EDFI MSME Platform and its successor, EDFI MSME Platform Plus, are joint guarantee programmes developed by the members of the EDFI Association and EDFI Management Company under EFSD+, the financing arm of the EU Global Gateway. They are designed to address financial constraints faced by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU Neighbourhood by enhancing the capacity of EDFIs and their co-investors to provide loans to local financial intermediaries.

The aim of the guarantee is to de-risk the  investments of European DFIs, allowing them and their co-investors to invest in:

• high-risk countries,
• least-developed countries,
• low-income countries, and
• countries in a fragile or vulnerable situation.

This will boost the capacity of local financial intermediaries in these countries to lend to underserved segments of people, in particular women, young people, migrants and rural populations.

EDFI MSME Platform (€80 million), signed in July 2022, was the first joint guarantee facility under EFSD+. It is designed to enhance the lending capacity of EDFIs to local financial intermediaries lending to MSMEs and promote sustainable investments in the EU partner countries.

MSME Platform Plus (€255 million) is a top-up of MSME Platform to further enhance the lending capacity of EDFIs to local financial intermediaries lending to MSMEs. The MSME Platform Plus includes a €40 million component aimed specifically at Agri/Rural MSMEs.

Total guarantee

€335 million

Sectors

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU Neighbourhood, especially those targeting women, young people, migrants and rural populations

Total EDFI financing mobilisation target

In excess of €800 million