Development Finance Project

closed

The development objective of the Development Finance Project for Nigeria is to increase the availability and access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through eligible financial intermediaries with the support of a new wholesale development finance institution. The project consists of four components. The first component, technical assistance and capacity building will fund tailored technical assistance to the participating financial institutions (PFIs). This component will also support establishment of specific financial consumer protection measures, such as disclosure requirements, to be adopted by all PFIs to facilitate competition and thereby enhance responsible finance and affordability. The second component, line of credit facility will provide United States (U.S.) 445 million dollars to the new development finance institution (DFI) designated for lines of credit to eligible PFIs for on-lending to eligible enterprises and subprojects. The third component, credit guarantee facility (CGF) will provide U.S. 35 million dollars for a CGF to be established as the DFIs wholly owned subsidiary and housed within the DFI. The fourth component, project management will fund the project management functions supporting overall project implementation. This component will pilot and test various mechanisms for reducing the cost of MSME credit, including auctioning of credit line funds, an incentives-based first-loss facility, and other such initiatives to be implemented by the DFI with the assistance of qualified external providers, as appropriate.