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Event
Ago 12, 2021
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2021-08-11 20:00:00
2021-08-11 20:00:00
International Trade Center’s Youth Ecopreneur Awards Launches
International Trade Center (ITC) is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. It is the only development agency that is fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of SMEs.
ITC is organizing a discussion on ecopreneurship, featuring young entrepreneurs and key stakeholders in the sectors of renewable energy, waste, and water. The discussion will be followed by the official launch of the Youth Ecopreneur Awards.
The discussion aims to shed light on the unique needs of youth entrepreneurs in these sectors, their challenges, and their immense potential to contribute to an inclusive, green transformation, if given the right support. The discussion will set the stage for the launch of the premier Youth Ecopreneur Awards – a celebration of young entrepreneurs working in the above listed sectors.
The event will feature a discussion with 3 young ecopreneurs from developing countries, after which we will officially launch the Awards. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to get inspired by peers from other countries and a first opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn about the Awards!
Join the event and register here.
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Member Spotlight
Ago 11, 2021
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2021-08-10 20:00:00
2021-08-10 20:00:00
Member Spotlight with Access Holding: Digitalization for the Bottom-Of-The-Pyramid
Member Spotlight #7 with Access Holding featuring AB Bank Zambia: Digitalization for the Bottom-Of-The-Pyramid
¡Habrá interpretación en vivo en ESPAÑOL para ese evento! Leer versión español abajo.
What does it take to successfully enhance financial inclusion through digitalization and increase client outreach and engagement?
AB Bank Zambia, a member of AccessHolding Group, is committed to offering every micro, medium and small-scale business owner an opportunity to eliminate financial constraints and grow their business to contribute to sustainable economic growth and prosperity in Zambia. AB Bank supports businesses owned by women and ensures financial inclusion by encouraging and rewarding savings. AB Bank offers Savings and Term Deposit Accounts with competitive interest rates. The Bank is accessible anytime and everywhere in Zambia through its mobile wallet eTumba based on integration with mobile money operators and networks of more than 20 thousand agents. The Bank is actively promoting financial literacy to empower financially excluded groups in the country.
In recent years, AB Bank has developed from a traditional brick- and mortar-based bank to a digital champion. The goal of this endeavor is to increase financial inclusion and customer outreach through alternative products and access channels, provide better customer experience and improve efficiency and speed of operations. AB Bank has been awarded several times in the past year. In November 2019, the Bank was awarded with the Outstanding Theme Messaging Award for its contribution to financial literacy in Zambia through financial education campaigns and activities promoting the value of savings. In March 2020, AB Bank won the EIB Innovation Award for Small Medium and Micro Enterprise and Agricultural Finance for the first phase of its digitalization program, which included the launch of eTumba, direct MNO integration for wallet-to-bank transactions and the implementation of automated credit scoring.
During the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, AB Bank is leveraging on these foundations to ensure business continuity, customer accessibility and safety. Digital savings were launched on eTumba as an immediate mitigation strategy for clients. Based on market research, the savings products are especially designed to fit the needs of women and geographically excluded communities. To promote digital services, savings and financial education in rural areas, AB Bank has launched eTumba savings buses, which travel across the country. Understanding that mobile messaging applications can be the right channel to reach out to clients, offer banking services and provide important information on financial products avoiding the health risks faced in crowded branches, AB Bank has developed a Chatbot to serve its customers in their favorite messaging apps. In addition, to improve field staff mobilization, AB Bank launched a staff engagement tool for internal communication, knowledge management and online learning.
In this Member Spotlight session, key staff of the bank will speak about their journey to become a customer-centric digital financial service provider dedicated to the needs of small-scale entrepreneurs and underserved client segments, typical obstacles along the way and how to remove them. To understand the impact on customers, a female entrepreneur customer is invited to speak about how working with AB Bank and the digital offerings have impacted her business, especially in times of the pandemic.
Host & Moderator
Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum.
Speakers
Thomas Engelhardt is the Chief Business Officer and member of the Management Board of Access Microfinance Holding AG. AccessHolding is the majority shareholder of eight small business banks Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caucasus. The group provides loans and other financial services to more than 1 million clients and employs more than 5,500 staff. Thomas has been with Access since its foundation in 2006.
