The objective of this study is to contribute to the development of new structured financial products in Peru, in particular as means to address the problems of access to finance faced by underserved segments such as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This document reviews how structured...

Ethiopia's rural non-farm sector is significant and participation is increasing. The sector is particularly important for women and poorer households. Non-farm enterprises provide income-earning opportunities to those lacking alternative options and supplementary income for farming households....

Deforestation and forest degradation are the second leading cause of global warming. Forest loss disrupts ecosystem services, depletes biodiversity, and ultimately undermines the fulfillment of basic human rights. The mining sector is the fourth largest driver of deforestation after agriculture,...

This technical note is structured in the following manner. Section two provides an overview of the main barriers and frictions that SMEs face to access finance. Section three explores how digitization is an enabler for SME finance and how different fintech solutions address these barriers. The...

While Malaysia's digital economy had already been growing rapidly over the past decade, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has further accelerated this trend. In particular, increased access to digital platforms has enabled businesses of all sizes to mitigate the crisis' adverse...

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government's efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit were undermined by...

This study focuses in particular on the question of whether incentives and support programs have: (a) been correctly targeted to address the diverse and specific needs of small, especially micro, enterprises; (b) been implemented efficiently by the responsible agencies in terms of their delivery...

Tanzania's Pilot Rural Investment Climate Assessment (RICA) measures the economic environment of non-farm entrepreneurs. The pilot assessment has three key objectives: it aims to better understand the rural non-farm economy in Tanzania, shed light on rural enterprise dynamics and business...

Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) represent an important part of the Colombian economy, although they are not well documented in official statistics. In particular, there does not exist sufficient periodic data as to their characteristics, evolution, or overall contribution to the...

This study looks at firm performance and the investment climate in Zanzibar. The main source of information is a 2003-2004 survey of manufacturing enterprises. The report is complementary to an earlier report looking at the investment climate in the whole of the United Republic of Tanzania,...