Bamako, Mali, 30 April, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a cooperation agreement with the Banque International pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Mali, to enhance the capacity of small and medium enterprises to promote business development for the country’s pharmaceutical sector.
IFC and BICIM will establish a program providing management and business plan development training for pharmacies. BICIM, which has a line of financial products targeting small and medium enterprises, will conduct a needs assessment to prepare these clients to meet financial institutions’ financing requirements, thus improving their opportunities to gain access to finance. BICIM will also train its staff working with SMEs to better serve their clients.
“BICIM intends to provide the necessary conditions for SMEs to improve their financial dossiers, and thus reduce the risk associated with this segment of the market,” said Marc Tempels, CEO of BICIM. “Our cooperation with IFC has enabled us to deliver high quality nonfinancial services to our clients in this critical sector.”
The primary tool used to impart these skills will be Business Edge, an innovative platform of modules and training methodology in enterprise management. The program will be delivered by local coaches who have received extensive training in employing the Business Edge products and techniques.
“IFC is launching the Business Edge program in Mali, in cooperation with BICIM, to help SMEs in the country benefit from new services based on the best international practices,” said Houria Sammari, IFC Manager in Sub Saharan Africa. “We expect this program will significantly improve access to finance and growth prospects for smaller businesses in the country.”
Globally, IFC delivers Business Edge training services using a network of locally franchised providers and certified trainers supported and monitored by IFC to ensure consistent performance standards. To date, the training has reached over 142,000 participants in 29 developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. Leading international companies have selected Business Edge to train their suppliers and distributors in sectors such as telecommunications, pharmaceutics and banking.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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