Kayinja Mfuni is the Chief Operations Officer at AB Bank Zambia. Kayinja has over nine years extensive experience in MSME Finance. She was part of the team responsible for the establishment of the SME Department at AB Bank Zambia. She has held various positions related to SME Relationship Management and Finance. She currently heads the Operations Department of AB Bank where she is part of the team that is spearheading digital transformation of the Bank. She has a CA ZICA from the Zambian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Muze Syachaba is the Chief Business Officer at AB Bank Zambia. Muze is a seasoned Banking Professional with more than nine years’ experience, specializing in Micro & Agri Financing. She is passionate about financial inclusion among MSMEs, low-income households and small-scale farmers in Zambia. Among her notable achievements is being part of the pioneer team that established AB Bank Zambia where she has held several positions. She holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Zambia.
Cosmin Olteanu is the Chief Executive Officer at AB Bank Zambia. Cosmin has over 19 years’ experience in banking, IT and Project Management. He joined AccessHolding in 2006, where he occupied senior positions in business and from 2011 managed several complex IT projects at network level. He was also a Director in the Board of AccèsBanque Madagascar. Cosmin has an Executive Master in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a certificate in Managing IT Projects from the George Washington University School of Business. He is currently enrolled in a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership program by MIT Executive Education, Columbia Business School Executive Education and Tuck Executive Education.
Marcus Hannappel is the fintech manager at AccessHolding. He is a Senior Digital Finance Expert and manages AB Bank Zambia’s mobile wallet eTumba. He is member of the Board of Directors of AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria since 2011. After joining AccessHolding in 2007, Marcus worked as Credit Advisor and Branch Manager in AccèsBanque Madagascar and as Chief Credit Officer / Deputy CEO in AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria. He also served on the Board of Directors of AccessBank Liberia for three years. Marcus holds a MSc. in Economics and is currently enrolled in a Professional Certificate Program in Digital Transformation at MIT Professional Education.
Women Entrepreneur Customer
Liliane M. Ndabaneze Chabuka is the Co-Founder and CEO of WidEnergy Africa Ltd. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics, and she has co-founded WidEnergy Africa Since September 2016. Passionate about women empowerment. Working hard every day in a male dominated industry, towards making women the champions in clean energy distribution and active agents for climate change. As CEO, Liliane oversees a dynamic multidisciplinary team with proven expertise in social entrepreneurship including solar products sales distribution, project management, supply chain, cost control, finance, business administration, monitoring and evaluation. As WidEnergy Africa CEO, Liliane has worked over the past four years, to contribute to her capacity development. She has shown excellent leadership skills and consistently managed the company's impact metrics. She always showed an engagement to improve the living conditions of people, especially women and girls.
Countries of work experience: USA, Burundi and Zambia.
A summary of the session will be posted soon!
Resources from the event
AB Bank Zambia slides
Customers Impact stories
Publication on digitalization and regulation
eTumba
www.etumba.com
https://www.facebook.com/eTumba.zm
https://www.linkedin.com/company/etumba/
https://www.instagram.com/etumba.zm/
AB Bank
www.abbank.co.zm
https://www.youtube.com/ABBankZambiaTV
https://www.facebook.com/abbankzm
https://www.linkedin.com/company/abbankzm/
https://www.instagram.com/abbankzm/
****
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
En Foco: Digitalización de la base de la pirámide
¡Con traducción al Español!
Cuándo: 11 de Agosto - 8 a.m. Hora del Este de los Estados Unidos
En nuestro evento "En Foco" con nuestro miembro AccessHolding Group y AB Bank Zambia, ejecutivos del banco compartirán el camino recorrido para convertirse en un proveedor de servicios financieros digitales centrado en el cliente y en las necesidades de los pequeños empresarios, y nos contarán sobre los obstáculos típicos que surgen al servir a las PYMES.
Para comprender mejor el impacto de esta transformación en los clientes, AB Bank Zambia ha invitado a una mujer emprendedora cliente, quien compartirá cómo se ha beneficiado con los servicios digitales del banco, especialmente en tiempos de pandemia.
Un resumen de la presentación será publicado a la brevedad!
Si se perdió nuestra sesión, puede mirar el video en español aquí> vimeo.com/585975772
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Jul
28
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Virtual Roundtables
Jul 28, 2021
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2021-07-27 20:00:00
2021-07-27 20:00:00
Open Virtual Roundtable Series #31 -Transitioning from Relief to Recovery
Managing Portfolios as Subsidies and Accommodations End
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic hardship to millions of SMEs. To help SMEs survive through this crisis, governments have been granting subsidies and loan repayments holidays. Financial institutions also offered adjustments. Many of those support programs have expired or are ending in the next few months. This session will examine how leading regulated financial institutions are handling the transition period in their countries, as government support comes to an end, loan moratoria and other adjustments also conclude, and financial institutions try to kickstart new lending without triggering a new crisis. We will explore how the banks are assessing their portfolios and adapting to the shifting regulatory policies that have characterized COVID-19 responses. We’ll also look at how previously unresolved issues, like how to adapt SME portfolio reporting to new IFRS9 accounting standards, have evolved during the pandemic.
