case studies
JETRO – Access to Finance for African SMEs
Access to capital is arguably the greatest barrier to Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) start-up, along with lack of business administration, marketing and management skills. africapractice was commissioned by the Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in 2006 to conduct a study into access to finance for SMEs in Africa. The study interrogated the levels of start-up and additional finance both applied for and secured, and examined the regulatory framework underpinning small business operations in Africa. Analysing different models of financing informed the demonstration of how access to finance has helped or hindered the growth of African SMEs.
The study is formed of a compendium of practical examples of SME development, to complement a body of work informing the Japanese government's decision-making process when allocating the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance Programme fund and other aspects of Japanese technical and financial support.
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