Publications
May 07, 2021
In this publication, you will read about the SME Finance Forum highlights in 2020. Extract from the Foreword: The year 2020 has been a challenging one for all of us. We have seen the COVID-19 pandemic throw the world into uncertainty. In this context, we are proud to have launched new services to help our members deal with this extraordinary...
Gender Finance
Covid-19
May 07, 2021
In Sub-Saharan Africa, small and medium enterprises account for up to 90 percent of all businesses. These businesses face financial and operational difficulties in good economic times, and the COVID-19 crisis has only amplified the challenges they must contend with on a daily basis. The pandemic also has the potential to widen existing gender...
Digital Transformation
May 06, 2021
In September 2016, member AccessHolding entered into a Partnership Agreement with member Mastercard Foundation to support the A2A Programme with USD 15.5 million over a period of five years. The overall objective of the A2A programme is to strengthen the capacities of the AccessHolding Network Financial Institutions (NFI) with the aim to increase...
Non Financial Services
Apr 30, 2021
Unlock Your Business Wellbeing: How to Identify Burnout and the Tactics to Overcome It. Member Retail Capital recently released a new publication. Running a business comes with a great deal of stress and anxiety, but how does burnout differ from traditional entrepreneurial pressures? It’s the buzzword we hear time and again, but what does ‘burnout...
Gender Finance
Covid-19
Apr 22, 2021
2020 was a year like no other, with women entrepreneurs around the world deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) recently published their 2020 Annual Report, showing how the partnership is supporting these women not just to survive the crisis, but also enhances their long-term resilience. As We-...
Financial Inclusion
Apr 21, 2021
Across all industries, predictive, data-driven algorithms — mathematical recipes ranging from the simple to the complex — are being used to tell stories about individuals and can drive high-stakes decisions: who receives a loan, what sentencing a judge will recommend, what therapeutics a doctor will provide. In the financial services industry, the...
Financial Inclusion
Gender Finance
Apr 12, 2021
Women’s financial inclusion, especially in rural Uganda, remains low. Two innovations were tested among adult females – a mobile banking service with digital subwallet folders labeled for women and the same service coupled with a course of seven household counselling sessions aimed at equalizing the influence of women and men in the context of...
Financial Education
Sustainable Finance
Policy & Regulation
Covid-19
Apr 08, 2021
This report highlights the risk of a sharply diverging world in the near term where the gaps between rich and poor widen because some countries lack the necessary financial resources to combat the COVID-19 crisis and its socioeconomic impact. It explores the impact of the pandemic on economics, social, and environmental risks, and the implications...
Gender Finance
Fintech
Apr 06, 2021
Women represent the world’s largest and fastest-growing market but are mostly disregarded and underserved in the financial industry, especially women in fintechs. The industry has unnoticed the distinct needs and preferences of women and in doing so, there is a loss of trillions of dollars. By addressing the unmet needs of women, fintechs can gain...
Financial Inclusion
Gender Finance
Data Analytics
Apr 05, 2021
An important component of gender data is sex-disaggregated data and its support for women’s financial inclusion. With an estimated $1.7 trillion finance gap that exists for women owned MSMEs in emerging economies, the brief focuses on how gender data collection and analysis can narrow the gap and empower key stakeholders to realize their full...