"The Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or the Bank) conducted an impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the main types of programs through which IDB has supported small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It does not evaluate Bank projects directly or compare executing agencies, models of interventions or financial instruments, but rather examines the effectiveness of Bank-supported approaches implemented by Brazilian institutions. Focusing only on the manufacturing sector, the evaluation examines how these interventions affect firm-level outcomes such as employment, real wages, exports, and patent and trademark registration. The overarching objective of this exercise is to provide insight for future strategic decisions regarding the targeting of Bank support to SMEs."

"This report - a first of its kind focused on Latin America- summarizes information gathered from 48 Impact Investors and entrepreneurial ecosystem stakeholders in Latin America -primarily members of the ANDE network- as well as 254 firms that comprise their portfolios. It includes information from surveys and key informant interviews with 24 Impact Investors and entrepreneurial ecosystem actors. This report highlights that while it is clear that gender equality is good for business and good for development, Impact Investors in Latin America are still only in the early stages of embedding this focus in their investment process and activities."