World Bank Blog by Michael Grimm, Michael Weber, and Sidiki Soubeiga on Cash Grants and Business Development Services in Burkina Faso

In their blog "Short-term impacts of targeted cash grants and business development services in Burkina Faso" Michael Grimm, Michael Weber, andSidiki Soubeiga present the results of their evaluation of two innovative interventions addressing technical and financial constraints of private sector development in the Bagré growth pole area – a rural, resource-poor region in Burkina Faso. While the project initially aimed at enhancing business performance and job creation, the focus shifted towards the firms' survival and resilience due to domestic and international shocks. Even though impacts of the interventions on profits and job creation could not be found, the findings show that both treatments improved the firms' innovative ability. Furthermore, regression analysis suggest that flexible cash grants increased the firms' resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The blog can be found here