SEAF’s 2011 Development Impact Report is Released

Download the 2011 Development Impact Report: Impact Beyond Investment

SEAF is pleased to announce the release of Impact Beyond Investment: SEAF’s 2011 Development Impact Report. This impact report, the third such report that SEAF has published since 2004, describes the social and economic impact that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) generate in their economies. Using thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis, the report seeks to demonstrate that the frontier market SMEs in which we invest provide a powerful force for accelerating economic growth, improving the lives of employees, their families and communities and bringing benefits to other local stakeholders.

Some of the key findings from the report that underline the importance of SMEs in frontier markets and the need to scale up SME financing in those markets include the following:

• Over the life of investment, the SMEs in which SEAF invests have grown significantly faster than the overall local economies in which they operate demonstrating that SME investment helps to propel local communities forward:
  • 33% average annual revenue growth for these SMEs vs. 18% average annual GDP growth (both in local currency terms);
  • 25% average annual employment growth within these SMEs vs. 1% average annual national employment growth.
• 19% average annual increase in wages (US dollar terms) over the life of investment.
• Wage levels in 2009 that averaged 54% above national averages.
• 77% of jobs at the surveyed SMEs go to unskilled and semi-skilled workers and over 80% of companies provide training to their employees.  Thus, these SMEs are providing valuable job opportunities and employment skills to a segment of the workforce that is a primary target of poverty alleviation efforts.
• SEAF estimates that every dollar invested in an SME generates, on average, an additional $13 in the local economy through the impact on employees and other local stakeholders.
• In addition to portfolio-wide analysis, this report includes nine SEAF company profiles that outline the impact our companies have on a network of local stakeholders.

We invite you to download Impact Beyond Investment: SEAF’s 2011 Development Impact Report to further explore the impact of SME investing in frontier markets.

Thank you for your continued support for and interest in SEAF, and we hope that our report provides valuable insights onfrontier market SMEs and their ability to propel local economies forward.