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Erwan Gelebart
Chief Executive Officer
AXIAN Digibank & Fintech
Erwan Gelebart is the CEO of AXIAN Digibank & Fintech, where he leads the group’s financial services strategy across Africa, serving over 23 million customers. With more than 15 years of experience in digital transformation and fintech in emerging markets, Erwan has built a career at the intersection of innovation and inclusion.
He previously held senior leadership roles at JazzCash and Orange Money, where he was instrumental in scaling digital financial services and mobile payment platforms. Today, he also serves as Chairman of the GSMA Mobile Money Leadership Group, where he advocates for the expansion of financial services, strong financial inclusion, and Africa led innovation, particularly across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Erwan is widely recognized for his strategic leadership in high-growth markets and his ability to drive impact through inclusive fintech ecosystems. His work continues to bridge public and private sector innovation to advance financial access for underserved communities.
Speaking At
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1:45–3:15pmTue 17 NovPublic-Private RoundtableRoundtable Room 4Open
Shaping Tomorrow's Innovation
Policy Meets Capital: Closing the SME Finance Gap
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Amira KarimHead of International Public Policy, Payments & Financial ServicesAmazon
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Arianne FerrerHead of External Affairs, Asia-PacificTala
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Erwan GelebartChief Executive OfficerAXIAN Digibank & Fintech
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Jiang FangfangAsia Lead for Digital Financial ServiceInternational Finance Corporation
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Nontobeko LubisiDirector, Financial InclusionNational Treasury of South Africa
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Jesse McWatersEVP, Head of Global PolicyMastercard
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Pamela Coke-HamiltonExecutive DirectorInternational Trade CenterModerator
About this session
SMEs in developing economies face a financing gap of about US$5.7 trillion, and it is growing faster than the economies themselves. Supply alone will not close it. Policy, data and market infrastructure must develop alongside it.
This roundtable brings ministers responsible for SMEs together with leaders from payments, fintech, banking and development finance. It looks at three questions:
- Which cross-border payment and trade-finance rails would help SMEs sell abroad?
- How can governments crowd in private lending at scale?
- What role should the public sector play in enabling digital lending, including alternative data and AI credit scoring?
As a Singapore stop on the Road to Geneva, the discussion will produce priorities for the 2nd Global SME Ministerial Meeting in May 2027 and for the SME Trade Finance Facility.
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