MEA Finance SME Business Finance & Summit 2025

Overview

Much is being done across the region to encourage, develop and assist entrepreneurs and SMEs with government bodies, financial institutions and investors all making their contributions to keep this essential sector humming. Governments are awake to the vital role SMEs play in the day-to-day running of economies and are helping to foster enabling environments for them. However, as societies change and become more commercially diverse, so also must new structures and social obligations, such as corporate tax and VAT be put into place to underpin the economies that are developing.

Banks and financial institutions, often called out for not being flexible enough or sympathetic to the needs of startups and SMEs, have been and are avidly addressing this perception, with the development of products and services, plus specialist divisions to cater to and assist small businesses in their quest for success.

Technology businesses are building the platforms and solutions to help SMEs thrive in todays digitised and AI driven world and Fintechs – often themselves SMEs with the accompanying needs, also bring creativity and convenience into play in ways that can relieve some of the everyday financial constraints and stresses of managing a small enterprise.

The MEA Finance SME Business and Finance Summit 2025 will gather regional leaders from Businesses and Business Start-up Specialists, Banking and Finance, Technology and Fintechs, Regulators and Governmental Institutions all taking an active role in nurturing and enhancing the place of SMEs in our regional economies.

Provisional Agenda

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

PANEL 1: Why would you do that? - The life of a regional SME entrepreneur

What motivates someone to start a business? Most that do are aware of the challenges, but knowing the risks and living through them are vastly different experiences. Focus on the core business often goes beyond a days’ work, then comes admin, bureaucracy, sales, chasing payment for products and services rendered, staffing etc.; and somehow fitting in family time too. Do business owners receive fair treatment from banks and other vital service providers? Beyond financing, what other public or private mechanisms or organisations are in place in the region to provide support to SME owners and entrepreneurs?

PANEL 2: Balancing the Books - Liquidity, Funding, Credit and Debt

How available is finance to the region’s SMEs when needed, whether in the short or long term? How do the terms they receive compare larger sized operations? Are there liquidity needs that are specific the SME sector? Has open banking and new payments options like BNPL reduced the stress on SMEs working capital? Given the well acknowledged contribution they make to regional economies, what do regional banks, governments and financial authorities have in place to provide support? How does the liquidity, funding, credit and debt landscape currently look for regional SMEs and how is it evolving?

PANEL 3: Decisions, decisions - Your fateful first steps

What decisions must you make when starting or scaling up your business? Should you set up in a freezone and if so, which is the best for your business? If you desire work life influence, is a startup or taking a franchise the best choice? What insurance best suits your business? What legal representation does your business or market require? What are your key real-estate requirements - retail, commercial, industrial etc., and what kind of tenure works better for your circumstances? Which are the most suitable sources of funding - VC’s, banks, equity release from existing assets? How can you ensure you are making the right decisions?

PANEL 4: Programmed for Partnership - How technology is supporting SMEs

Much is made of the role of technology and AI, but how can it be most useful and best deployed in the SME and Startup context? As tools for automation and essential back-office tasks such as payroll, inventory management and accounting, it obviously has a role but are there small business specific advantages or accesses that technology can now provide that were not until recently available. What role can technology play in marketing and sales and can SMEs enjoy the kind of value from the cloud that larger business enjoy?

PANEL 5: Taxing times - Business Setup, Taxation and Regulatory Compliance

In recent times, regional governments have instituted new taxation and VAT regimes. As our economies grow more diverse and less reliant on natural resources, so do the sophistication of our regulatory environments. The effect is that SMEs and startups must make serious and considered decisions about how their operations will meet their mandatory obligations. Should you set up in a free zone and what are the benefits for SMEs? How can small businesses and SMEs remain compliant with employment and labour laws in free zones and the mainland? How can you best stay atop of your taxation and VAT obligations?

PANEL 6: Trading Places - Trade & Supply Chain Finance for SMEs & startups

Many SMEs trade across borders or are expanding their ranges to bring overseas commerce into their growth strategies, but many face financing challenges making deals. Banks can be forgiven for caution when extending credit, given greater risk perceptions, less enticing volumes or shorter financial track records, but could they do more to help? Have some banks already developed specific solutions for SMEs? What role can technology play in building availability of trade and supply chain financing. Are SMEs and startups actually aware of opportunities and offers in place to help them expand in this way

Nurturing the Future Economies of our Region

Overview

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Provisional Agenda

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