USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project

Project Background

The USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (LENS) is a five-year project that supports small business growth and better economic planning to strengthen Jordanian communities against economic adversity. USAID LENS brings local governments, business owners, and key community groups to collaborate together on initiatives that boost economic development and create jobs in their communities. These initiatives are focused on supporting the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and inclusive of women, youth and the underprivileged.

One of our main objectives is to improve local economic development (LED) in certain underserved areas across the kingdom to achieve broad-based economic growth for Jordan. Working with municipalities is vital to achieving this goal, because municipalities must able to create an environment conducive to business creation and economic growth in their communities.

Project Activities 

1. The project focuses on bringing growth and innovation to local communities through:
2. Promoting better policies to encourage business and investment necessary for  the growth of micro and small business (MSEs).
3. Supporting local economic development (LED) and planning: USAID LENS works with local government officials in targeted areas to help them attract investment to their communities and facilitate growth.
4. Encouraging business growth in key sectors including building the capacity of MSE and business service providers as well (eg. Associations and chambers) to help them provide better services and training to MSEs.
5. Fostering better access to finance through working with developmental and micro-finance institutions to improve their service offerings to firms and individuals, as well as helping more MSEs become more eligible to borrow. The project also helps local governments identify alternative resources of income (such as income-generating projects) in order to implement more economic development initiatives.
6. Building stronger local networks to encourage economic development: Through this work, stakeholders collaborate more on prioritizing and planning for local economic development and investment implementation. Additionally, the project helps connect firms with industry associations, chambers, and business service providers to help boost MSE competitiveness and access to new markets.

Sample Projects Performance Indicators 

The project has supported the growth and development of thousands of micro-small businesses in Jordan

1. # of Micro, Small Enterprises (MSEs) which created increased revenues
2. # of new Jobs created
3. # of formalized businesses (registered MSٍEs)
4. # of MSEs which have received technical assistance to support their business growth
5. # of people that received training to grow and develop their business
6. # of MSEs with new linkages that help them grow their business and networks
7. % of women owned businesses financed by loans and grants
8. # of women who increased their savings through informal saving and lending groups
9. # of simplified municipal regulations
10. # of new / amended regulatory frameworks