Report: The European Investment Bank (EIB) West and Central Africa SME Banking And Microfinance Academy 2021

Theme: Building a resilient MSME financial sector for inclusive growth in West and Central Africa

Given the current extraordinary situation, this year’s forum focused on providing insights as well as discussing and sharing experiences around the challenges and opportunities facing MFIs and banks as they prepare for the next generation of MSME finance. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial institutions (FIs) need to adapt to a rapidly evolving environment. We will likely see more crises occurring due to sanitary reasons as well as those related to climate change. Furthermore, the increasing digitalization of the economy and society is affecting clients’ expectations of financial services provision. It is thus imperative that FIs reinforce their financial position and make optimal use of new technologies to invest in human resources in order to become more agile and to increase their social and environmental focus. In one sentence “Building a resilient MSME financial sector for inclusive growth in West and Central Africa”.