Cote d'Ivoire - SME Revitalization and Governance Project

closed

The objective of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Revitalization and Governance Project is to help improve the performance of the SME sector in Cote d'Ivoire and the investment climate that affects it. There are three components to the project, the first component being direct support to SMEs. This component will support activities to strengthen SMEs by: (i) providing technical advice and training through a matching-grant program to help SMEs improve productivity and competitiveness and acquire needed know-how through the Enterprise Revitalization Support Fund (FARE); and (ii) contributing to reducing the financial constraints faced by SMEs, members of Federation Ivoirienne des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (FIPME) through the purchase of the audited debt obligations of the Government vis-a-vis SME members of FIPME. The second component is the investment climate and governance reform. Activities under this component will support the introduction of reforms which could be easy to implement and have a quick impact on the business environment and thus assist the Government in meeting its objective of promoting competitiveness and encouraging private investment. Finally, the third component is the institutional support and project implementation. This component will finance studies to assist in the formulation of a private sector strategy; to improve competitiveness, and help define modalities to implement the public private partnership; and provide support project implementation.