DFC

closed

The Artisan and Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Project for Burkina Faso is designed to generate off-farm employment by providing financial and technical support to artisans and small and medium scale enterprises through the Banque Nationale de Developpement (BND), Office de Promotion de l'Entreprise Voltaique (OPEV) and Centre National de Perfectionnement des Artisans Ruraux (CNPAR). BND will receive a line of credit for small and medium scale enterprises and technical assistance in the spheres of management and accounting. Technical assistance will also be provided for training OPEV and CNPAR personnel as well as for imparting technical and managerial skills to entrepreneurs. The beneficiaries are the artisans, entrepreneurs and their employees who would be the recipients of funds provided through the project and technical assistance. It is estimated that 750 jobs will be created in the modern sector and 1500 in the traditional sector. The project faces no special risks, though the job creation targets would not be fully realized if OPEV and BND fall short of lending the average cost per job target of US$5,000 or if CNPAR is unable to expand operations to reach the projected number of sub-borrowers.