SmartAid 2007 Pilot Round Results

March 1, 2008    

SmartAid scores funders on how well they are set up to support microfinance effectively, on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being the best. The Index aggregates scores on five elements of effectiveness, made up of 20 equal-weighted indicators. A high score means that the funder has the right systems, procedures and policies to design, implement, and monitor promising microfinance programs and investments.  SmartAid measures “quality at entry” rather than on-the-ground performance of funders and while it is not a perfect proxy for portfolio performance, it does indicate how predisposed a funder is to obtain good results.

The scores and ensuing rankings are the result of the first and pilot round of SmartAid in 2007.  Seven funders— Asian Development Bank, CIDA, FMO, GTZ, KfW, Sida and UNCDF—volunteered to participate in this pilot. They represent a variety of funding agencies that offer the full range of available instruments, and span the spectrum from focusing purely on developmental objectives working primarily with government actors, to taking a more commercial approach with mostly private sector actors.

More than a score, SmartAid offers participating funders an individual report that summarizes key findings, elicits strengths and weaknesses relative to the elements of effectiveness, and provides recommendations on how the funder might improve its score and effectiveness.

Overall Score and Ranking

Averages By Element of Effectiveness

Each element of effectiveness has four indicators. Scores for each element, represents the simple average of an element’s four indicators.

Range of Scores for all Agencies

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