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SME Finance Working
Group (SMEFWG)

SME Finance Working
Group (SMEFWG)

A unique platform for policymakers to discuss, innovate and create smart policies that help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) access to finance and formal financial services.

Created in 2013, AFI’s SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG) promotes the discussion and the implementation of smart policy frames that facilitate access of MSMEs to finance and provide a platform for AFI member institutions to discuss the challenges and opportunities to achieve sustainable development for this niche of the global economy.

Its outcomes shed light on different policies solutions and lessons learned from the national implementation of direct interventions and programs.

58
Member
Institutions
56
Countries
84
Policy
Changes
23
Knowledge
Products

CHAIR

Waleed Eid Samarah, Central Bank of Jordan

CO-CHAIR

Ellen_Joyce_Suficiencia_,_Bangko_Sentral_ng_Pilipinas

CO-CHAIR

Jason Barrantes - SUGEF Costa Rica

  • The SMEF Working Group promotes the discussion and the implementation of smart policy frames that facilitate access of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to finance, and provide a platform for AFI member institutions to discuss the challenges and opportunities to achieve sustainable development for this niche of the global economy.
  • Exchange knowledge and establish a common understanding of policies that promote tangible access and usage of financial services for MSMEs.
  • Identify policy frameworks learned from different regions and different actors involved in spurring the viability and financial inclusion of MSMEs, with a specific but not exclusive focus on financial sector policies.
  • MSME Data Subgroup:
    SME Data Framework covering three dimensions; demographic, economic, and financial indicators that serve as a guide for members in assessing and addressing data gaps.
  • MSME Alternative Finance Subgroup:
    Policy Framework on MSME Finance Ecosystem in Africa, a Policy Catalogue on SME Financing Interventions in Africa and MENA, a Survey Report on Alternative Financing for MSMEs, a Case Study on Leasing from Belarus, and a Survey Report on Leveraging FinTech for MSME Financing.
  • MSME Education Subgroup:
    Case Study on MSME Education.
  • Onboarding of the Informal Sector Subgroup (jointly with FISPLG):
    Policy Framework on onboarding of the informal sector.
  • Gender Inclusive Finance Subgroup:
    Policy Framework on Women-Led MSME Financing and a Policy Catalogue on Women-Led MSME Financing.

2020

  • SME Finance Responses to COVID-19 in AFI Member Countries
  • Inclusive Green Finance Policies for MSMEs

2019

  • Guideline Note 36:SME Finance Guideline Note
  • Case Study: Gender, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe

2018

  • Case Study:Agricultural Finance Intervention in the Kingdom of Eswatini
  • Case Study: Agricultural Finance Intervention in Ghana

2017

  • Case Study:: Meeting the financial needs of the agriculture sector through prudentially regulated SACCOs in Kenya
  • Survey Report: Defining Small and Medium Enterprises in the AFI Network
  • Survey Report on SME Finance Policies for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Owned by Women and Women Entrepreneurs
  • Case Study:Expanding Women’s Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh through MSME Financial Policies

2016

  • Guideline Note 23: The Role of Financial Regulators in Promoting Access to Financing more MSMEs: Lessons from the AFI Network

