The CATALYZE Engines of Growth (EoG) Activity supports the resilience, growth, and job creation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Western Balkans by improving their access to and use of appropriate finance. CATALYZE EoG helps mobilize capital to sustain distressed but viable SMEs and jobs in the wake of COVID-19 in the near term and promotes improved SME growth financing in the long term. The EoG Activity engages market actors and other stakeholders in a co-design process to identify key opportunities and develop activities to minimize access to finance constraints.
This learning brief on W-SME Access to Finance highlights lessons learned from EoG’s regional learning events held in Serbia and Albania. The findings can be used by USAID and the private sector to explore ways to mobilize private capital collaboratively to achieve development objectives and grow the local market for financing.
