Africa's Times of News, provided insights to the IFC estimation that Africa’s finance gap for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stands at $331bn. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of most African economies and investment in this sector will significantly enhance job creation and wealth development. The informal sector contributes 38% of sub-Saharan Africa GDP yet 51% of the continent’s 44m formal MSMEs lack the finance necessary to grow. The true scale of the shortfall is almost certainly even greater given the lack of data.
The report comes from the Africa SME Finance Forum that the SME Finance Forum hosted May 14-16 in Nairobi.