2015

  • Guideline Note 16: SME Financial Inclusion Indicators Base Set

2014

  • Enhancing SME Access to Finance (Joint Paper with GPFI)
  • Ministry of Finance of Eswatini
    Regulatory Framework for Development Finance in the Kingdom of Eswatini
  • Bank of Zambia
    Pricing of Products and Services by FSPs
  • Central Bank of Solomon Islands
    MSME Bill and Business Loan Guarantee Scheme Framework & MSME Policy Performance Monitoring Framework
  • Reserve Bank of Vanuatu
    Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSME) – Finance Survey: Vying the MSMEs Survey Challenges for ways forward
  • Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
    Regulations for Deposit Taking Micro Finance Institution (MFI) in Bhutan.
  • National Treasury of the Republic of South Africa
    South Africa’s SME Finance Infrastructure Projects — Partial Credit Guarantee System, Movable Assets Registry and Small Enterprise Shared Credit Information Services.
  • SUGEF Costa Rica
  • Banco Sentral ng Pilipinas
  • Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador
  • Banco Central de Timor-Leste
  • Banco Central del Paraguay
  • Banco de Moçambique
  • Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
  • Bangladesh Bank
  • Bank Al-Maghrib
  • Bank Negara Malaysia
  • Bank of Ghana
  • Bank of Namibia
  • Bank of Papua New Guinea
  • Bank of Sierra Leone
  • Bank of Tanzania
  • Bank of Thailand
  • Bank of Uganda
  • Bank of Zambia
  • Banque Centrale de Mauritanie
  • Banque Centrale de Tunisie
  • Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO)
  • Banque Centrale du Congo
  • Banque de la République d’Haiti
  • Banque de la République du Burundi
  • Central Bank of Armenia
  • Central Bank of Egypt
  • Central Bank of Eswatini
  • Central Bank of Jordan
  • Central Bank of Nigeria
  • Central Bank of Samoa
  • Central Bank of Seychelles
  • Central Bank of Solomon Islands
  • Central Bank of Sri Lanka
  • Central Bank of The Gambia
  • Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan
  • Central Bank of the Russian Federation
  • Centrale Bank van Suriname
  • Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores de México (CNBV)
  • Da Afghanistan Bank
  • Direction Générale du Trésor, Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances, Madagascar
  • Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia
  • > Maldives Monetary Authority
  • Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances et du Budget du Sénégal
  • Ministry of Finance – Eswatini
  • Ministry of Finance Zambia
  • National Bank of Cambodia
  • National Bank of Rwanda
  • National Bank of Tajikistan
  • National Bank of the Republic of Belarus
  • National Reserve Bank of Tonga
  • Nepal Rastra Bank
  • Palestine Monetary Authority
  • Reserve Bank of Fiji
  • Reserve Bank of Malawi
  • Reserve Bank of Vanuatu
  • Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
  • Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
  • Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) Kenya
  • Superintendencia de la Economía Popular y Solidaria de Ecuador
  • Superintendencia General de Entidades
    Financieras de Costa Rica (SUGEF)

Webinars

Supply Chain Finance (SCF) companies are fast emerging as preferred lending solutions partners for the vastly under-served MSME sector. Powered by new-age, advanced financial technologies, new SCF tools hold the promise to mitigate the funding woes of small-scale businesses. SCF lenders have a wider outreach among small businesses, ensuring faster loan approvals and seamless transaction processing on timely schedules with flexible terms. With the current pandemic of COVID-19, the disruption of the global supply chain, many of which will impact related financing structures from a macro perspective of which the demand patterns in our economy will have a distorting impact on business and industries, resulting in flow-on effects for supply chains and, by extension, the financing structures that support them.

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MSMEs play a huge role in facilitating economic development, including employment, GDP and export. In spite of their importance, access to financing is still one of the challenges to growth due to shortage of MSME credit data, also known as ‘thin file’ borrowers. A better methodology of MSME data collection and utilization will encourage countries to relook at their financial inclusion indicators for MSMEs and develop better policies in the direction of improvement.

