6 & 7
September
2021
2PM
(Saudi Arabia)
GMT+3
Virtual Event

Why attend

SMEs are a major source of new job creation in emerging and developing countries. In the MENA region, it is estimated that micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 80–90 percent of all businesses. However, despite their systemic importance, SMEs continue to face major challenges when it comes to access to finance. Lack of credit information and lack of collateral are just two of the many reasons why financial institutions are less exposed to SMEs than to larger and more established firms.  


COVID-19 has made the situation much worse for the region’s SMEs. The pandemic poses challenges of a scope and scale unprecedented in modern times. Millions of businesses are closed, countless jobs have been lost. The hardest hit are SMEs in the tourism and entertainment industries; which have been battered by lockdowns and travel restrictions. In response to the crisis, many governments across the region have scaled up credit guarantee schemes to tackle the urgent liquidity problem faced by SMEs and to stimulate economic recovery through rebuilding the SME sector.
In partnership with the SME Finance Forum, Kafalah is hosting a MENA regional conference on the role of credit guarantee schemes in rebuilding the SMEs post-COVID-19.

The conference will convene leading credit guarantee experts and practitioners from the MENA region and beyond, alongside SME finance specialists and industry professionals. 

The conference will take place on September 6-7 2021. During the two half-day event we will discuss how credit guarantee schemes can meet those challenges and contribute to rebuilding SMEs post-COVID-19. More specifically, Individual sessions will tackle: alternative data, early-stage financing, and equity guarantees, the digitization of credit guarantee institutions, and the specific challenges of funding for sectors especially affected by the pandemic: including tourism, supply chains, and technology.  

COVID-19 Mitigation
Hear from industry leaders
Acquire new knowledge
Schedule

All times expressed in KSA time

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September 7

Board meeting (by invitation only)

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • By invitation only
September 7

Recap and Day Ahead

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • Opening Remarks
September 7

Beyond Stimulus, Forbearance, and Deferment: What’s Next?

Online
  • Forbearance
  • Plenary
September 7

Break

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • Break
September 7

Supply Chain Finance: Roles of Guarantee Institutions

Online
  • Supply Chain Finance
  • Breakout Session
September 7

Event Closing

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • Event Closing
September 6

Opening Remarks

Online
  • Tourism
  • Plenary
September 6

Dialogue/fireside chat on the impact of COVID and the role of the Guarantee Programs

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • Opening Remarks
  • Fireside Chat
September 6

Break

  • Break
September 6

Alternative data transforming SME Finance

Online
  • Alternative Data
  • Breakout Session
September 6

Early-stage Finance and Equity Guarantees

Online
  • Early-Stage Finance
  • Equity Guarantees
  • Breakout Session
September 6

Closing Remarks

Online
  • Credit Guarantees
  • Closing
September 8

Plenary: Digitalization and Its Impact on Credit Guarantee Institutions

Online
  • Digitalization
  • Plenary
September 9

Reviving and Financing Tourism and Entertainment Sector

Online
  • Tourism
  • Breakout Session

Plenary: Digitalization and Its Impact on Credit Guarantee Institutions

Online

Event Closing

Online

Supply Chain Finance: Roles of Guarantee Institutions

Online

Reviving and Financing Tourism and Entertainment Sector

Online

Break

Online

Beyond Stimulus, Forbearance, and Deferment: What’s Next?

Online

Recap and Day Ahead

Online

Board meeting (by invitation only)

Online

Closing Remarks

Online

Early-stage Finance and Equity Guarantees

Online

Alternative data transforming SME Finance

Online

Break

Dialogue/fireside chat on the impact of COVID and the role of the Guarantee Programs

Online

Opening Remarks

Online
Organizers
Who's Attending the Conference