Banyan Global was a subcontractor on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Improving Market Partnerships and Access to Commodities Together (IMPACT) program in Madagascar. Led by Population Services International (PSI), IMPACT aimed to improve the capacity of the Malagasy health system to ensure that quality pharmaceuticals and health commodities are available and accessible to all Malagasy people on a sustainable basis. Banyan Global was responsible for access to finance and business capacity development for the commercial health commodities sector. Banyan Global’s active implementation of these program activities ended in 2023, and the team continued to monitor and support the sustainability of these activities during the sixth and final year of IMPACT.

Banyan Global worked to engage the commercial sector by developing and adapting loan products and providing business training for micro and small health enterprises, such as pharmacies and drug shops. Building on previous experience in Madagascar, Banyan Global supported four local banks–AccèsBanque, Baobab Banque, Première Agence de Microfinance (PAMF), and the KRED microfinance division of Banky Nasionalin’ny Indostria (BNI)—in Madagascar to expand their lending to the private health sector. In parallel, Banyan Global strengthened the commercial health commodities distribution sector by:

• Providing operational and financial management training courses to drug shops and pharmacies to develop their business skills;
• Supporting drug shops in forming regional associations to represent their interests in interactions with government decision-makers; and
• Engaging private pharmaceutical wholesalers to strengthen partnerships within the commercial health commodities distribution chain.