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What is EDF?

IOM’s Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) is an innovative programme that supports livelihoods and job creation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through private sector revitalization and economic development in Ecuador.

EDF-Programs

Sustainable economic growth

  • The EDF funds strategic economic sectors that are labour-intensive and have the potential for growth.
  • The EDF is adapted to different contexts. In Ecuador, a pilot program will be implemented in Quito to support job creation by strengthening SMEs in both urban and rural areas of the city.
  • The EDF is tailored to the needs of various groups that face challenges accessing capital to grow their businesses, such as women, youth, and farmers.
  • The EDF promotes financial inclusion and supports business owners to transition into formal financial services (including bank accounts, savings accounts, and commercial credit opportunities).
  • The EDF incorporates components of private sector financing, balancing the objectives of economic recovery and development with best financial practices to identify and invest in businesses with the highest potential for growth.

Scalable, flexible, adaptable

The EDF helps businesses to expand and grow and create jobs. The EDF is built on evidence from market data and underpinned by robust information management systems. Through adaptations to different sectors or groups of individuals (such as women), the EDF continues to be flexible, adaptable, and scalable. Comprehensive due diligence processes that are diversified across different incumbents reduce risk, ensure accountability, and increase efficiency and value-for-money.

Building bridges

The EDF partners with key stakeholders and establishes linkages with government-financed programmes, financial institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Community Resource Centres (CRCs), and job centres. The EDF also has economic linkages with IOM’s individual livelihoods support interventions through training and referral mechanisms, as they exert a demand stimulus in the local economy as well as provide skilled labourers sought by SMEs in the private sector, especially those selected and participating in the EDF programme.

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