4G Capital (www.4G-Capital.com), a market leading neobank powering micro and small business growth in Kenya and Uganda, received an Honourable Mention for Responsible Digital Innovator of the Year at the 2022 Global SME Finance Forum Awards (https://bit.ly/3Soylrh) on September 21^st.

Organised by SME Finance Forum, established by the G20 and managed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Global SME Finance Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of financial institutions and fintech companies delivering exceptional products and services to their SME clients to bridge the finance gap and promote sustainable growth.

4G Capital was recognised for its innovation and contribution to the economic advancement of its clients. By growing businesses with capital and knowledge, 4G Capital has positively impacted over 1.5 million people across East Africa.

Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, Founder and CEO of 4G Capital, said, “Today, we face many challenges; the rising cost of living and the extraordinary threat to food security in Africa posed not only by climate change but also by the war in Ukraine. Our mission is to democratise equitable wealth creation through financial inclusion and enterprise training that paves the pathway to formality for micro-entrepreneurs and MSMEs. We are honoured and humbled by the recognition and support from the IFC and the SME Finance Forum”.

Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum, said: “This year has seen the largest field of applicants ever, as we expand to a fifth award category in the important area of greening SME financing.  We have more countries with more financial products and approaches than ever before.  It was a tall order for the almost 100 judges, whom we thank profusely for their expert, informed and unbiased judgment about who merited recognition.”

In this fifth year of the competition, entrants continued to illustrate resilience and innovation across the categories, from the ongoing work of serving SMEs in the SME Finance of the Year category to the institutions channelling the Responsible Investor Guidelines (https://bit.ly/3UoXG66) in the Digital Innovator of the Year, to the creative and holistic approaches in the category of Best Financier for Women Entrepreneurs, which is organised each year in partnership with the IFC Banking on Women (https://bit.ly/3LzNDHy) Initiative.

Magda Bianco, GPFI co-Chair, said, “The G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion welcomes this latest round of the Global SME Finance Awards, which, along with our new Database on Digital SME Finance Innovations, is helping raise awareness of all the new possibilities that digitalisation offers for improving small firm access to finance. I’m very impressed with how many of these SME financing initiatives are taking place in the poorest countries of the world and in fragile and conflict-affected areas. I congratulate all the winners, all the honourable mentions, and all those who applied, and I really encourage you to share your great work in our new Database (https://bit.ly/3f7pPP5).