What you will learn
How are government subsidies and moratoria evolving in various markets? How are financial institutions adapting?
How is the government's evolving role in dealing with COVID-19 affecting financial institutions’ portfolio management? How is it affecting their new business development?
How are financial institutions determining which SMEs are weathering the crisis and which are in danger of insolvency? How are they differentiating between illiquid and insolvent SMEs? What are the key data points they find most useful at this stage? How did these change from how they assessed SMEs before?
Host & Moderator
Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum
Speakers
Angela V. Tinio is the First Senior Vice-President and Head of Small and Medium Enterprises Banking Group (previously a Segment under the National Corporate Banking Group) of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). She has extensive experience in portfolio management, leasing and work-out. She has been with RCBC since 2000, and has held various positions in the National Corporate Banking Group such as Segment Head for Commercial Small and Medium Enterprise Banking (October 2013 to June 2019) and in Corporate Banking, as VisMin Lending Region Head (December 2010 to September 2013), Metro Manila-Luzon Region Head (April 2006 to November 2010) and Account Management Department Head (July 2000 to April 2006). She previously worked with the Bank of the Philippine Islands as Special Business Unit/Corporate Banking II Manager and Market Head until April 2000. She also held various positions in Far East Bank and Trust Company from June 1997 to April 2000, PDB Leasing and Finance Corporation from February 1996 to April 1997 and Traders Royal Bank from January 1985 to January 1996. Ms. Tinio obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines and her Master's degree in Business Administration from the De La Salle University.
Aditya Sharma is the Head Global Credit Risk, Business Banking at Standard Chartered. Aditya is an experienced SME and commercial banker with over 20 years of experience and is currently Global Head of the Business Banking Risk in Standard Chartered Bank responsible for managing credit risk in Asia and Africa markets and is based in Singapore. In his earlier assignments in Standard Chartered Bank as Head of Global Working Capital and Trade products for business Banking, Aditya successfully rolled out trade and working capital solutions using simple rule-based products to ease lending to SMEs in Asia and Africa. As part of Regional Commercial Banking team, based in Dubai in earlier roles, Aditya has worked extensively to drive SME business in Middle eastern markets and worked with guarantee agencies and local govt bodies to increase access to SME financing. In his years spent in India in SME product management, he has hands on experience in managing different SME products to expand SME lending. As Head of Commercial Branch, he also has a very close understanding of transacting and servicing needs of SMEs in emerging markets. In his current role, Aditya is actively engaged in repurposing the SME business and risk management business with the help of alternate data and digital tools in partnerships with Fintechs to expand the reach and access to micro SME segments which historically were out of reach under traditional Banking for most of Banks. Under his leadership Bank has undertaken several initiatives across markets to automate and digitise SME lending. Aditya holds an MBA from Mumbai, India and his interests include travelling, reading and playing piano.
Alberto S Navalpotro is the cofounder and CEO of Inbonis Rating, a Credit Rating Agency specialized in SMEs. He has an extensive experience in SME financing operations -mainly as an equity investor-, first as Investment Manager at Gravitation Group (Charles Beigbeder’s family office), and later as an Investment Director at Jolt Capital (Private Equity firm focused on technology SME across Europe). Alberto holds a degree in Business Administration and an MBA from ESCP Europe, and is an Acumen Fellow.
Syed M Omar Tayub is the Senior Executive Vice President & Head of MSME Banking at Prime Bank, a leading commercial bank of Bangladesh, where he’s spearheading the bank’s transformation in the MSME banking segment in order to become one of the top market player in the MSME space. Omar has over 21 years of successful experience in market-leading financial institutions operating in MSME and Retail Banking business segments in Bangladesh. Omar had held various senior leadership positions at other banks including Chief Business Officer at the Community Bank Bangladesh; Head of Credit & Collections, Retail & Small Business Risks at the City Bank; and Head of Emerging Small Business & Specialized Segments at BRAC Bank. During his stint at BRAC Bank he played a pivotal role in directing & implementing the transformational shift in BRAC bank's SME Business strategies. Omar had also led the Consumer banking lending business with Eastern Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. He started his career in Standard Chartered where he worked in various roles in branch banking; direct sales management and business portfolio/value center management over a span of 8+ years. Omar holds an Executive MBA in Finance from Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka and an M.Sc. in Physics from University of Chittagong.
