Seville, Spain - July 1, 2025 – In the context of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), taking place in Seville, Spain, from June 30 to July 3, 2025, GSG Impact announces the launch of A New Lens on SME Mobilisation: How to Maximise Private Capital Flows to SMEs. The publication introduces a new lens on how Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and practitioners can increase the flow of private capital to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs).

While DFIs play a vital role in SME finance, primarily through local intermediaries such as banks and funds, their direct investments alone cannot bridge the estimated $5 trillion annual SME financing gap. The study reveals a powerful but under-recognised phenomenon: “secondary mobilisation”— the downstream mobilisation of private capital catalysed by DFI-supported intermediaries.

Drawing on data from BII, Norfund, and DFC, coupled with 13 case studies, the report presents a provisional framework for identifying, tracking, and scaling secondary mobilisation. It shows that when DFIs provide long-term funding, technical assistance, and/or guarantees, local intermediaries often deploy their own capital, well beyond the initial DFI investment, to support SMEs. This additional capital, largely domestic and commercial, is not currently captured by traditional mobilisation metrics.

Key findings include:

• Secondary mobilisation is already happening and is replicable across markets.

• Success factors include strong intermediary leadership and commitment towards improved SME finance, targeted technical assistance, and strategic DFI and practitioner engagement.

• Calls to action to urge DFIs and stakeholders to track, incentivise, and scale secondary mobilisation strategies to close the SME finance gap.

“This report challenges us to rethink how we mobilise private capital to support SMEs,” said one of the report authors, Kriztina Tora, Managing Director at GSG Impact. “By recognising and scaling secondary mobilisation, we can unlock new flows of capital to the SMEs that drive inclusive growth.”

Dave Portmann, a Director at the Centre for Development Finance Studies and a co-author, added, “The report shines a light on the modes through which domestic private capital reaches SMEs. We hope that its recommendations will help to better equip DFIs and local intermediaries in acting to substantially increase these essential flows of capital.”

The full report is available for download here.