2026 Global Meeting Agenda

SEPTEMBER 28

09:00-17:00

Introduction to the Universal Standards for SEPM and to SPI Online (open to all)
مقدمة في المعايير العالمية لإدارة الأداء الاجتماعي والبيئي (SEPM) ومنصة SPI Online

📍Blue Nile Room

Session Description

This full-day training introduces the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, including the Digital Financial Services Standards, and shows how SPI Online supports their practical implementation. Participants will explore the seven dimensions of the Universal Standards and how they strengthen client protection, governance, and institutional performance. Participants will also learn how internal teams and external partners looking to implement Universal Standards can measure progress using the standardized assessments, dashboards, and scoring available on the digital platform SPI Online. Advanced users can also integrate SPI data into their own MIS or monitoring systems through APIs, enabling alignment, collaboration, and impact at scale.

Trainer: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director or SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Amelia Greenberg is the deputy director of the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), where she has worked since 2010. Among her responsibilities within SPTF, Ms. Greenberg manages the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility for Sub-Saharan Africa, oversees updates to the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, plans SPTF annual meetings, leads SPTF’s outreach in Francophone regions, and runs both the Outcomes and the Responsible Digital Financial Services working groups. Prior to joining SPTF, Ms. Greenberg spent two years working in strategic consulting for nonprofit organizations, and before that, worked for six years as an economic consultant. Ms. Greenberg has master’s degree in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University, with specializations in international economics and international development, and a bachelor of arts from Brandeis University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a double major in economics and French literature. Ms. Greenberg speaks English and French.

09:00-15:00

Governance Workshop (for CEOs, board members, and investors only)
ورشة عمل الحوكمة

📍Kahramana Room

Session Description

This interactive workshop explores the critical role of governance in ensuring effective client protection. Participants will examine how boards and senior leadership can embed clientcentricity into strategy, risk management, incentives, and oversight, drawing on real-world cases and practical governance questions to prevent harm and strengthen long-term institutional Performance. The workshop will include an overview of SPI Online dashboard tools that translate social data into visual trends, actionable data allowing management, boards, investors to monitor client protection risks and institutional resilience. By integrating this data into their strategic oversight, directors can ensure that social performance is managed with the same rigor as financial results, moving from “good intentions” to data-driven accountability.

Facilitator: Laura Foose, Executive Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Laura Foose has been the executive director of the Social Performance Task Force since 2005. She has over twenty-five years of experience in program management, policy design, training, and advocacy in promoting private sector development and poverty alleviation in developing and transition countries. She has run a number of microfinance industry working groups focused on standards development for social and environmental performance management, consumer protection, client centricity, poverty alleviation, impact investing and reporting. Prior to SPTF, she was a founding partner of Alternative Credit Technologies where for ten years she designed microfinance projects, conducted evaluations of microfinance institutions, and was a working group facilitator for the SEEP Network in the areas of poverty assessment and outreach. As Secretariat of the Microenterprise Coalition at FINCA International for five years, Ms. Foose represented microfinance practitioners and advocacy organizations to donor agencies, the US Administration, and members of the US Congress, and helped draft the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act that governed US development programs.

Ms. Foose also has extensive experience on boards of directors, and in training and teaching, with more than 15 years in workshops design, training, and curricula development mainly in the fields of microfinance and development, financial inclusion, and business management. She is a professor of financial inclusion at Georgetown University; is a co- founder of Women Advancing Microfinance; served on the steering committee of the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) project of the Global Impact and Investing Network; and currently serves on the Beneficial State Foundation’s Equitable Bank Standards (EBS) Council to provide a measurable, step-by-step pathway for all U.S. banks to foster socially, racially, and environmentally equitable banking. Ms. Foose holds a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, with specializations in international economics and business, and a bachelor of arts from Brown University, where she graduated with a double major in economics and international relations. She is based in Washington, DC.

Facilitator: Deborah Drake, Director of the Financial Inclusion Equity Council, SPTF

Deborah Drake has over 30 years’ experience in financial inclusion, including investments and corporate governance, assessments and ratings, investor engagement and capacity building, and research in inclusive financial services. She is the co-author of Corporate Governance for Early-Stage, Innovative Companies: A Practical Resource Guide and the co-editor of The Commercialization of Microfinance: Balancing Business and Development.

At Cerise+SPTF, Deborah Drake directs the Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC), a member forum of private entities that make equity investments in financial inclusion in the developing world. Since FIEC moved its secretariat from Accion to Cerise+SPTF in 2023, Deborah also works closely with Cerise+SPTF’s Social Investor Working Group to further deepen collaboration and discussion among all types of investors.

Outside of her work for Cerise+SPTF, Deborah serves on the boards of Vista Ventures Social Impact Fund, IncluirTec (a Colombian ag-fintech), and O’Brien Art Foundation, and she is also the Director Emerita of Root Capital, a non-profit providing credit and capacity building to small and growing agricultural businesses around the globe.

Deborah is a graduate of Georgetown University, holds an MBA from Babson College, and speaks English (native), Spanish, and Portuguese.

09:00-17:00

Regulator Dialogue (for regulators only)
جلسة حوار الجهات التنظيمية

📍Nefertiti Room

Session Description

A peer-to-peer regulator dialogue on client protection and financial inclusion, designed for Central bank supervisors and market conduct policymakers from MENA, SSA, Southeast Asia, Central America, and other peer markets. This dialogue is sponsored by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and invites regulators from around the world to participate and share practice.

The Cairo dialogue will examine the shift from financial literacy to customer empowerment, and then focus on three areas where customer pathways most often break down: (i) hardship handling and collections conduct when customers are unable to repay; (ii) complaints handling that works—from voice to recourse; and (iii) graduating from guidance to market conduct supervision and enforcement, including early-warning indicators and proportionate escalation options. Across these areas, the dialogue will consider how respect and trust are built – or undermined – and what that means for market stability. This dialogue is designed to help regulators move from asking “do we have guidance and rules?” to “do we have signals, supervisory responses, and credible escalation pathways that prevent harm early and correct it when implementation is not acceptable?”