Joyce Tee is Managing Director, Group Head of SME Banking and oversees the SME banking businesses across the region, for DBS who has most recently been named the World’s Best SME Bank 2018 by EuroMoney – a testimony of her customer first leadership. Joyce is a strong advocate of driving business change focused on the growth of corporates and SMEs alike. From her beginnings at DBS in 2004 where she led the Bank’s shipping, aviation and transportation business to contribute substantially to the corporate banking franchise’s bottom-line, to pushing for digitisation ground up since 2016 when she took on her current role, to deliver industry first initiatives such as auto online loans and account openings that have supported DBS’ win as World’s Best Digital Bank by EuroMoney for the second time in 2018 – Joyce is focused on empowering customers and staff alike to grow to greater heights. She has built trusted relationships with major corporates, including some of the world’s largest aircraft lessors, who tapped on DBS to diversify their funding sources and access to capital markets in Asia, as well as been a friend to SMEs by steering the 99%SME movement (in 2016 and 2018) to garner nationwide support for local businesses. In recognition of her passion and dedication towards SMEs, she was awarded SME Banker of the Year (Regional) 2018 by The Asset – a first for the Bank under the category of SME leadership awards. Prior to DBS, Joyce worked in OCBC Bank’s enterprise banking unit for four years, covering the offshore marine and commodities sectors and 12 years in United States at Grant Thorton providing management consultancy and financial advisory to SMEs, and at a regional bank in Houston Texas.
About COVID-19 Roundtable Series
In times of crisis, accurate and timely information is key. Sharing knowledge and practical experience are proven forms of investment that pave the path to success. With the purpose of helping our members build their own knowledge advantage, the SME Finance Forum facilitates activities and learning opportunities with the strategic approach of collecting and disseminating the best practices, while connecting SME finance experts and practitioners within our global network. Starting in late March, the Forum hosts weekly virtual roundtable sessions focusing on mitigation efforts used to cope with COVID-19, sharing those experiences in a continuous and real-time basis. Learn more>
A summary will be posted here>
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
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15
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Communities of Practice
Jul 15, 2021
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2021-07-14 20:00:00
2021-07-14 20:00:00
AgriFinance Community of Practice (CoP) - Movable Collateral
The SME Finance Forum is convening a group of agrifinance experts and practitioners from member and non-member institutions in order to discuss and document recent innovations in agrifinance. This will lead to creating a community of practice on agrifinance with an objective of promoting learning and sharing of good practice examples that help members improve their services to agri-SMEs. The deep-dive workshop sessionS will cover different aspects. Read about the first meeting of this CoP here.
In order to address problems of information asymmetry between a creditor and borrower, banks typically require collateral, which acts as an insurance if the borrowers defaults. Collateral reduces Losses Given Default (LGD) when loans default. Usually banks require fixed assets as collateral, often real estate. However, most Agri-SMEs do not have such collateral to present, and thus, Banks may be reluctant to lend. This may also be the case even if they are backed by movable collateral due to regulatory barriers and lack of moveable collateral registry. This third meeting of the CoP in Agriculture Finance will be held on Thursday, July 15th at 8 a.m. EDT, and it will focus on key lessons and experiences in using commodities as a movable collateral, including crop receipts, when lending to Agri-SMEs.
Moderator
Toshiaki Ono is a senior financial sector specialist at the World Bank where he supports various lending projects and analytical work to promote access to finance in the agriculture sector mainly in Africa and Asia & Pacific. Prior to joining the World Bank, Toshiaki held several positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) where he worked for agriculture finance and agribusiness development projects in South Asia and Africa. He also has practical experience in debt financing and investment banking through his earlier work at the Development Bank of Japan and Nomura. Mr. Ono holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York.
Speakers for this session
Leah Soroka is the Program Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Climate and Agri-Financial Services building advisory services in the region. Specific roles include developing Green Finance, Climate Smart Agriculture, and various instruments in agriculture finance including crop receipts on the pledge of the future crop and the securitization of agricultural receivables. In the last 30 years, Leah has worked globally in ECA, China, Africa, Middle East in climate and agricultural initiatives. Leah has worked with agricultural equity funds and new opportunities funds to invest in agricultural processing and diversified agriculture new ventures in bioenergy, composites, and waste management. Ms Soroka also has experience in mining development particularly the start-up of the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan. Leah has a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Science in Agricultural Economics, Masters in Health Care Management, PhD in Sustainable Decision Making and Innovation, amongst others.
