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Good practice Imported

PIDC Business Plan Competition & MSME Matching Grants — Comoros

Comoros · Moroni · See the Comoros profile · See the Moroni profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 27% 76/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A $25M World Bank-financed project ran a national business-plan competition and matching grants for young entrepreneurs and MSMEs in agriculture and tourism, creating 1,772 jobs and lifting beneficiary revenues by 36% before closing in 2024.

25 USD million
Project financing
511
Business plan competition applications (2019-2024)
39%
Applications from women (2019-2024)
250
Beneficiaries selected (2019-2024)
46%
Grants going to women-owned firms (2019-2024)
1,772
Direct full-time jobs created (by project close 2024)
44%
Jobs held by women (by 2024)
60%
Jobs held by youth (by 2024)
62,222
Farmers reached (by 2024)
36%
Average revenue increase among supported firms (by 2024)
8.2 USD million
Private finance mobilised (by 2024)
30.31 km
Feeder roads and agricultural paths rehabilitated (by 2024)
PIDC Business Plan Competition & MSME Matching Grants — Comoros

Details

Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
Project Management Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, Union of the Comoros (World Bank/IDA financed)
Period
2019-2024
Keywords
MSME development, agriculture, tourism, business plan competition, matching grants

Context

The Comoros Integrated Development and Competitiveness Project (PIDC) was a $25 million World Bank/IDA-financed operation (2019-2024) supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and farmers in agriculture, livestock and tourism in one of Africa's most fragile economies.

Objectives

The project aimed to grow revenues and create jobs for young entrepreneurs and established MSMEs and cooperatives through a national business-plan competition and matching grants.

Activities

Two competition cycles for entrepreneurs aged 18-40 and established MSMEs/cooperatives provided technical assistance and matching grants, alongside rehabilitation of feeder roads and agricultural paths.

Results

At project close, the World Bank reported job creation, tens of thousands of farmers reached, a substantial average revenue increase among supported firms, and private finance mobilised well above target.

Conclusions

These results come from the World Bank's own closeout reporting rather than an independent impact evaluation, though UNDP and the French Development Agency have since replicated the competition model within Comoros.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — $25 million World Bank/IDA-financed operation (2019-2024).
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Project Management Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, ANPI (national investment promotion agency), ANACEP

Conditions for success

  • multi-stakeholder delivery spanning government ministries, World Bank/IDA financing and replication partners UNDP and AFD
  • explicit targeting of women and youth in applicant and beneficiary selection
  • pairing technical assistance with matching grants

Common failure modes

  • no independent impact evaluation, such as an RCT, was published to confirm attribution
  • continued funding of the matching-grant mechanism after the IDA credit closed in 2024 is not confirmed

Where it fits

Governance type
national government with World Bank/IDA financing
Scale
national (Comoros)
Income level
low-income / fragile state

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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