Facilitator: Nitin Madan, Director of the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Nitin Madan has worked for across South and South-East Asia on financial inclusion since the early 2000s. His experience spans assessments and certifications, operations, policy advocacy, project management, technical advisory/capacity building, and research in the areas of responsible inclusive finance; access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises; digital financial services, and small and medium enterprise policy. As director of the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility for Southeast Asia, Nitin is responsible for regional outreach, strategic direction, day-to-day management, identification of opportunities, and implementation of market-level responsible finance initiatives. He has and continues to work with a varied range of stakeholders including bilateral and multilateral agencies, country associations, development finance institutions, impact investors, policymakers, private sector organizations.

Nitin has a master’s in poverty and development from the Institute of Development Studies in the UK. He is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

09:00-15:00

Advanced Training on Responsible Pricing – From Compliance to Strategy (for senior decision-makers, CFOs, and product development staff only)
تدريب متقدم حول التسعير المسؤول – من الامتثال إلى الاستراتيجية

📍Babylon Room

Session Description

A practical training on responsible pricing as a strategic and governance issue — not only a compliance requirement. The session will help senior decision-makers understand key pricing drivers (costs, risk, profitability), assess whether prices are justified, and use SPI Online and the Client Protection Standard 4 tools to support transparent, defensible, and client-centered pricing decisions.

Trainer: Anne-Laure Behaghel, Client Protection Specialist, Cerise+SPTF

Anne-Laure Behaghel is has worked extensively to advance client protection practices in financial services since 2013. She is a financial inclusion specialist, who has been working in the industry since the early 2000s, including six years in developing countries. She started working in the field of inclusive finance by launching two greenfield microfinance institutions, one in Mexico and the other in Senegal, taking up the position of chief financial officer in both institutions. She then joined Kiva, the pioneer in crowdfunding for microfinance, for whom she developed the portfolio in African French-speaking countries, conducting both social and investment due diligence to identify partners with a double bottom-line objective.

She works mainly with impact investors for their due diligence and provides technical advisory services, in particular in the field of smallholder farmer finance.

Anne-Laure holds a master’s degree from ESCP, one of the top-ranked business schools in Europe. She speaks English, French, Spanish, Polish and German and is currently learning Portuguese, being based out of Porto, Portugal.

SEPTEMBER 29

09:00-10:30

PLENARY: Advancing Client Protection through a Market Systems Approach
الجلسة العامة: تعزيز حماية العملاء من خلال نهج أنظمة السوق

📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

Setting the tone for the 2026 Global Meeting, this Opening Plenary will explore how a market systems approach can advance client protection and responsible finance at scale. Client protection cannot be achieved through isolated institutional compliance or one-off technical assistance projects. It requires coordinated action across the financial ecosystem—regulators and supervisors, government ministries, investors, industry associations, financial service providers (FSPs), infrastructure providers, and consumer groups—working together to align incentives, strengthen supporting functions, and address systemic constraints.

The participation of senior leaders from across the Government of Egypt demonstrates this broader commitment. Financial services touch many dimensions of people’s economic lives—from agriculture and entrepreneurship to investment, public finance, tourism, and employment. Advancing responsible finance therefore requires a shared vision across government: expanding access to finance while ensuring that financial services contribute to the well-being, resilience, and economic opportunities of the people they are intended to serve.

The session will then take a deeper look at Egypt as an example of the market systems approach in action. Cerise+SPTF and its partners are working with key actors across the Egyptian financial sector to advance the Cerise+SPTF Client Protection Standards and embed responsible practices throughout the market. By engaging some of the country’s largest financial service providers, the initiative aims for more than 90% of Egypt’s microfinance clients to be served by institutions applying strong client protection practices.

Egypt’s experience will provide a starting point for the broader discussion of the Global Meeting: How can we move from fragmented interventions to coordinated, sustainable change across an entire financial system—and ultimately ensure that financial inclusion leads to better outcomes for customers?

Welcome Remarks by Laura Foose, Executive Director, SPTF

Introduction by Dr Hala Abou El-Saad, Chairwoman, Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium. Small and Microenterprises (MSMEF)

Opening Remarks:

H.E. Mr. Tarek ElKholy, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)
H.E. Dr. Islam Azzam, Chairman, Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA)

.
Session Keynote: Dr. Mona Zulficar, Partner, Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, and SPTF Board Member

Panelists:

H.E. May Abulnaga, First Sub-Governor, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)
Dr. Rehab Taha, Assistant Chairman, Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA)
Mr. Mohammed Khaled, Microfinance Senior Specialist & Practice Group Lead for Africa, IFC

10:30-11:00

Tea, Coffee, & Networking Break

11:00-12:30

CHOOSE A BREAKOUT SESSION:
:اختر إحدى الجلسات الفرعية

𝟭) 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
قياس وتقييم نتائج العملاء لتحسين حماية العملاء
📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

This session explores the importance of understanding customer outcomes, both good and bad, in order to improve practices and customer service. It will explore how well-intentioned policies can fall short if customer feedback is poorly captured or misinterpreted. Drawing on real examples, participants will examine how survey design, question wording, and data aggregation can significantly influence results. The session will highlight why asking the right questions—and asking them in the right way— as well as using them for decision-making, is critical to understanding whether an FSP’s systems genuinely protect clients from over-indebtedness, unfair treatment, and lack of transparency.

Participants will gain practical guidance on collecting honest, meaningful feedback, even without dedicated research units, and on using customer insights to strengthen client protection outcomes across credit, insurance, and other financial services—particularly for clients in default, rural areas, or with lower levels of education.

