I lead the the Missing Middle Initiative, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, supported by the Young Global Leaders.
Africa, because that is where SME financing is the most absent and can create the greatest impact. No region has challenges greater than Africa, yet it is home to myth busting funds and entrepreneurs who are achieving the seemingly impossible. These myth busters prove that if SME financing can be done effectively in Africa, it can be done anywhere.
The change I most passionately want to happen is for SME financing to be legitimized in the eyes of investors, by showing it can have not only a social impact, but generate competitive market rate returns, accelerating capital into the sector to close the financing gap.
I'm the COO of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America (SACCA), and a venture capitalist at Centripetal Capital Partners. In leading the Missing Middle Initiative, I'm working to achieve the three key goals of the initiative: legitimizing SME finance in the eyes of investors, identifying best practices and structures for SME funds, and establishing a Center for the Missing Middle including research, resources, and directories of SME funds, intermediaries, and institutions.
