Swiss Capacity Building Facility SCBF

SCBF funds technical assistance (TA) for financial service providers to develop and upscale client-centered financial products, channels and services in developing and emerging countries. The financial products and services include savings, loans, insurance, digital financial services, or financial education, among others.

Since its inception in 2011 SCBF has funded over 130 projects across 43 countries. The SCBF is dedicated to promoting responsible inclusive finance to meet the needs of low-income people, smallholder farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs to improve their livelihoods and to rise them out of poverty. SCBF is dedicated to support partner financial institutions with a clear social mission to serve those on low incomes, particularly women and smallholder farmers. Providing increased access to client-oriented financial services helps to financially empower smallholder farmers, microenterprises and those on low incomes. It enables them to strengthen their economic potential by building up physical and financial assets, protecting their families through better housing, health and education, and improving their resilience to unexpected economic hardships. Increasing access to the same financial services also helps to enable job creation and income generation at small and medium-size private enterprises.

Current constraints by partner financial institutions in their outreach include the development of skilled management and staff, without whom the Partner Financial Institutions cannot scale up their ‹prop-poor› financial services as well as debt and equity investments from social investors, which co-finance the expanding business operations of the partner financial institutions. To tackle these challenges, Swiss Competence Centers, Swiss Social Investors and SDC country offices are invited to submit innovative capacity building proposals for interventions to be implemented in Partner Financial Insitutions in the South.

• How to apply for SCBF grants