Guillermo Foscarini leads the Agribusiness Team at IDB Invest, which he joined in 2019. He is responsible for developing business strategies and plans, and for managing clients and structuring the transactions of the agribusiness sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the IDB Group, he worked in the development and investment banking areas of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for almost 17 years, as Principal Investment Officer in the Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services Department, and in the Investments and Credit Department. During this period, Guillermo originated, structured and supervised multiple corporate finance transactions, and equity and quasi-equity investments throughout the agribusiness value chain in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Guillermo earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Universidad del CEMA (Argentina), a master’s degree in risk management from New York University (USA) and an undergraduate degree as public accountant from Universidad Católica de Córdoba (Argentina).
Ivan Yerko is the head of OTP Agro Factory. OTP Agro Factory is a division of OTP Bank whose main task is to finance small and medium-sized clients of the Agro segment. This project was created and launched by Yerko Ivan 4.5 years ago, and is currently the most actively growing in the banking market.
David Ivanovic is a Senior Operations Officer, Upstream - MAS Africa at IFC.
Download Agenda here>
Registration is open for members on Member's portal.
If interested in participating, please send an email to Tarun Sridhar.
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Jul
14
SME FINANCE FORUM
Virtual Roundtables
Jul 14, 2021
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2021-07-13 20:00:00
2021-07-13 20:00:00
Virtual Roundtable Series #30 - Bank & Big Tech Partnerships Post-COVID
COVID-19 has created new challenges in the SME Finance ecosystem, which require new solutions and strategic partnerships. That is why so many banks around the world are partnering with Big Tech companies to provide solutions for their SME clients.
In our next virtual roundtable on Wednesday July 14th at 8:00 a.m. EDT, we will examine the increasing importance of Big Tech companies, who are coming into the SME financing field from other spaces, such as social networking, e-commerce, supply chain purchasing, and more. The discussion will focus on how these large players are working with and competing against the established big banks and other more traditional financial sector institutions.
What you will learn about
• Is COVID-19 motivating more partnerships or competition between Big Tech companies and banks?
• What are the trends in partnerships between banks and Big Tech companies post COVID-19?
• What are the keys to successful partnerships?
• What are the major reasons for disappointments?
• How are policymakers influencing the relationships between Big Tech companies and banks?
Host
Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum
Moderator
Khrystyna Kushnir is the Knowledge Management Lead at the SME Finance Forum. She has over eleven years of work experience in private enterprise and financial sector development. Before joining the Forum, Khrystyna worked as an operations analyst at the Development Economics of the World Bank Group. Prior to working for the World Bank Group, she was a Research Assistant for Central and Eastern Europe at the Heritage Foundation. Ms. Kushnir also worked, as a Research Analyst, for the Japanese consultancy Washington CORE on Russian and Asian markets. Ms. Kushnir holds MA in International Economic Relations from the American University and is a Fulbright scholar.
Speakers
Ankur Mehrotra is the Managing Director and Head at Grab Financial Services, where he oversees the strategic direction and development of the Grab Financial Group's financial services offering. He leads both Grab's lending and insurance businesses as well as its expansion into additional products.
Tunde Kehinde is the Co‐Founder of Lidya (www.lidya.co), the future of finance for small businesses in fast growing economies. Through its digital platform, Lidya analyzes over 1,000 data points to help great business owners access financing and build a credit score through an easy and inspiring lending process. Lidya currently operates in Nigeria, Poland and Czech Republic where close to 200,000 businesses have signed up for its service and is backed by Omidyar Network, Accion, Newid Capital, Bamboo Capital and Alitheia Capital. Tunde is a seasoned emerging markets entrepreneur who Co‐Founded, Africa Courier Express, the leading last‐mile eCommerce delivery company in Nigeria and Jumia Nigeria, the leading eCommerce platform in Nigeria. Tunde has prior experience as a business development executive with Diageo in London and as an Investment Banking professional with Wachovia Securities in North Carolina and New York City. Tunde holds a degree in Finance with honors from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Bing Xiao is the Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Small Business Lending, the nation’s largest lender of loans of up to $100,000 to small businesses and a leading innovator in the small business credit and payment industry. He served in various management positions since joining Wells Fargo in 1997. Prior to his current position, he was Head of Consumer Home Equity Marketing (1997–1999), Head of Small Business Real Estate and Equipment Finance (1999–2004), and Head of Business Direct International Expansion (2004–2008). As an expert in banking strategy, small business lending, and financial technology innovation, he has been invited to speak at many banking seminars and conferences. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California at San Diego. He had also conducted research at Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin.
