Statement by Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre (ITC) 

When I meet entrepreneurs, no matter where they come from, their biggest barrier to trade is one and the same: access to finance.

The global financing gap for small businesses is $5.7 trillion in emerging markets, according to the World Bank. That's more than the annual GDP of a country like Japan, Germany or India.

And yet small businesses form the foundations of most economies. They make up 90% of all companies and two-thirds of jobs worldwide, driving productivity and innovation. While they're key to sustainable economic growth, especially at a time of major shifts in global trade, they're unable to tap the financing they themselves need to grow and trade.

The reasons for this "missing middle" are many: No collateral. Weak credit history. Lack of financial literacy. There's also the perception that small businesses are riskier to invest in than more established firms, which translates to high interest rates when borrowing. These challenges are amplified in developing countries, and for certain groups, including women and youth.

So what we need is a way to reach small businesses where they are, in innovative ways, to fill the gaps.

Look at Lupiya, the Zambian AI-backed, online bank – the first of its kind in the country – with a completely online loan application process that enables quick assessment and disbursement of financing, thanks to its credit scoring system based on advanced machine learning models.

Today, it serves close to 130,000 users in Zambia, including businesses, and is expanding regionally, demonstrating that African fintech solutions can grow in "untapped" markets.

What makes this model especially innovative is that it plugs into the existing ecosystem, not relying on traditional deposit-taking but instead operating through online peer-to-peer lending, creating a flexible and inclusive alternative to conventional banking. It meets people where they are.

Investors have taken notice. To date, Lupiya has raised $11.25 million in Series A funding (venture capital), building on the $8.25 million raised in 2023 with our support, including business-focused training and coaching and the chance to pitch to international investors at the Web Summit in Lisbon in November 2022.

Such solutions – using digital technologies to unlock finance at scale – are replicable, tailored to local and national realities. And such innovations in turn need support to expand. Here, governments and regional bodies must put in place investment-friendly policies, robust digital frameworks and regulatory incentives that enable companies like Lupiya to innovate, compete and grow.

The continent of Africa does not lack entrepreneurs. It does not lack ideas. What we must continue to strengthen are the bridges between innovation and capital.

This is how we close the financing gap.

This is how we build inclusive digital economies.

This is how we build the resilient economic systems we need, one enterprise at a time.