Investors Without Borders SME Credit Rating & Impact Investing Initiative

It's financial engineering that you can believe in!

Investors Without Borders (IWB) is working with Wall Street Without Walls, to pilot an SME Rating & Risk Enhancement initiative in Ghana and Liberia, West Africa. At the same time, we are connecting our West African partners with innovative networks and sources of capital, such as OPIC's Enterprise Development Network and the Danish online marketplace MyC4.

Our Emerging Markets SME Rating & Risk Advisory Committee has begun reviewing financing applications from SMEs in Ghana, West Africa and will soon begin reviewing Liberian SMEs.

A variety of opportunities are available for internships, volunteer projects, and members of our Risk Advisory Committee.

If you are excited about expanding capital access to small businesses in emerging markets and interested to learn about the emerging business models and business leaders in West Africa, then please contact Tricia Chirumbole, IWB Managing Director, to get involved:  tricia@investorswithoutborders.net.

The IWB rating system will be testing financial indicators customized for the small business environment in West Africa, as well as Environmental, Social, and Governance metrics, incorporating a localized version of the UN Global Compact Principles, known as the Ghana Business Code in order to provide a Social Return on Investment (SROI) rating. In phase II, IWB will incorporate a new tool for evaluating management risk developed by the Harvard Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, which is based on a 20-minute psychometric test of entrepreneurial ability and integrity.