"This study assesses the state of a significant, albeit underserved, segment of the SME market, known as the "Missing Middle" to better understand their needs and the challenges they face. It addresses how governments and other stakeholders can help them reach their potential for growth and job creation to positively impact the MENA region. Missing Middle SMEs are formally registered firms that have passed the initial start-up stage. These SMEs typically have modest revenues of US$100,000-$5 million, employ an average of 6-150 employees and require between US$50,000 and $2 million in flexible growth finance, along with business development assistance, to survive and grow. This study shows that although there are a number of existing SME support programs in the region, they need to go beyond the provision of limited subsidized loans and pre-investment training to adequately support the Missing Middle SMEs throughout their business lifecycle."

"This report explores evidence and insights from five case studies that have made significant recent progress in addressing the challenge of insuring poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the developing world. Evidence from these case studies can inform the ongoing debate about the viability of scaling up index-based insurance for vulnerable smallholder farmers in the developing world. The rapid progress observed in recent years suggests that index insurance has the potential to benefit smallholder farmers at a meaningful scale, and suggests the need to reassess arguments that lack of demand and practical implementation challenges prevent index-based insurance from being a useful tool to reduce rural poverty."

"Our research shows that successful scale-ups in the region generate on average 3.4 times more revenues and 8 times more jobs than other SMEs.
Several countries have recognized the economic value of scale-ups and are developing tailored policies and programs for them. Similar initiatives in the MENA region could have a significant impact. By studying the importance of scale-ups in the context of their local markets, we identified priorities for policymakers to improve their local scale-ups ecosystems across four growth pillars: business fundamentals, business propellers, demand creators, and country readiness. Within these pillars, we have recognized several priority areas, including access to financing, talent, foreign markets, large customers, and regulatory relief. Success also depends on mobilizing an ecosystem of private and public players to orchestrate growth initiatives."

"This report outlines the need to provide capital to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. It shows the impact of this capital on economic development, and the role for International Finance Institutions (IFIs) in the provision of this capital. Finally, it outlines recommendations for additional interventions and further research."

"The purpose of this paper is to examine how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the use of management accounting practices (MAPs) in decision making affects the profitability of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and also to analyze the extent to which EO and the use of MAPs affects profitability differently in growing and non-growing SMEs.

EO and MAPs have a positive effect on profitability in non-growing SMEs, but the combined effect of EO and MAPs has no additional effect. However, for growing SMEs, high usage of MAPs in decision making is a prerequisite for EO to influence profitability. This study is the first to use the resource-based view to examine the relationship between two dimensions of resource organization and SME profitability. EO is used as a proxy for how resources are organized in order to identify opportunities, and MAPs are used as a proxy for how efficiently resources are organized."

"Global sustainable development challenges such as climate change or poverty cannot be addressed without Responsible Finance - finance that integrates social, environmental and governance concerns into the lending and investment decision making of financial institutions.

This study sets out a series of major Responsible Finance trends and identifies a number of key challenges and barriers for its further integration. The study is aimed at those interested in learning about the status quo, trends and drivers influencing business practices through lending and investment decisions in the financial sector internationally and in India."

"We analysed the growth impact delivered by a high-growth entrepreneurship policy initiative over a six-year period. Using an eight-year panel that started two years before the initiative was launched and propensity score matching to control selection bias, we found that the initiative had more than doubled the growth rates of treated firms. The initiative had delivered a strong impact also on value-for-money basis. In addition to producing the first robust evidence on the growth impact delivered by a high-growth entrepreneurship initiative, we contribute to public sponsorship theory with the notion of capacity-boosting activities to complement previously discussed buffering and bridging activities."

"Small businesses are often believed to serve as engines for innovation, employment and social mobility, due to their flexibility in responding to new opportunities and their potential for rapid growth. In developing countries, SMEs make up a particularly large part of the economy, yet data suggests that very few small enterprises in developing countries grow into larger businesses. Researchers conducted a qualitative study of a consulting program in the Philippines designed to help SMEs expand, investigating the obstacles that consultants identified as constraints to firm growth. They found that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to business training - most firms have a complex, interconnected set of challenges."

"Resources to validate new sanitation technologies and prepare for market entry – prerequisites for achieving sustainable, scaled solutions – tend to be quite scarce compared to those available to scale proven solutions. As such, a problematic ‘Pioneer Gap’ exists. This funder landscape seeks to both clarify the ‘Pioneer Gap’ and point readers to potential funding and other resources poised to help fill this problematic gap. Two promising forms of funding are explored in detail: catalytic philanthropy and blended finance leveraging impact investment."

"The report seeks to explore how to improve the scalability and viability of early-stage finance provision, thereby reducing the need for philanthropic capital and subsidies to the local providers of finance and support to early-stage enterprises. To this end, the Dutch Good Growth Fund used a landscape exercise to define and prioritize "archetypes of early-stage finance provision" as the focus of this report.

They discussed their initial findings from the in-depth research with 40 field-builders in a workshop during which participants shared experiences, insights and perspectives, and helped to challenge emerging conclusions and identify key points of attention to address in finalizing the report."