EBRD Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF): WB & EaP EBRD Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF): VB & EaP The European Business Bank's EBRD Small Business Impact Fund provides support to SMEs in employment, corporate governance, energy efficiency, increased competitiveness and sustainable growth. Through the fund, the EBRD strives to create a more effective partnership with donors in order to ensure a larger and more flexible pool of funds to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises and thereby generate greater impact under the bank's initiatives to support small business owners. The fund aims to (i) to more efficiently structure the demand for resources in different countries and regions and (ii) to allocate funds more strategically for products and activities.

Distribution:
No country allocations in advance. Den europeiska utvecklingsbankens (EBRD) Small Business Impact Fund ger stöd till små och medelstora företag (SMEs) inom sysselsättning, bolagsstyrning, energieffektivisering, ökad konkurrenskraft och hållbar tillväxt. Genom fonden strävar EBRD efter att skapa ett effektivare partnerskap med givare i syfte att säkerställa en större och mer flexibel pool av medel för att investera i små och medelstora företag och därmed generera större effekt under bankens initiativ för stöd till småföretagare. Fonden syftar till (i) att mer effektivt strukturera efterfrågan på resurser i olika länder och regioner och (ii) att anslå medel mer strategiskt för produkter och aktiviteter. The Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF) was launched in 2015 with the objective of facilitating cooperation that is more efficient, coordination and deployment of donor resources to support SME development across five pillars of activity:

Pillar 1 - Indirect financing via partner financial institutions via the Financial
Intermediaries Framework (FIF)
Pillar 2 - Direct financing through the provision of equity, quasi-equity or debt
under the Direct Finance Framework (DFF)
Pillar 3 - Co-financing through the Risk Sharing Framework (RSF)
Pillar 4 - Advisory support to SMEs, which includes local consultancy projects,
international advisory projects, as well as sector and market development activities under the Advice for Small Businesses Programme (ASB)
Pillar 5 - Policy dialogue supporting improved business environment for SMEs

2022 proved another challenging year for SMEs, with the devastating impact of the war on Ukraine. EBRD targeted SMEs affected by the war with a combination of technical assistance and financial support to access basic infrastructure and know-how, and through digital platforms like MEREZHA, to help them re-start their businesses. The EBRD also developed a number of programmes to address the spill-over effects of the conflict, from food security to refugee support. The SBIF played an integral role in the EBRDs crisis response delivery.

The Fund has grown in size to EUR 126 million with fund utilisation at 88%. In 2022, the Fund attracted a record EUR 54 million in new contributions, with more than EUR 32 million going towards financing and advisory support to war-affected SMEs.

As part of its assistance to SMEs in Ukraine, the EBRD launched a new Relocation Grant scheme to help SMEs with their relocation expenses and provide necessary know-how and assistance for their relocation to safer territories in the country.

Beyond crisis response, the SBIF has focused throughout on resilience building, having mainstreamed the three strategic priorities of the EBRD  digital, green, and inclusive growth  into all new operations.

In 2022, the first independent evaluation of the SBIFs impact was completed. Conducted by the independent consultant Steward Redqueen, the evaluation provided insights as well as recommendations to improve the effectiveness of financial and advisory instruments. The evaluation concluded that the SBIF is an essential tool to cope with crisis response given its collaborative structure with donors, process efficiency, and rapid deployment to the individuals and small businesses most in need.

The last time Sida provided funding to the Fund was in 2020. In aggregate, Sida has provided approx MEUR 3 to the Fund to support initiatives under the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus and Western Balkans windows.