Recommendations -- Appendixes -- A: List of Frontier Countries -- B: Evaluation Ratings of MSME-FI Projects -- C: IEG's Evaluation Methodology and Guidelines for Project Performance Ratings -- D: Indicators Used for Evaluating the Development Outcomes of MSME-FI Projects -- E: Brief Descriptions of MFI and SME-FI Lending Techniques -- Endnotes -- References -- Box 3.1 Microenterprises Use Loans to Expand Business -- Box 3.2 Success Drivers Also Apply to Public Sector MFIs -- Box 4.1 SMEs in Frontier Countries Use Loans to Expand Business -- Box 4.2 IEG Findings on World Bank Lines-of-Credit Operations -- Figure 2.1 IFC's Annual Net Commitments to Microfinance Intermediaries, FY94-FY06 -- Figure 2.2 IFC's Annual Net Commitments to SME-FIs, FY94-FY06 -- Figure 2.3 Regional Distribution of IFC Net Commitments to MSME-FIs and Other Commercial Banks, FY94-FY06.

Figure 2.4 Ownership and Funding Sources for Profit-Oriented MFIs: Holding Company Structure -- Figure 2.5 Ownership and Funding Sources for Profit-Oriented MFIs: Financial Institution or NGO Sponsor Structure -- Figure 3.1 Advisory Services Funding to MFIs in the Evaluated Population -- Figure 4.1 Development and Investment Outcomes of SME-FIs, by Project Type -- Figure 4.2 Investment-Outcome Success Rate Results for SME-FIs, by Asset Size -- Table 1.1 WBG Definitions of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises -- Table 1.2 Regional Distribution of SME-FIs in the Evaluated Population and Subgroup -- Table 3.1 Financial Performance Data for MFIs in the Evaluated Population -- Table 3.2 Returns on Invested Capital for MFIs -- Table 3.3 Outcome Success Rates for Projects in the MFI Evaluated Population -- Table 3.4 Outcome Success Rates for Aggregate Regional SME-FI Projects -- Table 4.1 Financial Performance Data for a Subgroup of 36 SME-FIs in the Evaluated Population -- Table 4.2 Outcome Success Rates for Regional SME-FI Projects -- Table 4.3 Advisory Services to SME-FIs in the Evaluated Population Improved Development Outcome Success Rates -- Table 4.4 High IFC Appraisal Work Quality Is Another Development Outcome Success Driver -- Table 5.1 EHS Satisfactory Ratings.

This evaluation assesses the strategies, investment projects, and technical assistance operations of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from Fiscal Year 1994 - Fiscal Year 2005 to support micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) in frontier countries (i.e., low income or high risk countries). The confluence of two IFC strategic priorities - support for MSMEs and support for enterprises in frontier countries - serves as the point of departure of the evaluation. This timely report will find widespread interest among economic development practitioners in finding sustainable business models for providing financial support to micro-enterprises. It includes an evaluation of the performance of the MSME-FIs in implementing IFC's environmental, health, social and safety (ESHS) requirements.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.