MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: First Consult, MasterCard Foundation, Seek to Create 400k Jobs in Ethiopia via Access to Finance, Wraparound Support for MSMEs, Entrepreneurs

Ethiopia’s First Consult and Canada-based MasterCard Foundation recently launched a programme that will help to create jobs, increase financial inclusivity, and support MSMEs in Ethiopia. 72,000 MSMEs in the country will be uplifted as a result of the MESMER Programme (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Recovery and Resilience). The programme is intended to create about 400,000 jobs in these smaller enterprises. The programme is to be executed in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor and Skills – an institution that aims to aid job creation, established under the Council of Ministers Registration.

The key idea behind the programme is to help stimulate business growth and recovery by increasing “access to finance, business development, and psychosocial support”. The aim of this programme is to ensure ease of business for MSMEs by: (1) supporting financial institutions in providing easy credit access; (2) assisting providers of financial services; and (3) helping business development. Essentially, all of these will help facilitate better communication between MSMEs and financial institutions and hence help generate better credit history, and higher credit eligibility, and make sure equal and all information is accessible to both parties. The MESMER programme plans to commit about USD 48.9 million in disbursements with the help of grants, and nation-wide soft loans.

Samuel Yalew Adela, Mastercard Foundation Country Director for Ethiopia, said of the programme, “Support in conflict-affected regions will ensure recovery. We believe a combination of relevant skills and business development services, affordable financial services, as well as the passion of the entrepreneur will ensure enterprise survival and growth…[leading to] a significant difference in creating a pipeline of investable business and contribut[ing] to the country’s ambition to transition to a private sector-led economy.”

MESMER is a follow-up to the foundation’s COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program programme, which sought to alleviate the short-term negative impacts of the pandemic through grants and soft loans. The two-year program reached about 15,000 MSMEs over two years, with a budget of USD 34 million.

Based in the city of Toronto, and one of the, the Mastercard Foundation also has offices in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal. The foundation works with other “visionary operations” to uplift African youth with “policies and programme decisions” being made by its board of directors and senior leadership. As of 2021, the foundation had a little over USD 300 billion assets under management

First Consult is an economic development consultancy established in Ethiopia in 2006. It helps carry out business development and makes business plans. Thus far, it has aided business design in the manufacturing, service, and agricultural sectors. Through its operations, First Consult has created jobs, and led to growth of business.

By Anaya Jhaveri, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Mastercard Foundation press release
https://mastercardfdn.org/ethiopia/mastercard-foundation-and-first-consult-announce-program-to-support-72000-micro-small-and-medium-enterprises/

Mastercard Foundation financials
https://mastercardfdn.org/financials/

First Consult homepage
https://www.firstconsultet.com/

Ministry of Labor and Skills homepage
https://mols.gov.et/

MasterCard Foundation homepage
https://mastercardfdn.org

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