Juan Lopez Carretero is responsible for Partnerships at BBVA, where the focus is on growing revenues and customers. Previously led acquisitions and investments in companies in emerging financial areas such as design, data, banking as a service, and payments. His background is in corporate and investment banking, at BBVA and previously at Lehman Brothers and Societe Generale.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and has an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Facundo Cuppi is the Director of Strategy & Operations for the lending business at Mercado Libre (Nasdaq: MELI), the largest e-commerce company in Latin America. Before that he worked in the investor relations, corporate development & strategic planning team. Facundo holds an MBA from IAE Business School and a BS in Business Administration from UCEMA university. In the past, he worked at Microsoft & KPMG.
About COVID-19 Roundtable Series
In times of crisis, accurate and timely information is key. Sharing knowledge and practical experience are proven forms of investment that pave the path to success. With the purpose of helping our members build their own knowledge advantage, the SME Finance Forum facilitates activities and learning opportunities with the strategic approach of collecting and disseminating the best practices, while connecting SME finance experts and practitioners within our global network. Starting in late March, the Forum hosts weekly virtual roundtable sessions focusing on mitigation efforts used to cope with COVID-19, sharing those experiences in a continuous and real-time basis. Learn more>
A summary will be posted here>
For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org
By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.
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Jul
13
SME FINANCE FORUM
Event
Jul 13, 2021
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2021-07-12 20:00:00
2021-07-12 20:00:00
Joint High-Level Event: UNDP, UNCTAD, ILO, UNDESA
The role of business and the financial sector in financing a sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19
The 2021 HLPF takes place at a time of growing concern about the lingering health and socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the pressing demands to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises and bridge the digital divide – all of which require significant financial resources to ensure hard-won development gains are not permanently reversed. The pandemic poses existential challenges, but it also offers significant opportunities to pursue a more sustainable paradigm as trillions of stimulus and recovery packages are rolled out.
As economies restart, there is an opportunity to develop more integrated and effective financing strategies that ensure investments across the dimensions of sustainable development promoting sustained economic growth that creates livelihood and decent employment opportunities for all – including women, youth, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)– and promotes a just transition to green and digitally-enabled societies. Sound public policies and the right incentives for the private sector and actors across the financial ecosystem, including through the implementation of a global framework for sustainability reporting, are needed to encourage transformative shifts and stimulate the strategic investments required to get the world on track to meet the SDGs. The 2021 HLPF will put in focus SDGs 1 (on no poverty), 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work and sustainable economic growth), 10 (reduced inequalities), 12 (sustainable consumption and production), 13 (climate action) and 17 (on partnerships), among others.
The high-level event on the margins of the HLPF will engage representatives of governments, business and the world of finance (stock exchanges, banks, insurance companies, asset owners and asset managers) to discuss experiences, solutions and initiatives around the world, facilitating the financing transition towards more inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies. The High-Level event builds on extensive consultations and expert meetings convened by UNDP, ILO, UNCTAD and DESA on their respective clusters, carried out between January and July 2021. The High-Level event further builds on the outcomes of the joint side event organised by UNDP, ILO, UNCTAD and DESA on the occasion of the ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on 13 April 2021 focused on: “Financing COVID-19 recovery: Towards a green, purple and digital transition.” These joint initiatives respond to the clear need to advance a coherent and an integrated approach across themes. UNDP, ILO, UNCTAD and DESA plan to continue these joint efforts in the months to come, including at the 76TH General Assembly in September 2021 and at UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum in October this year.
The event will start with a High-level opening session followed by a moderated Davos style discussion with private sector representatives on specific actions necessary to advance sustainable finance and climate action, an inclusive job-rich recovery and leverage disruptions of digital technologies.
On July 13th, at 8 a.m. EDT, our CEO, Matt Gamser, will participate in a Stakeholders' panel together with Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, Executive Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and Mr. Pradeep S Mehta, Founder and Secretary-General of the Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International).
Read more>
Watch the video here> https://youtu.be/TqHAcBLsCg8?t=35
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