A founder walks into a meeting with a financier. The idea is genuine, the need is real, and the presentation is polished. Then the questions begin. Who will buy the product? What will it cost to deliver? How reliable are the supplies? What evidence supports the projected income?

Too often, the answers are hopes rather than facts, and the meeting ends politely without a commitment.

We speak often about Africa’s potential: agricultural resources, growing markets, entrepreneurial talent, tourism opportunities, and the energy of our young people. These are the right starting points. But potential alone does not amount to a fundable project. It has to become a plan that can withstand scrutiny, and verifiable data is central to that transition.

The financing challenge extends beyond identifying promising opportunities. IFC’s 2025 handbook, MSME Banking in the Digital Era, identifies inadequate collateral, financial records, and business plans among the barriers African micro, small, and medium enterprises face when seeking finance. These are different constraints, but the documentation gap deserves particular attention: without credible records and defensible assumptions, financiers have less evidence on which to assess a business. Better preparation cannot remove every financing obstacle, but it can make a project easier to evaluate.

What Makes a Project Bankable?

A bankable project gives a prospective financier sufficient evidence to assess its commercial viability, implementation requirements, and risks. It connects the business idea to a credible explanation of how the enterprise will operate and meet its financial obligations.

Different sources of finance have different expectations. A lender needs confidence that the business can repay its debt. An equity investor examines the prospects for returns and the terms of ownership. A development financier may also consider social and environmental outcomes.

A credible proposal must therefore identify the kind of funding it seeks and demonstrate why the project fits that funding.

Good preparation does not guarantee approval. Financing decisions also depend on the management team, market conditions, security requirements, and the financier’s priorities. Nevertheless, an unsupported proposal makes meaningful assessment difficult from the outset.

Data Gives the Proposal Its Foundation

A compelling presentation can introduce an opportunity. Its claims must then be supported by evidence.

Consider the statement that a business operates in a large and growing market. Which customers does that market contain? How many can the enterprise realistically reach? What are they currently buying, and what would persuade them to change suppliers?

Similarly, a revenue forecast needs more than an ambitious sales target. It requires defensible assumptions about volumes, prices, customer demand, and the time needed to secure sales. Cost estimates must account for inputs, staffing, transport, energy, maintenance, and working capital.

There is a difference between information and reliable evidence. A national statistic may provide context without establishing demand in a particular district. An old supplier quotation may no longer reflect current costs. A potential customer’s expression of interest should not be presented as a confirmed purchase order.

Every significant assumption should have a source, a date, and an explanation of its relevance. Where evidence is incomplete, the proposal should acknowledge the gap and explain how it will be addressed.

From Agricultural Abundance to a Viable Processing Business

Imagine an entrepreneur proposing a fruit-processing facility in a region known for abundant harvests. The idea appears attractive: reduce waste, create jobs, and sell a product with greater value.

However, the availability of fruit is only the beginning of the assessment.

The entrepreneur needs to establish how much suitable fruit can be purchased, during which months, at what price, and from which suppliers. Other buyers may already compete for that harvest. Roads and storage conditions may affect the quantity and quality reaching the facility.

The processing operation raises further questions. How much finished product will each tonne of fruit yield? What will packaging, electricity, water, quality testing, and distribution cost? Can the business meet the standards required by its intended buyers?

Demand must also be tested. The proposal needs evidence that customers will buy the finished product at a price that supports the business.

Research may confirm the opportunity. It may also show that the proposed facility is too large, that a different product is more suitable, or that supply arrangements need strengthening. Discovering this before major expenditure is a valuable result.

Research Must Shape the Plan

Research and development should begin while the business model is still taking shape.

Market research can include customer interviews, competitor analysis, field observations, and verified supplier quotations. Technical research and development may involve testing processing methods, improving a product, measuring yields, or running a pilot.

These activities answer different questions, but together they help replace uncertainty with evidence.

The scale of research should match the project. A small enterprise may begin with carefully documented customer trials and modest production tests. A major industrial or infrastructure proposal requires more extensive feasibility work. The African Development Bank’s project cycle similarly places technical, economic, social, and environmental examination within project preparation.

Entrepreneurs should budget for this work. When preparation is treated as an optional expense, weaknesses may emerge only after equipment has been purchased or financial commitments made.

Better Data Is a Shared Responsibility

Collecting and recording data is no longer optional in today’s competitive global environment. Businesses must maintain reliable records, but the wider information environment also matters.

African governments, statistical agencies, universities, industry associations, and research institutions have an important role in making useful sector information available. Entrepreneurs need practical reference points on production, trade, employment, infrastructure, prices, and business conditions.

Existing resources should be used and strengthened. For example, the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys provide firm-level evidence on business conditions, including finance, infrastructure, competition, and performance. Such resources offer context, although they cannot replace research into a project’s specific customers and operations.

Capabilities differ across African countries and industries, but the direction is the same: governments and companies alike must work harder to record, maintain, and share the data that entrepreneurs need. The priority is to identify information gaps and improve the consistency, accessibility, and usefulness of available data.

Companies also contribute by maintaining accurate sales records, inventories, production figures, and financial accounts. Industry associations can help develop aggregated benchmarks while protecting commercially sensitive information.

Collecting data must be accompanied by keeping it current and making it usable.

Preparing to Ask for Funding

Before approaching a financier, an entrepreneur should examine the proposal with a critical eye:

• Which claims are supported by verifiable evidence?
• Which assumptions still require testing?
• Can the financial projections be traced to that evidence?
• What happens if sales are slower or costs higher than expected?
• Does the team have the capacity to implement the plan?

These questions strengthen both the proposal and the entrepreneur’s understanding of the business.

In Beyond Aid, Beyond the Debt Trap, I argue that self-reliance requires stronger productive capacity, capable institutions, and more effective participation in global partnerships. The ability to prepare credible projects belongs within that effort.

Africa’s opportunities deserve serious preparation. Recording information, researching markets, testing assumptions, and documenting results are part of the work of building enterprises that can attract appropriate finance and sustain themselves.

Potential opens the conversation. Evidence gives that conversation a foundation.

What has been the biggest data gap you have faced when preparing a project for funding: market information, costs, supply, or something else?

If you are preparing a project for funding and would like a second set of eyes on how ready it is, I would welcome the conversation. Contact me at contact@isaacsebakijje.com.

Sources and Further Reading

International Finance Corporation — MSME Banking in the Digital Era (2025)
Financing barriers and the role of business records and data.

African Development Bank — Project Cycle
The technical, economic, social, and environmental dimensions of project preparation.

World Bank Group — Enterprise Surveys
Business data on finance, infrastructure, competition, and enterprise performance.