Session Moderator: Cecile Lapenu, Executive Director of Cerise, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Katherine Brown, Impact Manager, Advans International
Joris Crisà, Senior Consultant and Client Protection Principle expert, FMO
Vidary Inthamone, Debt Fundraising Manager, Gojo & Company
Nompi Vilakazi, Managing Director Designate, Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF)

Moderator: Cecile Lapenu, Executive Director of Cerise, Cerise+SPTF

Cécile Lapenu oversees Cerise’s human resources and strategy, project management, and the relationships with the partners. She works in particular in social audit of the investment funds, social audit, mentoring and training of microfinance institutions and networks and coordination of research. Cécile brings extensive field experience coaching, mentoring and providing direct technical assistance to organizations in the areas of social strategy, environmental performance and ESG risk assessment. Under her stewardship, Cerise has pioneered and helped mainstream the concept of social performance management, facilitated the emergence of the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management and created the free SPI social audit tools using a bottom up, collaborative approach. The SPI tools suite is the most widely used social audit tool in the microfinance sector. Cécile Lapenu was member of the Board of the Social Performance Task Force for 10 years and was chairwoman of the Board of the European microfinance platform (e-MFP) in 2013. Before joining CERISE in 2001, Cécile Lapenu was a post-doctoral fellow at IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, USA). From 1993 to 1997, she worked at the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD). She has a PhD in rural economics on the microfinance sector in Indonesia

Panelist: Katherine Brown, Impact Manager, Advans International

Katherine Brown has more than a decade of experience in financial inclusion and social and environmental performance management. As Impact Manager at Advans Group, a leading African microfinance group, she leads the development and implementation of the Group’s impact strategy, with a particular focus on climate resilience, gender inclusion, and client protection. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Advans Ghana. Katherine works with Advans subsidiaries across Africa, both remotely and through short-term technical assistance missions, helping to embed impact management principles into operations and business strategy while advancing the Group’s social and environmental objectives.

Panelist: Joris Crisà, Senior Consultant and Client Protection Principle expert, FMO

Joris Crisa joined FMO in 2025 as a Client Protection Standards (CPS) Specialist. He oversees the procedures and systems used to assess client protection risks throughout the investment process and advises deal teams on complex and high-risk transactions. Before joining FMO, Joris held several roles at MFR, including managing and refining social performance products such as Social and Environmental Ratings, Client Protection Certifications, and impact assessments.

Panelist: Vidary Inthamone, Debt Fundraising Manager, Gojo & Company

Vidary is Debt Fundraising Manager at Gojo & Company, a Japan-based impact-focused microfinance holding company with subsidiaries across Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. With more than 15 years of experience in Investor Relations management across debt, investment and social performance within microfinance holdings companies, Vidary oversees structured finance transactions and corporate governance across Gojo’s network. She sits on the Board of Directors of two companies within the Gojo group, chairing SEPM committees. Prior to joining Gojo, Vidary worked at Advans International in Paris and in an MFI in Mexico. Vidary holds a Master of Science in Management from EM Lyon Business School, and is a Certified Instructor for the Client Protection Pathway from Cerise+SPTF.

Panelist: Nompi Vilakazi, Managing Director Designate, Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF)

No bio available.

𝟮) 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆+ 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭: 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
مسار حماية العملاء+ الجزء الأول: انضم إلى الحركة
📍 Kahramana Room

Session Description

Client Protection isn’t a project with an end date — it’s a cycle. CP Pathway+ organizes that cycle into stages: Learn & Commit, Assess & Plan, Improve Practice, Analyze & Report, and then Do It Again. Each pass through the cycle starts with an honest assessment, builds a plan around the real gaps, puts that plan into practice while checking in directly with clients, and then deliberately starts over with the next priority.

This session unpacks why the cycle is designed to repeat — not because institutions fall short the first time, but because client needs, products, and risks keep evolving, and staying on top of client protection means staying in motion. Checking in with clients, hearing both the positive and the negative, sits at the center of the cycle: it’s what tells an institution whether its practices are actually working before it moves on to the next priority.

Session Moderator: Rula Mheissen, CP Pathway+ Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Ayman Elsaeed, General Manager, Consumer & Competition Protection Sector, Central Bank of Egypt
Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, Founder & Executive Chairman, 4G Capital
Ingrid Smit, Director, KukuzaCon Ltd, and a Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro
Rana Ramsis, Associate Investment Officer Financial Inclusion Group (FIG), IFC – World Bank Group

Moderator: Rula Mheissen, CP Pathway+ Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Rula Mheissen has more than 20 years of experience in training, strategic planning, social performance management and client protection, with a focus on the responsible inclusive finance industry. She has an extensive background in social performance management audit, client protection assessment, impact assessment, and research and data analysis, and has worked with financial service providers throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to reengineer their policies, processes, and activities around the Universal Standards and client protection standards.

A bilingual subject matter expert, Rula has contributed to the Arabic translation of several key Cerise+SPTF materials and trainings, including the third edition of the Universal Standards for Social Environmental Performance Management. She has also managed and led projects on financial literacy in Jordan and the MENA region, resulting in published material and tools.

Rula established and currently manages the Customer Service, Market Research and Social Performance Department in Vitas Jordan, a financial service provider whose microinsurance product she designed and manages.

Panelist: Ayman Elsaeed, General Manager, Consumer & Competition Protection Sector, Central Bank of Egypt

Ayman Elsaeed is General Manager – Consumer & Competition Protection Sector in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). With over 27 years of extensive experience in the banking sector. He has built a distinguished career that combines deep operational expertise in commercial banking with a strong focus on regulatory development and financial consumer protection. Over the past six years, he has played a pivotal role in shaping and advancing the financial consumer protection framework within the CBE. In his capacity as General Manager, he leads strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening consumer rights and fostering trust in the banking system with more focus on activating and enhancing the market conduct supervision approach. Prior to joining the Central Bank of Egypt, Ayman spent 21 years in commercial banking, where he held several senior leadership positions across Retail Banking, Wealth Management, and MSMEs Lending. He concluded this phase of his career as Head of Branch Network Group at a regional commercial bank, where he was responsible for overseeing branches operations and driving customer-focused business growth. Ayman holds an MBA in Investment and Banks Management, as well as International Certificate in Financial Advice, and he is a Certified Retail Banker.

