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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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Hands with gloves and a magnifier looking at a pile of cubes with letters RISK

Risk Sharing during COVID-19: the Need for Uncommon Measures

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Jade Hachem

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Gillette Conner

May 04, 2020
Virtual Roundtable Summary Visceral. Gigantic. Terrifying. Unprecedented. As the world runs out of adjectives to describe the socio-economic shock of COVID-19, countries have been rushing to adopt adequate policy responses. And the task has been daunting. The pandemic clearly represents a ticking-time-bomb for innumerable SMEs globally, which have...
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Blog - Supporting Firms: From Crisis to Recovery

Blog - Supporting Firms: From Crisis to Recovery

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Diego Del Pilar

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Marie-Sarah Chataing

Apr 29, 2020
This webinar was carried out by the World Bank on April 15, 2020, as part of the COVID-19 Pandemic FCI Webinar Series to discuss the implications and policy responses to support the private sector and financial sector in the context of COVID-19. (See the list of speakers at the end of this post) The discussion followed an agenda around firms'...
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COVID-19 - A Catalyst for Digital Transformation in the SME Lending Ecosystem

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Jade Hachem

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Gillette Conner

Apr 23, 2020
Virtual Roundtable Summary “There is no ‘digital strategy’ anymore, just strategy in a digital world”. Bud Caddell. Caddell’s statement is more prescient than ever. The current pandemic lockdown poses a fundamental threat to a myriad of SMEs which primarily rely on human interaction and physical transactions for their daily activities. As lenders...
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DFI webinar

DFI leadership during the COVID-19 crisis

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Diego Del Pilar

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Gillette Conner

Apr 22, 2020
How bad do you think the economic crisis will be? What are the greatest challenges? What should Development Financial Institutions (DFI’s) prioritize? These were some of the poll questions addressed to the audience who joined a very interesting webinar organized by Dalberg on April 9, 2020, about the response of DFI during the COVID-19 crisis...
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Picture courtesy PERC website

COVID-19 and Credit Reporting: Suppression is Not the Solution

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Michael A. Turner, Ph.D.

Apr 21, 2020
There remains tremendous uncertainty surrounding the global COVID-19 pandemic as a health care crisis. There is also uncertainty about the economic collateral damage being caused by the pandemic—primarily around the slope of the economic recovery curve (will the curve be “V-,” “U-,” or “L-shaped?” Whatever recovery trajectory different affected...
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Blog - What should be the first immediate steps that banks should do to help SMEs?

Blog - What should be the first immediate steps that banks should do to help SMEs?

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Diego Del Pilar

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Gillette Conner

Apr 20, 2020
Lessons from “SME Banking Coffee: Online Session Series on Partnerships #1 & the Impact of COVID-19 on SME Banking*. EFMA In the first of three “SME Banking Coffee” series, organized by EFMA , the discussion turned around SME banking partnerships. Convening Lukas Dzuroska, from EFMA; Adi Engel from vCita; Esra Kivrak from Commercial Bank of...
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Two doctors one with computer checking items on a board with Member Survey title

Member Survey Results on the Impact of COVID-19

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Tarun Sridhar

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Matt Gamser

Apr 20, 2020
During crises like COVID-19 pandemic, sharing experiences and learning is vitally important. The SME Finance Forum team sent out a rapid survey to our members this week to take their pulses on how their institutions and their SME clients are faring so far (Click here to see what we asked). We had 45 respondents from 32 different countries: 24...
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Delivery boy's temperature taken before he leaves with the food.

Beyond Finance: What Alibaba and Ant Financial Can Teach Us About Responding to COVID-19

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Jade Hachem

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Gillette Conner

Apr 15, 2020
Virtual Roundtable Summary “Never was anything great achieved without danger.” Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli’s words must vividly resonate among many CEOs who now face the tremendous challenges posed by COVID-19. The pandemic has unleashed a massive economic shock wave which has already overwhelmed innumerable SMEs globally. Rather than sitting...
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Man with covid backround and a mask over financial chart

Earlier rather than later: SME lenders are reacting quickly in Asia

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Jade Hachem

Apr 09, 2020
Virtual Roundtable Summary “When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters — one represents danger and one represents opportunity.” John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy’s quote could not be timelier. As COVID-19 spreads at an alarming rate, the pandemic poses an existential threat to a countless number of SMEs around the...
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Woman with mask with a closed sign with virus image on background

Lessons from 2008 for the COVID-19 crisis: Illiquidity is as dangerous as insolvency

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Matt Gamser

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Marcus Chenevix

Apr 03, 2020
Virtual Roundtable Recap On Thursday, March 26, 2020, the SME Finance Forum hosted the first of a new series of weekly virtual roundtables on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In these discussions, we link experts from the public and private sectors to share insights on mitigation, stabilization, and recovery. Momina Aijazuddin,...
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