The African Development Bank (AfDB) and AccessBank Liberia (ABL) have signed a technical assistance partnership agreement to enhance ABL’s reach to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The initiative is supported by a grant from the multi-donor Fund for Africa Private Sector Assistance (FAPA).

Margaret Kilo, Resident Representative of the AfDB in Liberia, said: “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Access Bank Liberia, which helps address the challenges MSME faces in accessing finance.”

While there are around 10,000 formally registered SMEs operating in Liberia, many businesses continue to operate informally.

Liberia’s MSMEs face a number of constraints to profitability and growth including a lack of access to finance.

Without such finance, these firms face significant difficulties to expand and enhance their operations, which would allow them to employ more individuals and contribute towards Liberia’s development and growth.

The Ebola crisis has exacerbated the challenges faced by Liberian MSMEs, and this support will help reinvigorate the sector.

It will also increase the capacity of the SME sector to provide services to the government and concessions sectors.

The acting CEO of AccessBank Liberia, Dusko Dimitrov expressed his gratitude for AfDB’s ongoing support of AccessBank and the MSME sector in Liberia.

“These funds will allow the Bank to extend its outreach as the only dedicated MSME lender in the country. AccessBank sees access to finance as an essential point of development for Liberia and its citizens and will continue to strive towards making banking services available to all members of society,” he said.

The partnership with ABL falls under the AfDB’s overall Financial Sector Development Strategy (2014-2019), which focuses on accelerating Africa’s transformation.

FAPA is a multi-donor thematic trust fund that provides grant funding for technical assistance and capacity building to support implementation of the Bank’s Private Sector Development Strategy.

The Governments of Japan and Austria and the AfDB are active contributors to the fund, which to date has provided over $46m to 57 projects in 38 countries across the African continent.

The FAPA portfolio includes regional and national projects aimed at improving the business environment, strengthening financial systems, building private sector infrastructure, promotion of trade and development of MSMEs.