Understanding the outcomes of intermediated SME finance
Wholesale development banking · West Africa
Co-led an assessment of SME lending delivered through participating financial institutions, combining portfolio monitoring, beneficiary surveys, and qualitative research. The work examined business outcomes, including employment and revenue growth, alongside the program's reach across regions and borrower groups.
The situation
A wholesale development lender was channeling finance to SMEs through commercial banks across the country and could not show what that lending was achieving at the end-borrower level. Disbursement figures were available; evidence on reach and business outcomes was not.
Our role
Our senior team co-led the portfolio assessment.
The work
The assessment combined population-based portfolio monitoring, quasi-experimental beneficiary surveys, and qualitative rapid assessment across the country's regions. It examined which businesses the finance reached, how it was used, and what changed in employment, revenue, and access, with results reported by gender and industry against target.
What changed
The review covered approximately $220 million in disbursements and close to 60,000 MSMEs reached across all six regions, and gave the lender an evidence base on outcomes to inform its participating institutions and its future program design.
Related service
This assignment sits within program design and implementation: understanding who a financing program reaches and what changes, so that the next program is designed on evidence.
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