Organisers of the SAM 2019
The SAM is organized by ADA with the support of the Luxembourg’s Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.
It is also organised by the African networks:
- MAIN (Microfinance African Institutions Network)
- AFRACA (Association Africaine du Crédit Rural et Agricole)
- APSFD-BF (Association Professionnelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés du Burkina Faso)
- FAPSFD-UEMOA (Fédération des Associations Professionnelles des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés de l’Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine)
These organisers aim to provide a unified African platform for exchange and dialogue on the microfinance issues of the African continent, while promoting the collaboration of all actors in inclusive finance.
Partners:
Pathways Towards Impact: African Inclusive Finance for the Sustainable Development Goals
21 - 25 OCTOBER 2019
Together towards the SDGs
The SDGs provide an ambitious vision for 2030: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth and reduced inequalities for all. Inclusive finance has a vital role to play in each of these goals. But in order to tackle these interrelated challenges and achieve measurable change throughout the region, we need to come together, leverage our successes, measure our progress and coordinate our efforts. We have 12 short years to make tremendous strides and attain the 2030 benchmarks. SAM 2019 is an opportunity for key sector stakeholders to come together to assess the contributions of inclusive finance toward achieving SDGs.
Themes of the SAM 2019
Through a range of plenary events and breakout sessions, SAM 2019 will address the following themes, among others:
- Agricultural Finance
- Macro-Level Alignment with SDGs
- Digital Finance and Fintech
- Cash Transfers
- Small & Medium Enterprise Development and Youth Employment
- Gender Inequality
What is the SAM?
The African Microfinance Week (referred to as 'the SAM', based on the French acronym) is a major conference dedicated to the development of financial inclusion in Africa that takes place every two years.
Previous editions of the SAM were held in Arusha (Tanzania) in 2013, in Dakar (Senegal) in 2015, and in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in 2017. The 4th SAM will take place from the 21st to 25th October, 2019 at the International Conference Centre in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
The main ambition of the SAM is to provide a unified African platform for exchange on the microfinance issues facing the African continent by bringing together all the professionals of the sector – investors, MFIs, researchers, banks, networks, innovators, governments and others.
The SAM is a whole week to:
- Identify, discuss and celebrate the innovations, impacts and contributions that the African inclusive finance sector has made over the past 3-5 years toward achieving the SDGs;
- Analyze the gaps and challenges currently facing the sector and catalyze promising solutions to address them;
- Reinforce the sector’s commitment to and tools for effective impact measurement and business case analysis;
- Stimulate new and enrich existing relationships with potential partners and allies across the African inclusive finance sector, including promoting actionable plans and follow-through after the conference;
- Leverage the Luxembourg Cooperation’s financial expertise and enhance the agency’s role as a key partner for inclusive finance practitioners working to achieve the SDGs in Africa;
- Rally participants around how to focus their individual and collective energy in order to make substantial progress toward the 2030 milestones that we will reassess at SAM 2021.
More than a conference...
The SAM conference will last 2 days: Tuesday, 22 October and Wednesday, 23 October.
The 3 other days of the SAM - Monday, October 21, Thursday, October 24, and Friday, October 25 - will be reserved for other events:
- the Investors' Fair: a networking event for investors and African MFIs, organised as speed-dating sessions that encourage the creation of new partnerships between these actors.
- the Innovators' Village: presentation of innovative tools and services for national, regional and panafrican use that can improve the performance of MFIs as they support SMEs.
- Research Meets Africa: discussion between international and african researchers and professionals about the development of the inclusive finance sector in Africa.
- other related events: twenty free trainings and workshops, a Gala Dinner...
