The debate around SME finance [0] is rapidly maturing. Development professionals and socially-minded investors are well aware of the difficulty entrepreneurs in emerging economies have in securing capital larger than microloans.

A World Bank conference to be held next Monday and Tuesday in Washington, DC takes the conversation forward - from acknowledging the challenges of SME finance to getting into the specifics of how to make SME finance work. Speakers including:

• Thorsten Beck - World Bank
• Allen Berger - U. South Carolina and Wharton; and
• Meghana Ayyagari - George Washington University

will discuss best practices and new mechanisms for channeling capital to this sector. See the IFC site [1] [2]for more details.

Via PSD Blog [3]