Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) was established to provide greater access for more people to engage with the financial sector throughout Tanzania. This objective ties in closely with MKUKUTA and the Government’s Second Generation Financial Sector Reform Programme. The Trust thus contributes to delivering many of the Government’s poverty reduction strategies.
The importance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) for economic competitiveness, growth, employment and poverty reduction is widely recognized. Poor access to finance remains a constraint for SMEs. The range of products supplied is limited and there is very little innovation going on.
To address this issue, FSDT’s SME Finance Innovation Challenge Fund (SME Finance ICF) has issued a call for applications from financial service providers (banks and non-banks) to test and develop innovative business models that will deliver new products and better services to underserved SME clients.
The SME Finance ICF is a risk-sharing mechanism. By financing up to half of the cost of developing new services, FSDT seeks to encourage financial innovation. Ideas that might otherwise be too risky to attract commercial operators will be worth undertaking. This could involve new technologies, better credit scoring, creating links with service providers in order to reach previously un-served businesses, opening up new service channels and devising creative marketing and customer service strategies.
Target audience
The ICF opportunity targets financial institutions, not SMEs themselves. Financial institutions may wish to partner with service providers from outside the sector and this would be eligible for support. FSDT looks to support projects testing innovative concepts, technologies and business models; not to finance normal course of business or on-lending.
Awards and Call for Applications
Grant awards will be made through a two-stage competitive process, in the range US$ 500,000 to US$ 100,000. Decisions will be guided by an independent panel.
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