Global SME Finance Forum 2025 Event Report

The Global SME Finance Forum 2025 was held in Johannesburg from 15 to 17 September as an official side event of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Working Group. The event brought together nearly 1100 participants from 78 countries including 235 speakers and featured 70 sessions with diverse stakeholders from across the SME finance ecosystem. The forum followed a diverse set of engagement models consisting of keynotes, panel discussions, debates, workshops, trainings, innovation hubs, Global SME Finance Awards, study visits to best practice financial institutions in South Africa and examples of instruments to catalyse private sector capital to support growth of SMEs, consequently creating jobs. The conference was organized in collaboration with Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN) as a strategic partner.

Building on South Africa’s G20 presidency theme of “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability”, and based

on the SME Finance Forum members and IFC priorities, the Global Forum chose the theme, "Building

Resilience and Creating Opportunities for Growth," to demonstrate the power of Small and Medium

Enterprise (SME) financial inclusion through interconnected technological innovations, policy

frameworks, and collaborative ecosystems. This report details the forum's agenda.