For small firms in small states, one of the hardest steps towards growth is getting a loan. Take Eswatini, where only 15 percent of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can access formal credit. Without finance, small firms struggle to grow and create jobs. Eswatini is not alone: across small states, small domestic markets, remoteness and limited capacity make firms hard for lenders to reach.
That is the kind of challenge the Small States Strategy, launched in April 2026, is designed to address. The Strategy concentrates support for small states on six Lighthouse Initiatives, focused on country priority areas where the World Bank Group can do the most to unlock growth and create more and better jobs. Support to MSMEs is one of them, alongside health, connectivity, energy, resilience and fiscal sustainability.
How will we know whether the Strategy is being implemented as intended?
Introducing the Small States Strategy Implementation Tracker
The Small States Strategy Implementation Tracker shows where we are delivering, where emerging successes can be built upon and scaled, and where course corrections may be needed. The Tracker follows progress under each of the five ways of working (selectivity, financing, efficiency, knowledge and partnerships) through more than 35 indicators, updated twice a year. Its first edition covers fiscal year 2026 (FY26).
Are we focusing on what matters?
The Tracker checks whether each new operation supports at least one of the six Lighthouse initiatives. In FY26, 60 of the 64 IBRD and IDA operations approved for small states did (94 percent).
One operation can support several initiatives. The Digital Eswatini Project, documented in the Tracker’s “Implementation in Practice” section, shows how this works. It expands affordable broadband and digital public services in a small, landlocked country where lack of scale makes connectivity costly. It also builds weather-resilient networks, with secure backups of civil registration and identity records, so essential services keep running through floods and storms. One project, two Lighthouses: connectivity and resilience.
