The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global impact, leaving both mature markets and emerging economies struggling. Some of the hardest hit have been micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This is of particular note for Serbia’s economy as MSMEs represent 99% of active business entities, generate over 30% of GDP, contributing to 40% of total …
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May 2020 • Subrina Shrestha, MSME and Agri Finance Consultant (BFC, Nepal) This article is the second part of the article published in April 2020 which was accompanied by a short survey. A total of 35 respondents were interviewed to obtain a general overview of the entrepreneurs’ perception and actions expected to be taken due …
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April 2020 • Subrina Shrestha, MSME and Agri Finance Consultant (BFC, Nepal) Are there any silver linings emerging? What can SMEs do next? Scenario of SMEs during COVID-19 in Nepal At the start of 2020 Nepal’s government was optimistic of attaining the targeted GDP growth of 8.5% in FY 2019/2020. The promotion of Visit …
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Learn how a leading Serbian bank more than halved loan processing and approval times thanks to BFC’s MasterAPS loan origination system. Automation and digitization have invaded nearly every aspect of our lives—from the way we buy products to the way we interact with friends and family. This is especially true in the banking sector. Consumers …
On November 25, 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture and selected Georgian insurance companies attended a roundtable discussion hosted by the PAFAI (Promoting Access to Finance and Agri Insurance) project. The meeting was organized by Business & Finance Consulting (BFC) within the framework of the Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO)-funded PAFAI project.
On November 2, Michael Kortenbusch, Managing Director of BFC, moderated the Innovations in Agricultural Finance panel at the Sanabel Conference 2016 in Casablanca, Morocco. The panel included Dinos Constantinou, Managing Partner of Microfinance Strategy, Bilel Rezgui Chief of Operations for ENDA Tamweel, and Koen Wasmus, Principal of Wasmus Consulting.
More private lenders are seeing opportunities in financing the agricultural sector, but agrilending operations require new tools and approaches to cope with the market’s unique challenges. BFC Senior Experts Michael Kortenbusch, Ceyhan Atasoy, and Tatiana Babii have identified three key challenges for new entrants to agrilending, and on June 1st 2012 they delivered a workshop on navigating these challenges, hosted by the …
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