The transition from Communities of Practice to Innovation Hubs marks a shift from sharing best practices to actively fostering their adoption.

Key highlights include:

• Evolution to Innovation Hubs: Moving beyond best practice sharing towards fostering innovation.
• Focus on Adoption: Transitioning from webinars to Solutions Clinics to address specific challenges faced by members.
• Collaborative Model: Involving not just IFC experts but also member institutions, partners, and experts from other MDBs.
• Technology Integration: Introducing dynamic exchanges and curated content.
• Pilot Programs: Launching pilot initiatives to experiment with new ideas and involve stakeholders in their design and execution.
• Streamlined Roles: Rationalizing community roles to around key positions for better efficiency, collaboration, and inclusivity in innovation efforts.

During our inaugural Solutions Clinic, we were pleased to welcome 92 attendees representing 42 diverse institutions, who convened to explore the pivotal theme of "Making the Business Case for Sustainable SME Finance." These clinics serve as exclusive member-only events, tailored to address challenges proposed by participants within the Forum.

Distinguished experts hailing from esteemed backgrounds in banking, fintech, World Bank Group, OECD, and academia convened to delve into the issues presented by members of the Sustainable SME Finance Innovation Hub. Through in-depth discussions, they offered invaluable insights, elucidated exemplary practices, and directed attendees towards pertinent resources.

The session encompassed a range of pertinent topics, including the regulatory framework's role in stimulating SME demand for sustainable products, taxonomies and definitions therein, the utilization of guarantees, and strategies for navigating the diverse landscape of available digital tools for collecting SME sustainability data..

If you have sustainable finance challenges that you want to work through at the solutions clinic, please send them to mchenevixtrench@ifc.org

Alongside the Innovation Hub Co-Chairs, expert discussants included:
 

 Vivek Pathak - Regional Chief Risk Officer, Asia and Pacific, IFC

 Chinma George - Head of Renewable Energy, FCMB

 Mengyao Kang - Research Fellow, National Universtiy of Singapore

 Manessah Alagbaoso - Head Business Ecosystems and Sustainability - Standard Bank Group

 Joaquim Cordeiro, Relationship Manager, BNDES