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March 31, 2021
Working group members celebrated for a year of triumphs
March 31, 2021
Working group members celebrated for a year of triumphs
While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us from meeting in person over the past 12 months, it also catapulted financial inclusion into the global consciousness for offering one of the few immediate critical solutions as a response to the crisis, as well as towards achieving a m
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March 29, 2021
Bringing the informal sector onboard
March 29, 2021
Bringing the informal sector onboard
Informal workers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) continue to face many unique challenges in accessing and using financial services, stifling growth in a sector among th
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March 16, 2021
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu co-hosts AFI FIDWG & SMEFWG joint working group meeting
March 16, 2021
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu co-hosts AFI FIDWG & SMEFWG joint working group meeting
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RBV) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) co-hosted the 23rd Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG) Virtual Meeting and the 16th SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG) Virtual Meeting on 16-17 March 2021.
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March 3, 2021
AFI’s “agility, flexibility & focus” to guide working groups in 2021
March 3, 2021
AFI’s “agility, flexibility & focus” to guide working groups in 2021
Leaders from AFI’s seven working groups convened virtually on 2 March to discuss last year’s achievements and lessons learnt, planned activities for 2021 and to provide strategy updates.
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September 9, 2020
Seven working groups hold first virtual convergence
September 9, 2020
Seven working groups hold first virtual convergence
Seven working groups gathered to showcase their progress and achievements over the past year, as the results of AFI’s annual member needs assessment showed that satisfaction with the organization had continued to rise year-on-year.
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July 5, 2020
Jordan quick to shield MSMEs amid COVID-19 downturn
July 5, 2020
Jordan quick to shield MSMEs amid COVID-19 downturn
Since the early onset of the global pandemic, Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has adopted ongoing preventive and supportive measures aimed at containing the negative repercussions of COVID-19 o
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April 5, 2019
Gender & youth must feature in policy interventions to achieve financial inclusion, AFI’s DED Mumba closes FISPLG & SMEFWG in Zambia
April 5, 2019
Gender & youth must feature in policy interventions to achieve financial inclusion, AFI’s DED Mumba closes FISPLG & SMEFWG in Zambia
Gender and youth must be factored into financial inclusion interventions to mobilize the world’s unbanked into formal financial services, AFI Deputy Executive Director, Norbert Mumba stressed in his closing remarks.
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April 2, 2019
BoZ Governor Kalyalya highlights SMEs & poverty reduction at opening of FISPLG-SMEF working group meetings in Livingstone
April 2, 2019
BoZ Governor Kalyalya highlights SMEs & poverty reduction at opening of FISPLG-SMEF working group meetings in Livingstone
Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya emphasised the importance of financial inclusion in tackling poverty at the 14th FISPLG and 12th SMEFWG Meetings in Livingstone.
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March 29, 2019
Nearly 50 countries to attend FIS and SME Finance working group meetings in Zambia
March 29, 2019
Nearly 50 countries to attend FIS and SME Finance working group meetings in Zambia
The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) will host four days of working group meetings aimed at advancing financial inclusion issues and addressing the challenges faced by marginalised groups, such as women and youth, in accessing quality formal fin
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April 4, 2018
The 17th DFS & 10th SME Finance Working Group meetings kick off in Amman, Jordan
April 4, 2018
The 17th DFS & 10th SME Finance Working Group meetings kick off in Amman, Jordan
“There should be a level playing field when it comes to FinTech — and at the core of this all — ensure  stability, protection and integrity,” emphasized H.E Dr. Maher Sheikh Hasan, Deputy Governor of CBJ during his opening remarks at the 4-day event.
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Newsroom
Working Groups and Regional Initiatives Report 2020

Despite the global pandemic, AFI network members were swift to implement policy responses and leverage the peer learning and knowledge sharing platforms offered
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Bringing the Informal Sector Onboard (Guideline Note)

This Guideline Note discusses how policymakers and practitioners can engage with the informal sector to increase its access to formal finance.
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Bringing the Informal Sector Onboard (Toolkit)

The purpose of this Toolkit is to outline the different tools that policymakers have at their disposal to achieve the goals of onboarding the informal sector.
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Risk Sharing Facilities: Mobilizing Finance for Women-led MSMEs

The purpose of this toolkit is to assist AFI members to conceptualize and design risk-sharing facilities  to encourage formal financial institutions to finance
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Alternative Financing in the Republic of Belarus: Leveraging on Leasing for MSME Financing

This case study shares the collaborative and inter-agency support leading to the growth of the MSME sector, and its available financing, of the Republic of Bela
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A Policy Framework for Women-led MSME Access to Finance

Access to finance for women-led-MSMEs can lead to an increase in productive assets, productivity, and stronger economic growth, but access to finance is arguab
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Survey Report on Alternative Finance for MSMEs

This survey report aims to provide guidelines and country examples to regulators and other authorities on the issues to consider when developing alternative MSM
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Scoping and Assessment Report – MSME Access to Finance Ecosystem in Africa

The objective of this document is to provide a scope of what has to be addressed in a framework to enhance the MSME financing ecosystem in Africa, and to assess
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Financial Education for the MSMEs: Identifying MSME Educational Needs

To ensure sustainable development in emerging economies, it is important to create opportunities for MSMEs. Access to finance is frequently identified as a crit
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SME Finance (SMEF) Working Group 2020 Factsheet

The vision of the SME Finance Working Group is to contribute to the development of micro, small and medium enterprises in developing and emerging countries thro
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SME Finance Responses to COVID-19 in AFI Member Countries

The latest factsheet by AFI’s SMEF Working Group highlights various measures taken by some countries to encourage business operations, safeguard jobs and incr
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Inclusive Green Finance Policies for MSMEs

Climate change poses significant risk to the performance, competitiveness and sustainability of MSMEs, who are the backbone of developing countries and play a v
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2019 Working Groups and Regional Initiatives Report

This year saw the expansion of the number of Working Groups from six to seven through the addition of the Inclusive Green Finance Working Group (IGF), which lev
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SME Finance Guideline Note

Sharing experiences on SME finance reforms, both successes and failures, is an important way for us all to learn and this Guideline Note is an effort to do just
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Gender, women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has made significant strides in promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion, particularly over the last four y
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