The SmartAid Index measures and rates the way funders with an interest in microfinance work. Heads of 29 major development institutions endorsed CGAP’s development of the Index.
Five funders— AFD/Proparco, EIF, IFAD, MIF and UNCDF —participated in SmartAid 2013, increasing the total number of funders participating in the SmartAid Index to 19. Prior rounds have included the participation of AECID, AFD, AfDB, AsDB, CIDA, EC, EIB, FMO, GIZ, IFC, ILO, KfW, SDC, and Sida. Three agencies from the 2013 round participated in prior SmartAid rounds (IFAD, MIF and UNCDF). AFD/Proparco and EIF are both considered new participants because in prior rounds different units within the agencies participated. This diverse group of funders includes development finance institutions focusing mainly on mature retail institutions, large multilateral development institutions that make sovereign loans to governments, and bilateral and multilateral agencies that primarily provide grants.
UNCDF received a score of 84 out of 100, meaning that overall it has “very good” systems in place to support microfinance. This represents an increase over UNCDF’s SmartAid 2011 score, demonstrating UNCDF’s commitment to continued high achievement. As the graph below indicates, UNCDF received a score of 4.0 or higher (on a scale from 0 to 5) on all nine indicators. UNCDF’s score on project identification system, performance indicators, performance-based agreements, and portfolio reviews (indicators 4, 5, 6, and 7) were the highest amongst all SmartAid participants to date, placing UNCDF in the top two of all agencies scored by SmartAid since its inception. The small increase in 2013 recognizes UNCDF’s efforts to improve in all areas, reflecting that some improvements were not commensurate with growth and the demands from increased complexity placed on the systems.