Panelist: Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, Founder & Executive Chairman, 4G Capital

Wayne Hennessy-Barrett is Founder and Executive Chairman of 4G Capital, an award-winning fintech microfinance powering business growth in East Africa. The Company was ranked in the top ten global B Corporation financial institutions and the Financial Times 100 fastest growing companies in Africa. He is a committed advocate for the power of business and technology for the alleviation of poverty. Wayne has over 25 years leading high-performance teams on sustainable operations in frontier markets for high impact outcomes. He has advised and served on several commercial and non-profit boards in the business, technology and non-profit sectors including the SMART campaign, B for Good Leaders Network and Council for Inclusive Capitalism, and was listed in the top 50 Fintech CEOs. He had a distinguished first career as an infantry officer in the British Army with active duty in Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as policy jobs in the MOD and a tour as an instructor at Sandhurst. Wayne is also a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Wilson Center, a non partisan US government think tank, a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He holds an MA in Conflict Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Politics from Exeter University and has a diploma in International Compliance. He attended the Harvard Business School Strategic Leadership in Financial Inclusion executive course. Wayne enjoys all outdoors pursuits, current affairs and supports a number of charities in the UK and Kenya focused on learning disabilities, advocacy for marginalised communities and veterans. He is Vice-Chairman of the Companion of the Order of Malta in Kenya.

Panelist: Ingrid Smit, Director, KukuzaCon Ltd, and a Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro

Ingrid Smit is an MSME and agricultural finance expert with extensive international exposure. She has been working in finance since 1997, focusing on emerging markets in Africa, South America and Asia. In the last 20+ years she has specialize in micro and SME finance, especially in Africa, Areas of expertise include social & environmental performance management, portfolio management, lending and savings methodologies, Agri lending, risk management and governance. She is a certified SPI auditor, a qualified auditor on Client Protection and a certified expert in agricultural finance. Previously employed by among others Planet Rating, Oxfam Novib and FMO, Ingrid has been consulting for large reputable investors such as IFC, KFW, FMO and Oikocredit since 2012. Ingrid is a Dutch national. She is based in Cape Town, South Africa, and has also lived and worked in Nairobi, Kenya and Tunis, Tunisia.

Panelist: Rana Ramsis, Associate Investment Officer Financial Inclusion Group (FIG), IFC - World Bank Group

Rana has over nine years of experience in financial inclusion, microfinance, and climate finance, delivering advisory services across the Middle East and Africa. As an Associate Investment Officer with IFC’s Financial Institutions Group (Upstream/Advisory) Africa team, she supports the implementation of advisory projects that strengthen commercially sustainable microfinance institutions and advance climate finance initiatives. Rana is also a CERISE+SPTF Certified Client Protection Auditor.

𝟯) 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱: 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
الشمول: إدماج ذوي الإعاقة في التمويل المسؤول
📍 Nefertiti Room

Session Description

Persons with disabilities represent approximately 16% of the global population, a figure predicted to rise as a result of population aging and the impact of conflicts, displacement, and adverse climate events. Yet persons with disabilities continue to face significant barriers to accessing financial services and participating fully in economic life.

Addressing these barriers requires an ecosystem approach, bringing together regulators, investors, financial service providers, persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, to embed disability inclusion within existing financial systems. To support this effort, BFFI, Cerise+SPTF and ADA have developed a set of resources which integrate disability inclusion indicators within the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, combined with practical guidance to help financial institutions translate disability inclusion principles into concrete practices.

The session will illustrate this ecosystem approach through Egypt’s experience, highlighting the Central Bank of Egypt’s efforts to create an enabling environment for disability-inclusive finance; the perspective of a financial institution translating policy into practice; and the essential role of organizations of persons with disabilities in identifying barriers and shaping solutions that respond to the lived experience of persons with disabilities, while improving the usability and quality of financial services for all.

Session Moderator: Paul Surreaux, Co-Founder, Barrier-Free Finance Initiative

Panelists:

Khaled Bassiouny, General Manager of Financial Inclusion, Central Bank of Egypt
Hend Fahmy, Head of Financial Inclusion and Mortgage, Banque Misr
Ablla Adel Hassan Ahmed, Founder, Bright Path for My Child Initiative, and advocate Disability-Inclusive Finance

Moderator: Paul Surreaux, Co-Founder, Barrier-Free Finance Initiative

Paul Surreaux is co-founder of the Barrier-Free Finance Initiative, a non- profit that promotes the financial inclusion of persons with disabilities. He has over 15 years of experience in inclusive finance, including roles as project manager, investment officer and trainer at ADA Luxembourg, and Head of Credit Plus at Chamroeun Microfinance Plc in Cambodia. Since 2017, he has implemented inclusive finance projects across Southeast Asia and Central America, with a particular focus on disability inclusion. Together with Cerise+SPTF and with the support of ADA, he contributed to the development of a set of resources integrating disability inclusion indicators into the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management (USSEPM), alongside practical guidance for financial service providers. Paul holds a Master’s degree from the European Microfinance Programme, lives in El Salvador, and speaks English, Spanish and French.

Panelist: Khaled Bassiouny, General Manager of Financial Inclusion, Central Bank of Egypt

Mr. Khaled Bassiouny leads the design and execution of Egypt’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy. His work focuses on expanding access to adequate, customer-centric financial services for unserved and underserved populations — through inclusive regulatory reform, national-scale projects, and targeted financial inclusion initiatives. In recognition of this work, Bassiouny received the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s 2023 Technical Leadership Award for the Arab Region, presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional technical contributions to AFI’s global and regional knowledge products and initiatives. He also spearheaded Egypt’s Financial Literacy Initiative, “Shaping the Future,” which has grown into a national program engaging the country’s key stakeholders and has earned Egypt multiple Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) awards.

With over 35 years of experience spanning marketing, business development, financial literacy, and financial inclusion, Bassiouny brings deep strategic and technical expertise to his field. He is a certified Development Dimensions International (DDI) instructor and certified Financial Literacy Trainer, a graduate of the Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a certified leader of the Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators through Women’s World Banking.

Panelist: Hend Fahmy, Head of Financial Inclusion and Mortgage, Banque Misr

Hend Fahmy was appointed Head of Financial Inclusion and Mortgage Sector at Banque Misr in 2023.

Prior to joining Banque Misr, she began her career at the Arab Bank where she spent 15 years, she joined Banque Misr in 2006 as Head of Personal Loans and Mortgage Finance, where she launched for the first time in Banque Misr a wide range of personal and mortgage loans, while also establishing the Retail Banking vision and strategy.

In February 2017, she was promoted to Deputy Head of Retail Banking and then Head of Retail Banking Sector in October 2018. Hend Fahmy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Faculty of Economics and Political Science – Cairo University which she obtained in 1991.

