WUSME Partner of AIM 2023 speaking at the Entrepreneurs Investment Summit

WUSME joined the Annual Investment Meeting 2023 (AIM 2023) held in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 10 May 2023 as International Partner, and actively contributed to the discussions focusing on SMEs related issues.
Mr. Michel Fossaert, Member of the Board of Directors, attended as official Delegate the event which gathered thousands of visitors from different parts of the world, mainly from the Middle East and Africa but also from Asia and Europe. Conferences and exhibitions took place over the four days event. The first day was devoted mainly to workshops. Wusme participated in the workshop on SMEs and access to finance.
On May 8, Mr. Fossaert spoke at the Entrepreneurs Investment Summit, held as as an integral part of the AIM and organized in association with the UNIDO ITPO office in Bahrain. The WUSME Delegate took the floor  in the panel session related to “Improving SMEs Access to Sustainable Finance: Finding Innovative Solutions to Unlock Sources of Capital”, which brought together Wissam Fathou from the Arab Banks Union, Pauline Koelbl from ShEquity’s, Baybars Altuntas from World Business Angels Investment forum, Mohamed Hreimou Emirati Entrepreneur association and Ali Muqaibal from the Development Fund for Youth Projects. The discussion focused on innovative ways to facilitate access to financing for SMEs, such as crowdfunding, online loans and support through business angels and business creation funds. Mr. Fossaert underlined that, for already existing SMEs, it is necessary to work on credits and capital contribution. He talked about the potentials of blended capital, which brings together money from donors and private investors and insisted on the need to innovate in terms of guarantees. WUSME also paid particular attention to the African countries present at the Convention, whose delegations presented their activities or solutions on the themes of food sovereignty and security. WUSME looks forward to keep contributing to AIM in its next edition 2024 and collaborating with AIM Foundation in exploring opportunities of investment and parnerships in SMEs related projects in areas of common interest.