Benin Compact - Access to Financial Services

Summary: MCC’s $301.8 million Benin Compact (2006-2011) funded the $15.5 million Access to Financial Services (A2F) Project. The project directly supported improvements in Benin’s microfinance environment, and it provided 65 grants aimed to improve the efficiency of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by improving their access to financial services, increasing self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs), decreasing MFIs’ at-risk portfolio, and increasing loans guaranteed with land titles. The project’s theory was that increased access to credit and improved profitability of MFIs would increase investment and employment, leading to reduced poverty through economic growth.