Global SME Finance Forum

16 - 18 September 2024 | São Paulo, Brazil
The Global SME Finance Forum is the leading conference on SME financing. Its 2024 edition was themed "AI-powered Digital and Sustainable SME Finance", and brought together financial executives, fintechs, development banks, and experts.

Global SME Finance Forum

GFTN is honoured to be a Content Collaborator for the Global SME Finance Forum (GSMEFF), the SME Finance Forum’s annual flagship event. 

It convenes global & regional banks, fintechs, big-techs, e-commerce players, multilaterals, development finance institutions, credit guarantee corporations, banking associations, SME associations, microfinance institutions, non-bank financial institutions, central banks, academia, training providers, think tanks, investors, trade platforms, ministries, G20 counterparts to catalyze and scale SME finance.

It will feature a series of thought-provoking speakers and interactive panels that will explore the digital and sustainable transitions taking place in the SME finance sector. Discussions will focus on the growth of AI as a tool for SMEs to move toward sustainability goals and address financial inclusion challenge. 

GSMEFF_Members Meeting

About the Forum

The Global SME Finance Forum (GSMEFF) is hosted by the SME Finance Forum, a network of over 300 leading banks, non-banking financial institutions, FinTechs and development banks, created by the G20 in 2012 and managed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

The Forum’s objective is to scale SME finance for job creation and economic growth. As the leading SME finance network globally, GSMEFF steers industry innovations, support replication of best practices, steer policy advocacy, and foster global knowledge transfer. The organisers also power the Forum's global peer learning membership network by connecting them with relevant partners, investors and policymakers.  This year’s event is organised in partnership with the Brazilian G20 Presidency, the Brazilian Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise and Small Business (MEMP), with support from Brazil Development Bank (BNDES) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Organised by

 

SME Finance Forum
Managed by IFC

2024 forum themes

The agenda will provide a holistic view on SME finance with coverage on the following themes:

Agri finance
AgriFinance and the role of AgTech and
climate-smart solutions
Embedded Finance
Digital, FinTech solutions and role of
embedded finance
Supply chain finance
Supply chain finance, the deep tiers, sustainable
and digitally enabled solutions
Sustainable finance
Sustainable finance solutions for SMEs,
reporting, products, and capital markets
Women’s Entrepreneurship Finance (1)
Women's entrepreneurship finance,
gender-disaggregated data, products 
Risk Mitigation
Risk mitigation, climate risk, insurance, risk
sharing, credit guarantee schemes

Featured speakers

 

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Alexa Foglia

SME VP, Banco Atlántida

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Alexandre Magnani

CEO, Pagbank

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Alfonso Garcia Mora

Vice President Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

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Aria Widyanto

Chief Risk and Sustainability Officer, Amartha

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Chioma K Ogwo

Head of Emerging Businesses, Access Bank

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Jane Prokop

Executive Vice President, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mastercard

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João Henrique Tosin

CEO & Co-Founder, Celero

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Manu Rajan

Division CEO, Wing

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Ketan Gaikwad

Managing Director and CEO, Receivables Exchange Of India Limited

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Marcela Pinori

Executive Director of Commercial Solutions in Brazil, Visa

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Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari

Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana

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Megan Rapp

Managing Director, Office of Small Business and Financial Services, DFC

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Melis Özdeğirmenci

Senior Vice President of SME Marketing, Akbank T.A.Ş.

Mohamed Gouled (IFC)

Mohamed Gouled

Vice President, Industries, IFC

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Patrick Reily

Co-Founder, Uplinq

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Qamar Saleem

Global Head, SME Finance Forum

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Rajeev Chalisgaonkar

Head of Business Banking and NeoBiz, Mashreq Bank

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Sandy Kemper

Founder & Chairman, C2FO

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Shanker Ramamurthy

Global Managing Partner for Banking and Financial Markets, IBM 

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Sopnendu Mohanty

Chief FinTech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore

Group Chief Executive Officer - Designate, GFTN

See what others have said about the forum

"The SME Finance Forum’s annual conference meets a critical need in the SME financing world: the need to bring together top decision-makers in a truly thoughtful way, where the International Finance Corporation’s deep knowledge of players can be leveraged to help participants zero in on the partners who can best meet their needs. In most conferences, the search for the right partner is a “needle in a haystack” exercise. Not so at the Finance Forum, and therein lies the magic. "

 
Jane Prokop 

Executive Vice President, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mastercard

Jane Prokop
rajeev chalisgaonkar (1)

"I’ve been blown away by the quality of speakers, the seniority, and the level of thinking.
It’s very 
clear that if you’re interested in SME Finance, if you’re interested in being part of this global opportunity to change things for small business, this is the place 
to be."

 

Rajeev Chalisgaonkar
EVP, Head of Business Banking & Neobiz

SAndy Kemper (1)

"This is my sixth or seventh Annual Meeting I have attended, and I can see the change. Five years back, some of the same people were talking about ideas they were trying out. Now they are talking about successful, profitable business they are running based on those ideas. It is quite gratifying to see that shift happening.'

Sandy Kemper 
Founder & CEO, C2FO, USA 

Almutasem Alkhateeb (1)

"Beyond expectation! I had the privilege to attend the Global SME Finance Forum today in Mumbai, India. It was enriching and epic in a meaningful way – we jumped from one session to another with an enthusiastic mindset toward the next discussion session without feeling overwhelmed."


Almutasem Alkhateeb
 

Business Development Manager, Kafalah, Saudi Arabia

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