African firms are composed of up to 90% Micro-, Small-, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMSEs), and face more severe obstacles in accessing credit in financial and capital markets than corporations (Adjasi, 2015; Beck, Demirg_Kunt, and Maksimovic, 2005). This situation is likely to be further confounded by COVID-19 induced global economic shutdown. Notable outcomes of these financial constraints are evident in the sub-optimal levels of economic growth, persistently low productivity increases, and severe lack of depth in business activities across Africa. Importantly, a seminal article by Stiglitz and Weiss (1981), attributes this market failure in MSMSEs financing to the constructs of transaction costs and credit rationing. As a Lead Advisor to the World Bank Group on MSMSE and Private Sector Development, please prepare an analytical brief for the banks top management on transaction costs and credit rationing in the MSMSE financing sector, and what strategies development finance institutions like the World Bank need to employ to resolve this bottleneck in Africa, particularly, in the current and post-COVID eras.