Agrifinance
cat/agrifinance
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US Department of Energy Announces $121 Million for Small Business Research and Development Grants
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry today announced that the Department of Energy will award 113 grants totaling $121 million to 103 small businesses in 29 states. Funded through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants competed for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II.
IFC helps financing of SMEs in Argentina by funding BIND Banco
IFC will provide $55 million to BIND Banco Industrial to increase the bank’s lending to SMEs in Argentina. The funds will allow BIND to offer SMEs longer-term financing options.
According to the article, even though SMEs are essential to job creation and growth, “more than 70 percent of Argentina’s SMEs have difficulties accessing financing.”
IFC Vice President Karin Finkelston Speaks about Digital Opportunities in Africa
A few years ago, about two million people were unbanked worldwide. The World Bank is working to bridge that gap through a commitment to universal access to financial services by 2020. IFC Vice President Karin Finkelston says the segments that should be focused on are youth, women, rural populations and smallholder farmers.
Partnership for Growth: Linking Large Firms and Agro-Processing SMEs
Partnership for growth: Linking Large Firms and Agro-processing SMEs presents lessons learned from various models utilized by public and private sector programs to stimulate the growth of agro-processing SMEs through linkages to larger firms in developing countries.
The study serves as a reference for policymakers, development practitioners, and private sector actors. It used a three-pronged approach to data collection, analysis, and synthesis.
World Bank Group, Switzerland, and Ukraine Roll out Innovative Financial Tool to Support Small Farmers
The World Bank Group, in partnership with the Swiss and Ukrainian governments, is rolling out a new financial instrument – crop receipts – across Ukraine to expand access to finance for small farmers, boosting agricultural productivity and supporting economic growth.
Mobile Technologies and Digitized Data to Promote Access to Finance for Women in Agriculture
The evidence that women both drive agricultural production and rely on it for their livelihoods means that greater financial and informational service provision to women, especially through digital channels, could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their labor. While the numerous barriers to women’s access to Digital financial Services (DFS) are clear, clarifying the best methodologies by which to overcome these is both dependent on situational context and still subject to research and testing.
2017: International Financial Inclusion Funding Data
The 2017 edition of CGAP’s annual Cross-Border Funder Survey reports funding commitments from the 23 largest international funders of financial inclusion, representing 80 percent of the full set of over 54 international funders and 73 percent of the global estimated funding commitments for financial inclusion in 2016.
Major project themes in 2016 included:
SME Lending in Ireland Increased
The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) published its midyear 2017 update, which said €855m in lending supported 21,132 SMEs by the end of June 2017. This is an increase of 57% on the €544m in SBCI-supported lending at the end of December 2016.
EBRD Loans $2M for Female-Run Tajikistan MSMEs, Farms
The EBRD is providing a senior loan in Tajikistan currency, equivalent to US $2 million, to IMON INTERNATIONAL, the largest microfinance institution in the country. The loan will the development of women’s entrepreneurship and of agribusiness in Tajikistan.