We offer tools that small- and medium – sized enterprises (SMEs) can use to improve their access to finance and markets, as well as unlock new sources of capital:
SME Lines of Credit provide dedicated bank financing – frequently for longer tenors than are generally available in the market – to support SMEs in areas such as investment, growth, and exports.
Partial Credit Guarantee Schemes, under which the guarantor pledges to partially or fully repay a loan to a lender in the banking sector, facilitate SMEs’ access to finance. The World Bank Group provides advisory support to design and capitalize on such facilities.
Early-Stage Innovation Finance, which provides equity and debt/quasi-debt to start-up or high-growth firms that may otherwise not be able to access bank financing.
IDA Private Sector Window was created to catalyze private sector investments in IDA countries, with a focus on countries affected by fragility and conflict, and includes a facility to help mitigate financial risks associated with investments in infrastructure, SMEs, agribusiness and other pioneering projects across sectors.
Advisory services on trade and investment policies, supply chains, and improved financial infrastructure, which help create an enabling environment and build SME capacity to access finance and markets.
A global network of business-incubation centers, which include Climate Innovation Centers, Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Centers, and Mobile Application Laboratories (mLabs). These support emerging entrepreneurs at each stage through early-stage financing, technical training, and market intelligence.
Procurement
The World Bank Group finances over 1,700 investment projects in some 130 countries, in a wide range of industries and sectors. About 80 percent of total financing each year is in the transport, water & sanitation, and energy & extractives sectors. Our institutions’ active project portfolio is worth about $80 billion, with annual procurement in project operations in the range of $20 billion.
The World Bank's Procurement Framework maximizes the strategic role of procurement in achieving key development effectiveness goals - emphasizing choice, quality, and value for public spending, while enabling adaptation to country contexts.
A new Procurement Framework was approved by the World Bank Board on July 21, 2015 and its use is mandatory for all lending operations after July 1, 2016.
Please visit the links below to access either the old Policy, Procedures and Guidelines or the current Policy and Regulations.