Collaborative for Frontier Finance

The Collaborative for Frontier Finance is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to increase access to capital for small and growing businesses (SGBs) in emerging markets.

CFF works with diverse stakeholders – including local capital providers, institutional investors, development agencies, philanthropic funders, and field building organisations – to accelerate financing solutions that target SGBs. With a bias to action, CFF works in three ways: by building and empowering networks of these stakeholders, capacity building and undertaking market-based initiatives to address systemic barriers, with a view to fostering a peer-to-peer learning environment and providing a platform for collective action.

Small Foundation has provided core funding to CFF, including financial and non-financial support to the Early Stage Capital Providers (ESCP) network catalysed by CFF.

In June 2022 Small Foundation supported CFF’s annual convening in Dar es Salaam, which hosted the ESCP network and institutional investors for improved coordination and shared learnings, with the goal to mobilise more capital towards the ‘missing middle’.

In February 2025 we announced a new partnership with CFF to strengthen the ESCP network.

Research:

Closing the Gaps: Finance pathways for serving the missing middles – CFF  

Blog posts:

Strengthening the ESCP Network through a new partnership with CFF

Practice area: Impact networks
Investment years: 2018-2022; 2024-2026
Region: Africa