About

SME Outreach Program

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in employment creation and income level or gross domestic product creation. As a consequence, SMEs constitute a key economic actor to achieve poverty alleviation and sustainable growth. In numbers, evidence showcases that regardless of the economy size, SMEs have created 67 percent of the global employment and between 60-70 percent of the global GDP is attributable to SMEs.

Policymakers around the world are aware of the pivotal role of SMEs in the global economy. Yet, when looking at the bottlenecks that prevent SMEs’ development, access to finance is one of the top barriers faced my many. Still, access to financial services remains a very significant challenge in emerging economies, particularly in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Financial regulators, such as central banks or ministries of economy, are aware of their responsibility and mandate to work on implementing policy solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs.

Recent studies show that SME’s account for an overwhelming majority of private sector business and economic activity in both developed and developing countries. Given the role of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the global economy, it is essential to understand their importance and potential contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Unleashing the potential of MSMEs for the SDGs requires transforming policies as well as systemic changes in the way financial markets and institutions operate. This would reduce the constraints MSMEs face in accessing financial resources and catalyse the growth of informal MSMEs into formal ones. And the impact from this would be multiple and far-reaching, unlocking more sources of capital, fueling additional economic growth and generating further employment opportunitieS.