National Development Foundation of Jamaica : USAID/NDF/J project completion report -- project 532-0108

Due to the changing of Mission personnel, the report, written 5 years after the PACD, was prepared by NDF/J. The project purpose and objectives were accomplished. (1) An Executive Director as well as other staff were recruited. (2) The Montego Bay branch was established in November of 1984. (3) Officers of the NDF/J traveled abroad as well as to sister foundations to be trained and to obtain experience in the operations of similar credit institutions. (4) Commodities such as a security vault, motor vehicles, and typewriters were acquired. (5) External TA for recruitment of staff, establishment of NDF/J, and design of mechanisms for credit and portfolio management was provided. (6) A fund for extending loans to clients was established. Lessons learned were as follows. (1) The provision of credit and TA to the small business sector is a specialized and costly undertaking which requires developmental assistance. NDF/J would not be what it is today without the kinds of assistance provided by the project. (2) Organizational sustainability must be seen as a long-term objective, and becomes an even greater challenge when the organization operates in an inflationary economy. (3) Assistance should be programmed to conclude when the organization attains sustainability.