Other Current Positions:

Chairman of the Board Directors, CI Mortgage company.
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Egyptian Federation of Real Estate Finance.

Panelist: Abla Adel Hassan Ahmed, Founder, Bright Path for My Child Initiative, and advocate Disability-Inclusive Finance

Abla Adel Hassan is a visually impaired professional, researcher, trainer, and disability inclusion advocate from Egypt. She works at Telecom Egypt in the Training and Development Sector and serves as a trainer in its Leadership Development Program, specializing in accounting and finance. She holds a Master’s degree in History from Ain Shams University, a Diploma in Accounting from Cairo University, and is pursuing a PhD in Modern History. Drawing on her lived experience, Abla advocates for greater independence and inclusion of persons with disabilities. She founded “A Bright Path for My Child, ” an initiative supporting children with visual disabilities and their families, which received first place in a Ministry of Youth and Sports competition and an Excellence Award at the 57th Cairo International Book Fair. She has also advocated for greater financial inclusion of persons with visual disabilities, engaging with Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt to promote talking ATMs and more independent access to banking services. She has participated in national and international events, including the World Youth Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh and events organized by Ain Shams University.

12:30-14:00

Lunch

📍 Teeba Ballroom

14:00-15:00

PLENARY: DFS Standards – Digital Finance to Empower and Protect: Insights from Providers in Practice
الجلسة العامة: معايير الخدمات المالية الرقمية – التمويل الرقمي للتمكين والحماية: رؤى من مقدمي الخدمات حول الممارسات العملية

📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

Digital financial services (DFS) have tremendous potential to expand financial inclusion, improve customer convenience, and drive innovation across emerging markets. At the same time, the rapid growth of digital channels introduces substantial new risks for customers—particularly related to transparency, affordability, data use, and responsible pricing.

To help mitigate these risks, Cerise+SPTF encourages financial service providers to implement the Management Standards for the Responsible Provision of Digital Financial Services (the “DFS Standards”). These Standards consolidate best practices identified by financial service providers and associated stakeholders worldwide, offering practical guidance for delivering DFS inclusively and responsibly.

The DFS Standards build on the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, adapting key indicators to a digital context while introducing new management practices designed to reduce customer harm and strengthen consumer protection in digital products and delivery channels.

This session will introduce the DFS Standards. It will explain the consumer protection risks that large numbers of DFS customers are currently experiencing, and then provide a summary of the management practices in the DFS Standards, which when implemented significantly mitigate consumer protection risk and make it much more likely that using digital financial services will create positive outcomes for customers. The panel will include reflections from three DFS providers that have had a DFS Standards assessment already, to share their lessons learned and key benefits from using the tool. We will then dive deeply into practical examples, sharing the specific ways in which the panelists’ organizations are implementing some of the DFS Standards. And we will discuss certain practices in the DFS Standards that are not yet widely implemented but are nonetheless critical to protecting customers from harm, to build understanding and buy-in for these frontier areas of good customer protection.

Session Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Blaine Stephens, Independent Consultant and Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro
Jade Potgieter, Head of Strategic Programmes, Jumo
Benta Ogongo, Legal Counsel, M-KOPA Kenya Limited
Nehal Helmy, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Flend

Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists

Blaine Stephens, Independent Consultant and Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro

Blaine shapes product, program, and organizational strategy for start- ups, financial institutions, and global development partners working in digital and financial inclusion. He combines board-level perspective with 20 years of operational experience in developing and applying market data and insight to support strategic decisions in fintech, digital financial services, microfinance, and agri-SME finance. As COO of MIX, he led development of reporting standards, global benchmarks, and platforms such as MIX Market and Inclusive Fintech 50. He began his career building a microfinance start-up in Morocco with Al Amana and supporting UNCDF training programs. Today, he helps organizations translate data and market insight into actionable strategies.

Jade Potgieter, Head of Strategic Programmes, Jumo

No bio available.

Benta Ogongo, Legal Counsel, M-KOPA Kenya Limited

No bio available.

Nehal Helmy, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Flend

Nehal Helmy is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer at Flend, Egypt’s first tech-enabled, data-driven financing solutions platform dedicated to SMEs. She is an Economist with vast experience in financial and private sector development. Prior to co- founding Flend, Nehal served as Economic Advisor to Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, where she led a diverse team of 30+ staff and managed Egypt’s multilateral relations and programs with International Financial Institutions (IFIs), including the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), among others.

During her tenure at the Ministry, Nehal was actively engaged in regulatory and policy-driven initiatives related to the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), as these two entities were under the Ministry of Investment’s supervisory authority at the time. Nehal was selected by the UNDP to join the WIP program as a pioneering tech woman innovator. The WIP program is a partnership between UNDP and 4FYN that aims to support female tech entrepreneurs in the Arab region who use tech to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She was also selected by IFC to take part in the SheWinsArabia Program, as one of the most promising female entrepreneurs in the Arab region. Nehal was also a core team member and the Ministry’s focal point in negotiating the budget support package financed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, amounting to a total of US$ 4.5 billion. Nehal also oversaw all matters related to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), drafted numerous Country Partnership Strategies of various IFIs for Egypt, and participated in the establishment of a unit for monitoring and evaluation of development projects to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of official development assistance directed to Egypt. Additionally, Nehal designed and sourced financing for a capacity-building program for the Ministry of International Cooperation, as well as mobilized the required resources through the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Transition Fund and other development funds. Other responsibilities included developing content for and supervising promotional campaigns and conferences, drafting investment strategies, policy documents and reports, and participating in policy dialogue with different counterparts, as well as in consultations with stakeholders, donors, and development partners. In parallel, she was also appointed as Advisor to the Constituency Representative for Egypt, South Africa, and Brazil at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, China.

Prior to joining the Government, Nehal led tens of local and regional development projects in her capacity as Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group’s Finance and Markets Global Practice, mainly focusing on access to finance for MSMEs, as well as low-income housing finance in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen.

