The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have launched an open financial education and action programme for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Asia and Africa.

The programme, known as the SME Financial Empowerment (SFE), aims to help MSMEs build foundational digital financial literacy skills. It also aims to help MSMEs understand the relevant cross-border financial services better, to help them thrive in the post-pandemic digital economy.

The SFE builds on an earlier memorandum of understanding (MOU) between MAS and IFC on the financial trust corridor (FTC) initiative to drive wider financial knowledge sharing, financial trust building and financial inclusion for MSMEs and financial institutions in developing markets.

The other key entities supporting the SFE are the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the Global FinTech Institute (GFI).

The SFE was rolled out with market partners in Asia and Africa, starting with Ghana, India, the Philippines, and Singapore, and will benefit more than 400,000 MSMEs across both regions, read the joint statement by MAS, IFC and UNDP dated June 14.

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The SFE is an inclusive and structured programme run on a digital portal operated by Proxtera, which is the lead operational partner for SFE. The portal provides a global platform to link domestic SME ecosystems and catalyse cross border trade, financing and digital services.

In 2022, the SFE aims to assist MSMEs in three key areas, which are essential financial digital skillsets, MSME financial services and digital economy access and growth.

The first tranche of the programme will comprise two learning modules focused on essential financial digital skillsets. These are: foundational financial literacy and global financial literacy.

Upon the completion of each module, businesses will receive a digitally verifiable certificate issued by SUSS and GFI.

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Further learning modules will be released in future tranches.

Sopnendu Mohanty, MAS’s chief fintech officer says, “An empowered MSME is essential to an equitable and sustainable digital economy. Such enablement begins with digital economy literacy. The affordable, bite-sized learning programme provided by SFE is a collaborative effort involving financial institutions and public and private sectors. Through the foundational and global financial literacy modules, MSMEs in Asia and Africa will benefit from new skills to leverage networks, financial and digital tools to grow their business internationally.”

Qamar Saleem, regional industry manager, financial institutions group advisory services, Asia and Pacific at IFC, shared, “We are delighted to partner with MAS and UNDP for this impactful initiative, which has the potential to improve the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners in emerging markets.”

“Empowering MSMEs with financial literacy and digital skillsets will help to level the playing field for smaller businesses, ultimately helping to address financing gaps and improving financial inclusion. Our team in Singapore will also play a vital role in maximizing the impact of this program through its extensive knowledge and decades of experience in implementing best practice and strengthening the processes and resources of MSMEs in emerging markets around the world. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to build a better future for MSMEs in Asia and Africa,” he adds.

Marcos Neto, director of the finance sector hub at UNDP, highlighted that: “In every country in the world, SMEs play a central part in the economy and society - and they are also the backbone of the global economy. SMEs represent up to 90% of the business segment in many countries - and also up to 80% of employment. But, too often, the potential of SMEs is constrained by gaps in knowledge relating to digital processes and technologies.”

He continues: “Helping SMEs to participate in the digital economy, through relevant training and digital financial skills, can unlock productive and sustainable growth opportunities. This knowledge is a real catalyst, and an important reason as to why UNDP is delighted to collaborate with IFC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in this important initiative. These efforts also align with UNDP’s global work that puts strong emphasis on sustainable SME growth, and aims to mobilise increased and more sustainable finance for SMEs.”

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