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Data Story: The importance of supporting MSMEs during the pandemic

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Diego Del Pilar
May 21, 2020

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in most economies. According to the World Bank, they represent about 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide. In emerging markets, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, that is, seven out of ten posts. They are essential as well in production terms since they make between...

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How Supply Chain Finance works to support underfunded small businesses

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Claudia Perri

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Kevin Day

Jun 03, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had a profound impact on the US economy in a short space of time, with unemployment rising at a record rate and projections of a 5.2% contraction in GDP. Global lockdowns have introduced weaknesses in vital supply chains and a lack of liquidity has become a critical issue for businesses, as a result. Capital-...
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The Critical Role of DFIs in Preserving SME Solvency in a Pandemic

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Annalise Pflueger

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Gillette Conner

May 27, 2020
A virtual roundtable summary. While all businesses have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, the impacts have been especially profound for SMEs and the institutions that support them. As these businesses are forced to close due to lockdowns, SMEs are looking to preserve their liquidity and respond to their immediate financial and operational...
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Chart with red arrow pointing down to a COVID-19 cell

Data Story: The importance of supporting MSMEs during the pandemic

by 

Diego Del Pilar

May 21, 2020
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in most economies. According to the World Bank , they represent about 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide. In emerging markets, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, that is, seven out of ten posts. They are essential as well in production terms since they make...
More
Member Pulse Survey #2 on the Impact of COVID-19

Member Pulse Survey #2 on the Impact of COVID-19

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Tarun Sridhar

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Matt Gamser

May 18, 2020
One of the most important aspects of any crisis is the ability to adjust quickly to the situation. The SME Finance Forum team sent out a survey to its members in April to assess how their institutions and their SME clients are coping so far with the disruptions. One month on, we shared an update of the initial pulse survey . Members continue to be...
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Credit Integrity and the Future of a Healthy Financial System

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Celine Bteish

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Gillette Conner

May 15, 2020
A virtual roundtable summary. Since the beginning of the outbreak of Coronavirus, the challenges that financial institutions and their clients are facing have started to change. In March and April, the most urgent tasks were logistical: keeping businesses operating through work from home measures, providing online and delivery services, and...
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Pregunta a los expertos: negocios en tiempos de crisis. El caso del Banco Nacional de Costa Rica.

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Diego Del Pilar

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Marie-Sarah Chataing

May 15, 2020
El pasado 30 de abril, la Financial Alliance for Women , una red de organizaciones financieras dedicada a apoyarlas a desarrollar estrategias para aprovechar el poder de la economía femenina, llevó a cabo un seminario web, como parte de su serie semanal “ Pregunta a un Experto: Negocios en Tiempo de Crisis ” en el que participó, Banco Nacional de...
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SME policy response speed, critical to economic recovery

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Jessica Alfaro

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Gillette Conner

May 13, 2020
A webinar recap The SME Finance Forum hosted a webinar in partnership with the OECD to launch their new report, Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2020 : An OECD Scoreboard. This OECD flagship publication, now in its ninth edition, tracks developments for 47+ countries around the world. Opening the webinar via video, Angel Gurría , the Secretary-...
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Reducing financial vulnerabilities for women entrepreneurs during COVID-19

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Jade Hachem

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Gillette Conner

May 08, 2020
A virtual roundtable summary. “When women do better, economies do better.” (Christine Lagarde) And the opposite is sadly true. The detrimental impact of COVID-19 on women will inevitably intensify the massive socio-economic shock worldwide. Given their predominant role in severely affected sectors such as services, small manufacturing, and trade,...
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Efma SME Banking Coffee Series logo

Embracing partnerships to tackle challenges during COVID-19

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Diego Del Pilar

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Marie-Sarah Chataing

May 08, 2020
The second webinar of the SME Banking series organized by Efma focused on building partnerships in Latin America (LATAM). Convening Lukas Dzuroska from Efma ; Daniel Acosta from Mastercard ; Veronica Crisafulli from MO Tecnologias ; and Jack De Mooij, Senior SME Expert. The first to speak was Daniel Acosta, Mastercard Vice President - Head of...
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Expansion of digital transactions through e-Wallets and COVID-19 pandemic

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Tarun Sridhar

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Khalil Nasr

May 05, 2020
COVID-19 has created both a health and an economic crisis, both of which are strongly affecting SMEs everywhere. At the same time, the current crisis may present financial institutions and regulators with the opportunity to accelerate digital transformation. This transformation, in turn, could enable SMEs to continue serving their customers,...
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