Nehal has an MSc in Economics from the University of Barcelona

15:00-15:30

Tea, Coffee, & Networking Break

15:30-17:00

CHOOSE A BREAKOUT SESSION:
:اختر إحدى الجلسات الفرعية

𝟭) 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱
ما وراء الرقمنة: تصميم الخدمات المالية بناءً على الاحتياجات الفعلية للعملاء
📍 Kahramana Room

Session Description

Across inclusive finance markets, digital financial services are expanding rapidly, but access does not automatically translate into meaningful financial inclusion. Many people remain inactive or underserved even when financial services are within reach because available products do not sufficiently reflect their needs, or because barriers related to trust, cost, financial and digital capability, and ease of use persist. At the same time, providers often remain heavily focused on credit when clients may have equally important needs for savings, payments, insurance, liquidity management, emergency finance, and tools for managing irregular incomes and financial shocks.

This session will explore how providers can move beyond access and digital adoption toward meaningful usage and client value. Through practical examples of client-centered product design, participants will consider a different sequence for innovation: understand the target market → identify unmet needs → design the right product → determine the right delivery channel → monitor responsible use → measure client outcomes. The central message is simple: Don’t start with the technology. Start with the unmet need. Don’t end with adoption. End with the client outcome.

Workshop Moderator: Laura Foose, Executive Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Speakers:

Loubna Bouras, Task Team Leader, Financial Systems Division, Agence Française de Développement
Edgardo Pérez Preciado, CEO, Fundación Génesis Empresarial
Hazem Moghazi, Business & Commercial Chief Executive Officer, AMAN Holding
Amr Abouelazm, Vice Chairman and CEO, Erada Finance

Moderator: Laura Foose, Executive Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Ms. Foose holds a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, with specializations in international economics and business, and a bachelor of arts from Brown University, where she graduated with a double major in economics and international relations. She is based in Washington, DC.

Speaker: Loubna Bouras, Task Team Leader, Financial Systems Division, Agence Française de Développement

No bio available.

Speaker: Edgardo Pérez Preciado, CEO, Fundación Génesis Empresarial

Edgardo Pérez Preciado is the Chief Executive Officer of Fundación Génesis Empresarial. Edgardo Pérez Preciado is a distinguished senior executive with more than 35 years of experience in the financial and banking sector in Guatemala and across the region. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Fundación Génesis Empresarial, where he leads strategic initiatives focused on innovation, digital transformation, financial inclusion, and the sustainable growth of microentrepreneurs and small businesses in Guatemala.

Throughout his career, Mr. Pérez Preciado has held senior leadership positions across the financial sector, including serving as Chief Executive Officer of two banking institutions in Guatemala and holding executive leadership roles at three financial institutions specializing in consumer lending and credit cards. His extensive experience encompasses banking, financial services, strategy, technology, credit, and inclusive finance. Mr. Pérez Preciado holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Systems Engineering and Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from INCAE Business School. His combination of technological expertise and business leadership has supported his focus on leveraging innovation and digital solutions to expand access to financial services.

In addition to his executive responsibilities, he has contributed to the development of the financial and microfinance sectors through various board and industry leadership roles. He has served as Chairman of the Board of ACCION, as a Board Member of REDMIF (Network of Microfinance Institutions of Guatemala), and as Vice President of the Microfinance Chamber. He has also served on the board of the Guatemalan Bankers Association.An experienced international speaker, Mr. Pérez Preciado regularly shares insights on strategy, digital innovation, financial inclusion, and the role of technology in expanding economic opportunities. His work emphasizes practical, scalable approaches to empowering microentrepreneurs, strengthening small businesses, and promoting inclusive economic development.

With a career spanning more than three decades, Edgardo Pérez Preciado brings together extensive financial-sector leadership, technological expertise, and a strong commitment to innovation and financial inclusion.

Speaker: Hazem Moghazi, Business & Commercial Chief Executive Officer, AMAN Holding

Hazem Moghazi is the current Business & Commercial Chief Executive Officer for AMAN Holding.

Moghazi has a proven track record of achievements, most notably establishing AMAN Financial Services by creating an extensive network of retail stores, as well as providing e-payment, telecommunications, and financial services.

Previously, Eng. Moghazi was a retail sales manager and the one responsible for Raya retail stores from 2013 until he was appointed as the CEO. He was also responsible for expansion plans, implementation, and introducing consumer finance.

Additionally, Moghazi has been responsible for inventory management and the speculation of market mechanisms and requirements. He has inaugurated the establishment of the corporate department, worth 130 million Egyptian pounds.

At the beginning of career, Moghazi started off as an engineer in Trans Telecom Egypt and then SLB. In 1999, Moghazi joined Raya and progressed until he became an IT manager in 2009. In January 2010, he became the Director of IT and Logistics Services at Raya Trading Company. Eng. Moghazi acquired a Bachelor of Engineering from Ain Shams University in 1997, then obtained a master’s degree in business administration from the Regional IT Institute (RITI) in 2012. He then studied at Harvard University for two months to complete the Advanced Management Program in 2017.

Speaker: Amr Abouelazm, Vice Chairman and CEO, Erada Finance

Amr Abou El-Azm is the Co-Founder, CEO and Vice chairman of Erada Finance.

Erada Finance is a financial services company powered by fintech, providing a diversified set of innovative financing products aligning with Egypt’s financial inclusion endeavors. With the partnership of Etisalat Egypt (e&) and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt. He is also the Chairman and a Shareholder in ElGameya for Finance & Information Technology. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small & Micro Projects(EFFMSMP), representing the private sector. He also serves as the Co-Chair of the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham), He is also a consultant to (UNDP) for SMEs Financing. Amr was previously the Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Tamweely Micro Finance Company, He was formerly the CEO, Vice Chairman and Co-founder of Tanmeyah Micro Enterprise Services and the Deputy Director of the German Development Bank (KFW) in Egypt. He previously served as a Board Member at Nasser Social Bank, as well as at the International Council for Small Business (ICSB). He also served as the President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Egypt (GEN Egypt). He was formerly a Board Member of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (MSMEDA).

In addition to being one of the renowned executives in Egypt in financial services management structuring, Micro Finance and SME financial projects; he has played a principal role in the formulation of the First National Micro Finance Strategy for Egypt and first Micro Finance law. He is an eminent Lecturer in entrepreneurship developmentand financial services provision and management and an Investor in a number of startups and a mentor to a number of young entrepreneurs as well as an Advisor for Fintech startups. Advancing through a series of past and current leadership positions, Mr. Abou El-Azm has accumulated over 33 years of experience in various business areas including Micro Finance, Digital Financial Services, Banking, Investment and Development Finance.

