It’s the time of year to reflect on achievements, and to ponder what there may be in store for the future.  Here are a few brief thoughts about the past year, and the year to come, with respect to SME Finance and Women Entrepreneurs Finance.Milestones from 2013·         Crowdfunding moves to center stage – with the US Jobs Act regulations finally coming out, and platforms proliferating in Europe (where regs came earlier, in particular) and into many emerging markets, the year saw increased attention to this emerging alternative finance mechanism.  There still remains much opacity in this field, and I really doubt crowdfunding will ever replace more conventional debt financing, in particular…but definitely showed in 2013 it’s something to watch!·        Fintech may be even more front and center?  The overall domain of financial technology, whether coming through the Internet, smartphones, tablets, even SMS, showed it’s going to be the key factor in how fast we can close the SME Finance Gap.   Alibaba moving aggressively into SME Finance in China is perhaps the most obvious sign of this.  But there are other, less obvious moves happening now, with successful firms from the US and Europe opening up shop in emerging markets, offering everything from enhanced credit decision making, to improved portfolio management, to cloud-based financial and other management support through entrepreneurs’ own cellphones … the technology route is showing an increasingly viable alternative to “shoe leather” based, kick-the-tires means of solving the information challenges posed by SMEs for FIs.  ·         Financial inclusion recognized to need to  include SMEs too -  whether in the G20 deliberations, in the emerging market policymakers networks like the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, or in the strategic planning of international financial institutions, 2013 statements make it clear that financial inclusion must also mean SMEs getting finance (credit, in particular) if it is to lead to the greater incomes and jobs that are the real objective.  Seeing how many times SME Finance came up in the St Petersburg Leaders Declaration from the G20, as a key to sustainable growth, certainly impressed!·         Women Entrepreneurs Finance emerges as a key business opportunity – the launch of the Womens Finance Hub, the impressive growth in membership of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, and the increasing evidence gleaned from early movers such as Westpac (Australia), Garanti Bank (Turkey) , and  BLC (Lebanon), have shown that it’s not just fulfilling social obligations to do more for women entrepreneur customers – it’s very good business, too!·         Basel II/III and other enabling environment issues getting more attention – while the principles behind the new, stabilizing regulations are sound, growing evidence from putting these into practice in different regions shows that implementation approaches need more attention…recent EU clarifying regulations on trade finance are but one example of this response, with other areas, particularly around the development of common financial markets infrastructure, and around administrative requirements for SME accounts, in need of more detailed examination. Predictions for 2014 None of these may happen – but if any do, they will shake the SME finance world a good bit.·         Both crowdfunding and fintech will make a bigger splash in emerging markets than either has to date in developed markets -  not sure where, or exactly when, but there are many deals in gestation..·         The G20 will turn more attention to improving the enabling environment for SME Finance, moving away from more short-term direct intervention measures.  Will this influence the wider world?·         Rightly or wrongly, more “womens banks” will be started in more countries, dedicated exclusively to womens interests, mostly publicly owned and supported.  ·         “impact investing” will have its first major scandal, in all likelihood due to perceived mis-allocation of investor funds…which will lead to more decisive movement on transparency and meaningful standards.·         The global private sector will take some “baby steps” towards its own collective commitment to closing the SME Finance Gap, following on the growing number of public (national) commitments made under the Maya framework.  These baby steps should become big steps by some time in 2015.     

In Ethiopia, private banks started to flourish since 1994. Before 1994, there were no private banks; there were three public government-owned banks. But after 1994, sixteen private banks have been established and I see this as a big opportunity, because as you know, finance is key and Ethiopia is one of the most under-banked countries by sub-Saharan standards. I see this as a great opportunity and also a great leap forward.

Inez Murray is the CEO of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, a global consortium of financial institutions driving women’s wealth creation. Its 39 member institutions work in 135 countries to build innovative, comprehensive programs that provide women entrepreneurs with vital access to capital, markets, education, and training.

The CEO of Launch Angels on why crowdfunding means both more investment in female-led businesses and more female angels. Equity crowdfunding is in its early stages, but even at this point you can glimpse the potential. And that potential includes promise for both women angels and women-led companies.

Accion's Frontier Investments Group is a venture equity fund that invests capital and technical expertise in companies with novel business models (known in the industry as “disruptive”) with the potential of enhancing the efficiency, reach, and scope of products and services for people living in poverty worldwide.

Venture Lab is an investment initiative that provides patient seed capital and support to innovative financial inclusion start-ups, fostering experimentation and promoting business models that improve financial access for people living in poverty worldwide.

Since these start-ups traditionally lack access to capital and assistance, Venture Lab provides flexible financial and non-financial support to suit the needs of each investee enterprise.

To almost all economists it is clear that the private sector is critically important in creating jobs and achieving strong growth. The public sector is already overburdened in most countries. But what is not clear is how to support the private sector for it to play this important role.To shed some light on how to facilitate strong job creation and growth by the private sector in the Middle East and North Africa, we held a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2013, jointly with the Council of Saudi Chambers and the International Finance Corporation.

Since 2003, the IDB has done 121 non-sovereign guaranteed operations in the Caribbean valued at US$310 million. This includes 27 loans, 16 trade finance guarantees and one equity investment while the majority is composed of smaller technical assistance projects.One hundred and twenty one operations is undoubtedly something, but, in my opinion, it is not enough.

Financial inclusion has become a hot topic in recent years, especially with the advent of mobile banking and its potential to reduce the gender gap in access to finance. Women produce more than half of the world’s food and control about $20 trillion in consumer spending. Women also own one-third of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are top drivers of job creation in emerging markets, although evidence suggests that only 6 percent of the SME banking portfolio is allocated to women. Overall, women face a global credit gap of somewhere between $260 and $320 billion. And according to the World Bank Group’s Global Financial Development Report 2014: Financial Inclusion, women in developing economies are 20 percent less likely than men to have a bank account. Without financial access, women are at a disadvantage when it comes to growing their businesses, which in turn denies economies jobs and tax revenue.

The question is no longer ‘should we’ support female entrepreneurship but ‘what are the best ways’ in which to do this?Recently, a seminar sponsored by IFC/USAID entitled: Mapping Opportunities: Ranking or Binding brought together 3 new innovative tools: 2 indices and a diagnostic tool for assessing where the barriers lie for female entrepreneurs.