UBA Sierra Leone made a remarkable impact at the Sierra Leone SME Finance and Investment Summit organised by the African SME Finance and Investment Network (ASFIN). The one-day summit was held on Thursday, 31st August, 2023, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Freetown.

The summit was aimed at engaging Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and private sector entrepreneurs, and served as a dynamic platform for discussions on finance, investment, and business growth.

The summit witnessed the active participation of UBA Sierra Leone’s head of SME banking, Samuel Soka, who played a pivotal role in delivering expert insights and engaging in significant discussions. Soka’s presentation at the summit reflected UBA Sierra Leone’s commitment to being a dedicated partner in the journey of SMEs. The bank’s holistic approach, from facilitating account opening to providing financial support, capacity building, and strategic partnerships, underscores its vision for vibrant and prosperous SMEs in Sierra Leone.

The ASMEF summit saw a distinguished gathering of notable representatives, emphasising the importance of the event. Among the attendees were esteemed representatives from the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL), Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), the European Union (EU), and various other prominent banks. Their presence and insights demonstrated the collaborative effort required to facilitate a conducive environment for SME growth.

The African Small and Medium Enterprises Forum (ASMEF) is an Africa regional membership platform that brings together SMEs, entrepreneurs and start-ups for better business growth, innovation, export promotion, imparting knowledge and education for transformation of their business activity, capacity building for global competitiveness, interface with policy makers, channelize finance and investment, joint ventures, technology transfer, exchange of know-how, setting up industries and expansion and diversification of business activities in Africa and abroad.

The Forum supports SMEs to identify emerging business and collaboration opportunities in the sub-region and across Africa, North and South America, Japan and European countries. It provides a platform to SMEs for connectivity, domestic business growth, imparting knowledge, capacity building, interaction with CEOs of multinational companies, banks, financial institutions, government officials, investors, private equity/venture funds, technocrats, overseas SMEs, importers and exporters and larger companies.