Africa Leasing Facility II

completed

According to the World Bank, eighteen of the thirty-six countries it classifies as 'fragile and conflict-affected' are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although most such countries enjoy an immediate jump in economic activity following the end of hostilities, sustained progress is more difficult, and many nations continue to suffer from collapsed legal and regulatory structures, marginalization of smaller businesses, lack of basic infrastructure and deterioration of financial services. In this context, leasing can help build a sustainable private sector by addressing the constraints suffered by small businesses, which often lack access to finance, market and networking opportunities. Over the past four years, IFC's first Africa Leasing Facility project successfully facilitated leasing reforms in 15 countries including Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The objective of this follow-on Africa Leasing Facility project is to facilitate increased access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in these countries under ALF II by developing a sustainable leasing infrastructure in each. Specifically, in the program countries the project aims to: - Help promote relevant legislative and regulatory reforms; - Contribute to the increase of leasing transactions, - Increase access to financial services by helping micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) gain access to leasing knowledge and information to finance their equipment needs; - Advise banks and other financial institutions on leasing issues, and - Implement a leasing advisory exit strategy for each country.