Building a Future Ready SME Ecosystem
The SME Finance Forum has launched its Africa Regional Chapter to provide a dedicated platform for region-specific dialogue, peer learning, and action. The Chapter recognizes that Africa’s SME challenges and opportunities are distinct: fragmented markets, high perceived risk, limited risk-sharing mechanisms, uneven access to trade finance, and the persistent exclusion of women-led, youth-owned, and rural enterprises. Addressing these issues requires locally grounded solutions, stronger alignment between public and private actors, and institutions that are equipped to move from pilots to scale.
This roundtable, convened at the Inclusive FinTech Forum in Kigali, marks a key milestone in advancing the Africa Chapter’s mission. It brings together banks, non-bank financial institutions, development finance institutions, policymakers, and trade enablers to examine how Africa’s SME finance ecosystem can evolve from resilience-building to sustainable growth.
Speakers:
- Qamar Saleem (Moderator)
Global Head, SME Finance Forum
- Ayodele Ojosipe
Head, Business Development & Relationship Management, Development Bank of Nigeria Plc
- Dagmawi Habte-Selassie
Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- Mikhail Velichko
Chief Executive Officer , AccèsBanque Madagascar
- Munir Duri
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Kifiya
- Dr. M. Osah Obaro
Divisional Head, Business Development & Partnership, Bank of Industry
- Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob
Former Governor, Bank of Thailand