§2211a — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

The President can give non-repayable aid (grants) to help developing countries expand access to credit and other financial services for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses that lack capital and support. The aid can fund things like loans and savings, new credit-scoring and financial technologies, insurance, property and inheritance rights, business training and technical help, market research to grow sales (including to U.S. markets), strengthening local banks and microfinance groups, and scaling proven “graduation” programs that help the very poor with consumption support, savings, financial education, skills training, and small asset transfers. It also supports programs that promote women’s economic empowerment. An office will be created inside the Agency to lead and coordinate this work, led by a Director with financial-sector experience. The office must use partners that meet high standards and provide field coordination and core support for local markets and enterprises. Aid must be efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable, protect and use local organizations, and focus resources on the poor and especially women. The Administrator must consider how much a provider will spend on administrative costs, take steps to keep those costs as low as possible so more money goes directly to clients and lasting institutions, and prefer technically strong proposals with reasonable overhead. Fifty percent of all micro, small, and medium enterprise resources must target activities that reach the very poor, and fifty percent of all small and medium enterprise resources must target enterprises owned, managed, and controlled by women.

Title 22, §2211a

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The President is authorized to provide assistance on a non-reimbursable basis for programs in developing countries to increase the availability of credit, including the use of innovative credit scoring models, savings, financial technology, financial literacy, education, insurance, property rights, and other services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise clients lacking full access to capital, training, technical assistance, and business development services, through—

(1)assistance for the purpose of expanding the availability of credit, savings, and other financial and non-financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise clients, particularly clients owned, managed, and controlled by women;

(2)assistance for the purpose of training, technical assistance, and business development services for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to enable them to make better use of credit, to better manage their enterprises, to conduct market analysis and product development for expanding domestic and international sales, particularly to United States markets, and to increase their income and build their assets;

(3)capacity-building for financial intermediaries in order to enable them to better meet the credit, savings, and training needs of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises;

(4)policy, regulatory programs, and research at the country level that improve the environment for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, financial intermediaries, and capital markets and institutions that serve the poor and very poor, especially women;

(5)assistance for the purpose of promoting the economic empowerment of women, including through increased access to financial resources and improving property rights, inheritance rights, and other legal protections; and

(6)assistance for the purpose of scaling up evidence-based graduation approaches, which include targeting the very poor and households in ultra-poverty, consumption support, promotion of savings, financial literacy, skills training, and asset transfers.

(b)(1)There is authorized to be established within the Agency an office to support the Agency’s efforts to broaden and deepen local financial markets, expand access to appropriate financial products and services, and support the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall possess technical expertise and ability to offer leadership in the field of financial sector development.

(2)(A)Assistance under this section shall emphasize the use of implementing partner organizations that best meet the requirements of subparagraph (C).

(B)In order to ensure that assistance under this subpart is distributed effectively and efficiently, the office shall provide coordination and support for field-implemented programs, including through targeted core support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and local financial markets.

(C)Assistance under this section shall meet high standards of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, particularly by protecting the use and funding of local organizations in countries in which the Agency invests, and shall especially provide the greatest possible resources to the poor and very poor, especially women. When administering assistance under this section, the Administrator shall—

(i)take into consideration the percentage of funds a provider of assistance intends to expend on administrative costs;

(ii)take all appropriate steps to ensure that the provider of assistance keeps administrative costs as low as practicable to ensure the maximum amount of funds are used for directly assisting microfinance and microenterprise clients, for establishing sustainable microfinance and microenterprise institutions, or for advancing the microenterprise development field; and

(iii)give preference to proposals from providers of assistance that are the most technically competitive and have a reasonable allocation to overhead and administrative costs.

(c)In carrying out sustainable poverty-focused programs under subsection (a)—

(1)50 percent of all micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise resources shall be targeted to activities that reach the very poor; and

(2)50 percent of all small and medium-sized enterprise resources shall be targeted to activities that reach enterprises owned, managed, and controlled by women.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 252 of Pub. L. 87–195 was classified to section 2212 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 95–424, title I, § 102(g)(1)(A), title VI, § 605, Oct. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 942, 961, effective Oct. 1, 1978.

Amendments

2019—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(A), substituted “credit, including the use of innovative credit scoring models, savings, financial technology, financial literacy, education, insurance, property rights, and other services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise clients” for “credit, savings, and other services to microfinance and microenterprise clients” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(B), substituted “micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise clients, particularly clients owned, managed, and controlled by women” for “microfinance and microenterprise clients”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(C), substituted “micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises” for “microenterprises”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(D), substituted “financial intermediaries” for “microfinance and microenterprise institutions” and “micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises” for “microfinance and microenterprise clients” and struck out “and” after semicolon at end. Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(E), substituted “micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, financial intermediaries, and capital markets” for “microfinance and microenterprise clients and institutions” and “the poor and very poor, especially women;” for “the poor and very poor.” Subsec. (a)(5), (6). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(1)(F), added pars. (5) and (6). Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(2)(A), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “There is established within the Agency an office of microenterprise development, which shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Administrator and who should possess technical expertise and ability to offer leadership in the field of microenterprise development.” Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(2)(B)(i), amended subpar. (B) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “(i) Program.—In order to ensure that assistance under this subpart is distributed effectively and efficiently, the office shall also seek to implement a program of central funding under which assistance is administered directly by the office, including through targeted core support for microfinance and microenterprise networks and other practitioners. “(ii) Funding.—Of the amount made available to carry out this division for a fiscal year, not less than $25,000,000 should be made available to carry out clause (i).” Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(2)(ii), inserted “, particularly by protecting the use and funding of local organizations in countries in which the Agency invests,” after “and sustainability” and “, especially women” after “the poor and very poor”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(2)(C), struck out par. (3). Text read as follows: “With respect to assistance provided under this section, the office shall be responsible for concurring in the microenterprise development components of strategic plans of missions, bureaus, and other offices of the Agency and providing technical support to field missions to help the missions prepare such components.” Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(b)(3), substituted “subsection (a)—” and pars. (1) and (2) for “subsection (a), 50 percent of all microenterprise resources shall be targeted to clients who are very poor. Specifically, until September 30, 2006, such resources shall be used for—” and former pars. (1) and (2) which identified as entities eligible for microenterprise resources under subsec. (a) programs through certain practitioner institutions and for certain demand-driven business development programs, respectively.

§2211a Authorization; Implementation; Targeted Assistance