아프리카ㆍ중동

Abstract

This study starts with a brief analysis of which firms are the main net job creators in Ethiopia and then focuses on the financing constraints of Ethiopian MSMEs as one of the key obstacles to job creation and growth. In doing so, the study uses two demand-side surveys (the Ethiopia Survey of Large and Medium Scale Manufacturing Industries LMMIS, an unbalanced panel composed of about 6,000 firms with at least 10 employees which allows for a study of firm dynamics from 2000 through 2011 and the World Bank s Enterprise Survey (ES) that was conducted between July 2011 and July 2012 and includes 794 firms which allows for the additional examination of the services sector, microenterprises, and a more detailed understanding of firm experiences with respect to access to finance) and an ad-hoc supply side survey administered to 16 financial institutions, including the major public and private sector commercial banks and microfinance institutions, covering over 90% of the total assets in the banking and microfinance sector. This survey allowed collecting data on the actual involvement of financial institutions with MSMEs, their perception of potential public policy approaches to enhance MSME access to finance and the adequateness of their current business models. The combination of both demand-side and supply-side analysis allows to gain a full picture of MSME finance practices in Ethiopia by connecting information on firm experiences with the reporting of financial institutions on their business practices. While there was already anecdotal evidence that small firms were lacking proper access to finance in Ethiopia, the value added of this study is to provide accurate empirical evidence of the existence of a missing middle phenomenon.