Feasibility study on the support mechanism for the creation and development of SMEs (FIGA)
Terminé
Customer
Government of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Start Date
Oct 1, 2008
End date
January 1, 2009
Amount
89 408 €
Country and region
Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Afrique centrale
Landlords
Government of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Description
Between October 2008 and January 2009, the Belgian Bankers Academy developed a comprehensive support mechanism for the Congolese government to promote the creation and development of SMEs, based on three complementary funds:
Support fund
Modeling of a service for drafting bankable business and financial plans
Definition of eligibility criteria and assessment processes
Stimulus fund
Co-financing mechanism with commercial banks and MFIs
Calculation of additional amounts and risk sharing
Guarantee fund
Establishment of a partial guarantee framework to secure loans
Alignment of coverage conditions with international best practices
The integrated approach aimed to simultaneously address:
Lack of technical skills (business plans, financial engineering)
Weak equity
Insufficient guarantees
The study validated the model's transferability to other sectors (agriculture, trade, services) and target groups (women, youth, diaspora).
Role of BBA
- Data collection and diagnosis: field meetings with political, academic, and financial stakeholders to map SME needs
- Design of the FIGA model: definition of the three funds (support, stimulus, guarantee) and how they work
- Specification of processes: drafting of procedure manuals, eligibility criteria and user guides
- Financial modeling: simulation of co-financing flows and guarantee amounts
- Validation & reporting: reporting workshops with the government and submission of final reports