Mr. Abou El-Azm holds a B.A. in Economics in 1993 and a master’s degree specializing in the Commercializationand Development of Micro and small Enterprises in 2004, both received from the American University in Cairo.

𝟮) 𝗖𝗣 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆+ 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 – 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀
مسار حماية العملاء+ الجزء الثاني الجدوى المالية - حماية العملاء كاستراتيجية: نحو بناء مؤسسات وأسواق صحية وسليمة
📍 Nefertiti Room

Session Description

Client Protection is often framed as a compliance obligation or a donor requirement — something layered on top of the business, rather than part of how the business works. In practice, the institutions that treat CP as core strategy tend to see it show up first in their numbers: steadier repayment, lower attrition, and easier access to capital from investors who now screen for CP maturity before they fund.

The same logic holds at market level. Markets that let over-indebtedness and weak consumer protection build unchecked have paid for it with sector-wide repayment collapses and a loss of investor confidence that took years to rebuild. Markets with strong, widely-adopted CP practice have instead seen trust compound — drawing in more responsible capital and more clients into the formal financial system.

This session brings together institutional leaders and investors to make the business case explicit: what CP actually does for the balance sheet, and what it does for the market the institution depends on.

Session Moderator: Rula Mheissen, Director of MENA and CP Pathway+, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Issam George Shnoudeh, Chief Operating Officer, Tamweelcom
Ahmed Zaki, Chief of Staff-Head of Strategy & Transformation, Tanmeyah Micro-Enterprise Services
Edouard Sers, Head of Risk and Impact at Fondation GCA – Grameen Crédit Agricole

Moderator: Rula Mheissen, CP Pathway+ Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelist: Issam George Shnoudeh, Chief Operating Officer, Tamweelcom

Issam Shnoudeh is the Chief Operating Officer of Tamweelcom. With over 20 years of experience in the fields of microfinance, MSMEs, financial inclusion, and social and environmental performance management.

He has acted in all management roles and worked in several positions. He also served as a member of many national strategic committees. Issam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, in addition to many professional and international certificates. He is also a certified trainer and advisor.

Panelist: Ahmed Zaki, Chief of Staff-Head of Strategy & Transformation, Tanmeyah Micro-Enterprise Services

Ahmed Zaki is Chief of Staff, Senior Director of Transformation, and Alternate Channels at Tanmeyah, one of Egypt’s leading microfinance institutions. Over 22 years across banking, insurance, and microfinance, he has led work in corporate strategy, business transformation, distribution innovation, operating performance, and strategic partnerships. In his current role, Ahmed translates strategic priorities into institutional initiatives focused on digitization, efficient growth, performance management, and stakeholder excellence. His work connects customer outcomes with business performance, using responsible product design and stronger operating practices to support portfolio quality, customer retention, institutional resilience, and sustainable growth.

Panelist: Edouard Sers, Head of Risk and Impact at Fondation GCA - Grameen Crédit Agricole

Edouard Sers has been the Head of Risk, Compliance, and Impact at the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation since 2019. He is committed to practical social and environmental performance management and has contributed to several SPTF Social Investor working groups, developing common standards and guidance for investors during the Covid-19 crisis (the Pledge to Protect MFIs and Their Clients) and the introduction of SFDR regulation (on EU Minimum Safeguards in 2022 and Outside-in ESG risks in 2023-24). He also contributed to the 2023 investor reporting tool for the Client Protection Joint Investor Statement and, in 2025, began leading a sub-working group on climate risks. As an SPTF board member, Edouard provides insights on aligning SPTF’s work—particularly maintaining Universal Standards for SEPM—with social investors’ priorities and challenges. His experience with the Oxus network and the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation’s field partners informs his perspectives. Previously, from 2015 to 2017, Edouard led audit & risk functions for the OXUS Network, strengthening risk management across its subsidiaries in Central Asia and the DRC. From 2007 to 2014, he worked as a rating analyst and quality manager for Planet Rating, covering microfinance institutions in over 30 countries.

A graduate of E.M. Lyon, Edouard began his career as an external auditor in banking at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

𝟯) 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽)
التسعير المسؤول في الخدمات المالية الرقمية (ورشة عمل)
📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

Responsible pricing remains one of the most debated — and least clearly defined — areas in Digital Financial Services (DFS). At what point do prices stop reflecting costs and risks and start undermining customer welfare? How do we distinguish sustainable profitability from extractive practices? And who gets to decide where that line is drawn?

This interactive workshop is a working session for practitioners, investors, regulators, and industry actors who are interested in advancing shared guidance on responsible pricing in DFS. Rather than presenting ready-made answers, the session acknowledges that the sector is still grappling with these questions. The goal is to openly test assumptions and surface tensions and to gather diverse perspectives that can inform the development of future standards and guidance.

Participants will work together to explore key criteria that should underpin responsible pricing, including transparency, affordability, efficiency, responsible profits, and customer feedback. Through facilitated discussion and practical examples, the workshop will examine where current practices fall short, what signals should raise red flags, and how customer experience can be better integrated into pricing decisions.

This session invites honest debate because advancing responsible pricing requires confronting hard trade-offs and calling out practices that may be justified on paper but fail customers in reality. The insights gathered will directly contribute to ongoing industry efforts to define what responsible pricing in DFS should look like in practice.

Workshop Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Speakers and Small Breakout Group Moderators:

Jack Ngoma, CEO, MLF Zambia
Olaide Alao, Head, Customer Experience and Process Improvement, Baobab Nigeria
Roxane LeMercier, Business Development Manager Africa & Middle East, MFR
Aida Gueye, Independent Consultant and Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro

Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Speaker: Jack Ngoma, CEO, MLF Zambia

Jack Ngoma is an accomplished finance and business leader dedicated to expanding financial inclusion and creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs across Zambia.

