Evaluation of the USAID-Kosovo SME and Agriculture - Economic ...

Development Associates, Inc.RECOMMENDATIONSThis was a very high-risk undertaking in the context of a very unique set of circumstances thatare not likely to be encountered again anytime soon. The project succeeded in large measurebecause a private bank came along at just the right time and was also willing to take a substantialrisk by joining an enterprise with a foreign government agency whose objectives and procedureswere not fully compatible. There are not many companies in the international arena that wouldbe willing to take that sort of risk. USAID and Deloitte were having a very difficult timemanaging the bank. It was showing operating losses at a substantial level. Without theRaiffeisen buy-in, with continuance of the non-commercial direction from USAID, the ABK wasnot a sustainable operation at the time of the first equity sale in December 2002.USAID is a government bilateral development agency and has a very clear developmentalmission statement and objectives. It has organizational procedures and requirements that preventit from operating effectively in the commercial sector as an “owner-manager” of businessenterprises whether in finance, trade, agriculture or manufacturing. If it is necessary for USAIDto get involved in order to jump start private sector activities in critical situations as in Kosovoafter the war, we recommend then by all means take some risk, get things going and turn it overas soon as possible to a commercial enterprise that knows how to do it. But have a clear programplan the starts out with the mandate to identify the private sector hand-over firm to receive theenterprise at the earliest possible date.Evaluation of the USAID/Kosovo SME 66 May 2004and Agriculture/Agribusiness ProgramsVolume I