On Thursday 21 October 2021 UNIDO ITPO Italy took part in the 2021 edition of the EU-African SME Summit — organized by European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME (Confédération Européenne des Associations de Petites et Moyennes Entreprises), the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI), the Italian Confederation of Private Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Confapi), the German Federal Association of Medium-Sized Business Entrepreneurs Association (BVMW), and the International Network of SMEs (INSME) — which was held in Rome, as well as in Dakar and Online, on 21 and 22 October.

In this framework, on the first day of the event UNIDO ITPO Italy Head Ms. Diana Battaggia moderated the conference session “New financial tools for sustainable SME growth in Africa”, which saw the participation as panelists of several international experts in the field: among these, Mr. Jean-Claude Tchatchouang, Former Executive Director at the World Bank Group; Mrs. Maria Shaw-Barragan, Director of Lending in Africa, Caribbean, Pacific, Asia and Latin America at the European Investment Bank; Mrs. Sandra Kramer, Director Africa at DG INTPA, European Commission; Mr. Emmanuel Agha, Managing Director & CEO of Innovectives Group; and Mr. Brian Mangeni, Executive Director of Einstein Rising.

The conference represented an opportunity to exchange views and share important best practices on how to improve the financial tools for sustainable SME growth in Africa, highlighting the key role of strengthening the capacity of local financial institutions and of technology innovation to digitize payment systems for improved access to financing tools.