The Board of Directors of the World Bank (WB), this Thursday, February 4th, approved additional funding in the amount of 10 million dollars, for Cabo Verde under the Project “Access to Financing for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises”.
The objective of this strengthening of the “Access to Financing for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Project” is to improve SMEs’ access to finance, in the context of the economic recession related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This funding will be distributed as follows:
(i) In Increasing of the Partial Credit Guarantee Fund (Pró-Garante) by an additional 6.3 million dollars, to improve SME financing in the process of overcoming the demand shock. This, while continuing to support the start-up and expansion of business operations.
Recall that the project initially capitalized the Pro-Grante Fund in the amount of $10 million;
(ii) In the implementation of Pró-Capital’s SME Participation Fund, in the amount of 2.4 million dollars.
This is a Public Venture Capital Fund, aimed at co-financing local sustainable Cabo Verdean companies in strategic sectors (directly or through investment in an equity fund dedicated to SMEs, with private sector investors). With this additional funding, Pró-Capital also became a beneficiary of this project;
(iii) Technical Assistance in the amount of US$700,000 to Pró-Garante, for the development of a new Risk Management Framework to face the COVID-19 shock; and US$600,000 to Pró-Capital to support the development of Corporate Governance Mechanisms, in accordance with best international practices;
This additional funding is part of the Government of Cabo Verde’s post-pandemic COVID-19 strategic program – “Ambition 2030”, which is anchored on private sector-led growth, and whose key pillar is supporting private investment and entrepreneurship.
It is also aligned with the World Bank Group’s Partnership Framework (2020-2025) with Cabo Verde, which includes a strong commitment to Human Capital development and strengthening the environment for a more diversified economy.
The project is implemented through the Project Execution Cell, created, in the form of a work team, in the Special Projects Management Unit (UGPE) under the Ministry of Finance (MF), in close collaboration with the various beneficiary entities (Ministry of Finance; BCV; PRÓ-EMPRESA; PRÓ-GARANTE, and PRÓ-CAPITAL).