sovereignty compliance. MDBs participation usually brings requirements for efficiency, sustainability and resilience against disruption – standards that downstream stakeholders increasingly demand. Aligning skills systems with digital transformation Digital transformation requires aligning skills systems with the speed of technological change. The Future of Jobs Report 2025 points to rapid skills disruption and growing expectations that digital access will reshape business models by 2030.56 MDBs can accelerate digital skilling by structuring sector-wide deals in which training cohorts are co-funded only when learners achieve verified competencies and job outcomes. Results-based approaches, such as the World Bank’s Program-for- Results (PforR) initiative, help ensure that financing follows tangible skills acquisition in areas of high demand, including cloud administration, data analytics, cybersecurity and digital operations.57Innovation is also taking shape in how skills are recognized and certified. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), for example, shows how countries in Latin America are integrating micro-credentials into national qualification frameworks. This approach enables learners to obtain short, stackable training programmes, making education more flexible, targeted and accessible. It is particularly beneficial for SMEs, which often face time and budget constraints.58,59 These systems address employer- reported shortages and could be replicated in other emerging markets through collaboration between MDBs and industry. Taken together, investment in digital public infrastructure and alignment of skills systems form the twin pillars of a system-wide approach. By strengthening both technological foundations and the human capital base, MDBs can help emerging economies leapfrog development stages, close capability gaps and drive inclusive digital transformation. SMEs in emerging markets face chronic barriers to finance: short tenors (i.e. loans or instruments with short-term repayment periods), high collateral requirements and steep risk premiums. According to the Pulse Check Survey, 31% of participating firms identify funding constraints as their primary challenge, while 81% point to macroeconomic instability as a key driver of limited capital availability and high borrowing costs. This is compounded by perceptions of instability and weak financial ecosystems, which further deter private flows. Risk-sharing facilities to expand SME lending MDBs can expand access at scale by anchoring risk-sharing facilities (RSFs) and trade-finance partnerships with local banks. RSFs guarantee a share of eligible SME loan portfolios while giving lenders the confidence to extend credit on better terms. When paired with technical advisory support, these facilities encourage banks to pass on pricing and efficiency gains to stakeholders. The model is already working in practice. In July 2024, the IFC launched a facility with Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire to unlock SME lending in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal with earmarked support for women-owned firms and plans for thousands of additional loans by 2028.60 Building on this model, other MDB programmes demonstrate how combining risk-sharing mechanisms with technical assistance can expand financial inclusion and enhance lending quality across diverse markets. An example of this is the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, which illustrates how a holistic approach, combining risk-sharing, capacity building and tailored advisory services, can unlock access to finance. Since its inception, the programme has deployed over €1 billion across 23 countries. Similarly, the EBRD’s sustainable supply-chain finance initiative links preferential SME financing to emissions-reduction targets, using corporate buyers’ credit strength to drive decarbonization across value chains. Trade finance risk-sharing programmes are also expanding. In December 2024, the IFC and HSBC established a $1 billion trade-finance risk-sharing programme across 20 countries under the Global Trade Liquidity Program.61,62 These programmes use standardized eligibility criteria, speeding up approvals and improving pricing compared to standalone loans. Building on these efforts to integrate resilience into financial solutions, IDB Invest supports financial inclusion through its Ready and Resilient Enterprises programme, which aims to improve SMEs’ access to risk financing by embedding resilience metrics into credit assessments and offering rewards for companies that adopt business continuity and emergency preparedness plans. In doing so, the programme helps translate risk awareness into tangible financial incentives for resilience. 3.3 Closing the financing gap: expanding capital access for SMEs 81% of respondents cite macroeconomic instability as a key driver of limited capital availability and high borrowing costs. Resilient Firms and Economies 22

Resilient Firms and Economies 2025