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Realising Africa’s Potential: SME Finance and Skills
African SMEs have the potential to provide jobs for their working-age youth. Yet there are key impediments – access, risk, regulation and acumen – to them receiving financing. Addressing the perceived...
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Equity investment to bring to scale: An interview with two financed SMEs
As we have repeated on a number of occasions in this issue – and the different articles have borne this out – access to funding is one of the key challenges and obstacles to the development of SMEs in...
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Equity investment to bring SMEs to scale: An interview with two African fund managers
SMEs in Africa remain heavily reliant on internal resources and traditional bank debt. A lack of appropriate forms of finance – especially of the equity type – limits market entry, long-term investmen...
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“As you are encouraging the farmers to grow tea, you must be able to give them extension services”
At the head of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), Kenya's leading tea producer and exporter, Lerionka Tiampati discusses, for the Private Sector & Development review, the successes and challenge...
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Complementarity between agro-industry and smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa
By providing jobs, technical assistance and development projects to village communities, industrial groups strengthen their economic and social well-being – and can complete their production with the...
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Understanding SMEs in developing countries to meet their needs more effectively
There is now universal agreement on the crucial role of SMEs – which comprise the bulk of businesses in developing countries – particularly in creating jobs. Nevertheless, there are many different – s...
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“Investment in agriculture as a key poverty reduction lever”
The World Bank’s World development report was first published in 2008. It was co-written by Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet among others and it highlighted agriculture as “an essential developm...
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Promoting local agricultural production in an emerging country: the example of Les Vergers du Mékong
By promoting the fruit, coffee and tea production of smallholders in Vietnam, which is subsequently processed locally into products with high added value, Les Vergers du Mékong ensures profitability w...
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Agriculture: Nigeria’s job creation engine
Unemployed youth in Nigeria are estimated at over 60%. As this figure increases, so does the risk of insurgencies. The solution could come from agriculture; yet young smallholders face the problem of...
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Agri VIE 2
By supporting Agri VIE II, a development capital fund specialized in agroindustry in Sub-Saharan Africa, FISEA is contributing to structuring companies which are not yet mature, but have high potentia...
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Strengthening value chains in Africa: conditions for sustainable contractual arrangements
Africa continues to suffer from extreme poverty and malnutrition and the agri-food sector faces numerous challenges. Contract farming can boost value chain efficiency by enhancing coordination between...
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Using the Theory of Change to optimize the investment impact
Agricultural programmes are a preferred instrument to achieve positive impact on local communities. Today’s DFIs, including Proparco, are looking for financial results but also aim to achieve economic...
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Under what conditions do labels support development? The example of coffee
The coffee sector, a source of income for 25 million producers around the world, is faced with social and environmental challenges which have led to it being a focus of attention for certifications an...
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The role of agribusiness in development: a long-standing debate
Agribusiness and its role in economic development has given rise to much debate. Although it is frequently perceived in terms of negative externalities, it remains a solid vector for creating jobs and...
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Recent Evolution of the African Financial Markets
Financial markets play an important role in financing Africa's private sector. Their recent growth in strength is unquestionable despite the sudden standstill caused by the 2008 crisis: sixfold increa...
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The Economic Impact of the Development of Mobile Telephony: Results from a Case Study in Haiti
Haitian data confirm that mobile phone development acts as an engine for economic growth, what consequently brings a number of social benefits. However, a large part of the population remains excluded...
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Rebuilding a Shattered Nation: The Impact of Wireless Communication and Mobile Banking in Afghanistan
In an extremely difficult context – that of Afghanistan at war – mobile phones provide users with some basic services that are essential for the country's reconstruction. The explosion in the developm...
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The Impacts of the Mobile Phone Sector on Development: Mixed Results?
The expansion of the mobile phone sector in developing countries would appear to have obvious benefits. However, the conditions in which this takes place can sometimes be questioned. Deregulation in t...
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How to Succeed in Developing Countries for a Mobile Telephony Operator? The Case of Milicom
Some mobile phone operators invested in developing countries very early on, whereas profitability seemed to be uncertain. If such investments are to be profitable, it is necessary to respect some key...
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Mobile Phones, Markets and Firms in Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the use of mobile phones has positive impacts on the way local consumer goods markets operate. Indeed, a study conducted in Niger shows that mobile phones help reduce costs and...
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