As Chief Executive Officer of MicroLoan Foundation Zambia, Jack leads the organisation’s strategic direction, strengthens partnerships and drives operational excellence to expand MicroLoan Foundation’s reach and impact. Under his leadership, the organisation has experienced significant growth in both client outreach and loan portfolio, enabling more women to build resilient businesses and improve their families’ livelihoods.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Jack brings extensive experience in financial management and microfinance. Before becoming CEO, he served as Chief Financial Officer at MicroLoan Foundation Zambia and previously held leadership roles at Bayport Financial Services and MicroLoan Foundation Malawi.

“Real impact isn’t measured by the size of a loan—it’s measured by the confidence it builds, the businesses it grows and the futures it helps create.”

Jack believes sustainable growth is achieved by combining sound financial leadership with an unwavering commitment to the people the organisation serves every day.

Speaker: Olaide Alao, Head, Customer Experience and Process Improvement, Baobab Nigeria

Olaide Femi Alao is the Head of Customer Experience & Process Improvement at Baobab Microfinance Bank, with over 10 years of banking leadership experience. He specializes in customer experience, operational excellence, process improvement, risk management, and digital transformation, driving sustainable growth through innovation, service excellence, and strategic operational leadership.

Speaker: Roxane LeMercier, Business Development Manager Africa & Middle East, MFR

Roxane Lemercier is the Business Development Manager for Africa and the Middle East at MFR, where she leads business development initiatives, strategic partnerships, and client engagement across the region. Since joining MFR in 2021, first as an Analyst and later as Regional Manager, she has successfully managed and conducted a wide range of client protection certifications, social and environmental ratings, institutional diagnostics, social performance assessments, and impact evaluations for microfinance institutions, investors, and inclusive finance providers across Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She has also contributed to research and the development of innovative methodologies and tools aimed at strengthening the social and environmental performance of financial service providers. Prior to joining MFR, Roxane built a diverse international profile spanning the private sector, microfinance, agriculture, and development cooperation. She worked for microStart, Belgium’s leading microfinance institution, where she supported entrepreneurs in accessing finance and developing sustainable businesses. She later served as Operations Director of the Platform of Agricultural Schools in ivory Coast. Her field experience also includes research in Ethiopia on agricultural finance, where she assessed the relevance and effectiveness of input financing schemes for smallholder malt barley producers. Roxane holds a Master’s degree in Management Engineering, a Master’s degree in Globalization and Development from the University of Antwerp, and a Master’s degree from the European Microfinance Programme of the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. Passionate about financial inclusion and sustainable development, she combines strong analytical expertise with practical field experience. She is fluent in French and English and has a working knowledge of Dutch and Italian.

Speaker: Aida Gueye, Independent Consultant and Cerise+SPTF SEPM Pro

No bio available.

18:00

Gala Dinner, Sponsored by Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation

📍 Pool Terrace (4th floor)

SEPTEMBER 30

09:00-09:30

PLENARY: Resilience: Helping Customers Prepare, Adapt, and Recover
الجلسة العامة: المرونة والصمود بمواجهة التحديات المناخية: مساعدة العملاء على الاستعداد والتكيف والتعافي

📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

Customers around the world face growing uncertainty from climate change, conflict, economic instability, health emergencies, and other shocks. These opening remarks will frame resilience as a core pillar of Cerise+SPTF’s strategy and call on responsible organizations to help customers prepare, adapt, and recover by understanding the risks they face, listening to their priorities, and adapting products and services to meet their changing needs. The remarks will set the stage for discussions on insurance, responsible agriculture and climate risk, and financial services in fragile and conflict-affected markets, with a clear message: resilience can be built, and now is the time to act.

09:30-11:00

CHOOSE A BREAKOUT SESSION:
:اختر إحدى الجلسات الفرعية

𝟭) 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
ا<لتأمين من أجل المرونه و <الصمود: من تحويل المخاطر إلى خلق قيمة حقيقية للعميل
📍 Kahramana Room

Session Description

Insurance is often positioned as a cornerstone of resilience—but too frequently, products and processes are designed to protect financial institutions rather than the people they are meant to serve. This session challenges traditional approaches to microinsurance and explores how insurance can genuinely strengthen customer resilience when it is designed around real risks, real costs, and real customer priorities.

Drawing on practical examples from agriculture and climate-affected contexts, the session will highlight why insurance alone is not enough, and how it must be integrated into a broader Risk Management 360 (RM360) approach that includes prevention, early warning, and value-added services. Participants will examine how customer-centered design—grounded in listening to clients and understanding direct, indirect, and opportunity costs—can transform insurance from a compliance or loss-coverage tool into a meaningful source of protection and empowerment. The discussion will emphasize affordability, simplicity, and trust, and will ask a central question: Does this product actually make customers more resilient when something goes wrong?

Session Moderator: Michael McCord, Managing Director, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman

Panelists:

Suleman G. Abro, Founder & CEO, SAFCO Microfinance Company (Private) Limited
Tohama Nabulsi, Public Relations & External Communications Manager, MicroFund for Women
Mohammed Abu Rabie, Head of the Micro insurance Department, Jordan Insurance Company

Moderator: Michael McCord, Managing Director, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman

Michael J. McCord is one of the world’s leading microinsurance experts. His decades of experience include working as controller of a U.S. commercial bank, chief executive officer of a microfinance institution in Uganda, and regional director for microfinance programs in Africa with FINCA International.

In 2000, Michael founded the MicroInsurance Centre (now the MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman, MIC@M), an internationally recognized thought leader and implementer of microinsurance and risk management solutions. The MIC@M’s vision is to provide three billion low-income people across the world with access to valuable microinsurance and risk management solutions.

Michael is a highly respected voice in the microinsurance field, working in the areas of research, advocacy, and development of microinsurance products and processes that meet the unique needs of low-income clients while providing a business case for insurers and distribution partners. He has worked in over 90 countries, leading consulting projects focused on a variety of risks that low-income clients face.

Recent work includes developing and implementing climate risk insurance products for MFI clients in Pakistan (livestock and crop) and Malawi (crop), providing technical advisory and review for feasibility assessments on climate and agriculture microinsurance in multiple countries, advising insurers on microinsurance strategy development in multiple developing markets, providing support to insurance regulatory authorities, providing guidance for the development of climate resilience pilots in Pakistan and India, and providing technical support for an insurance protection gap analysis for the Maldives.

Michael is a founding member of the Microinsurance Network, where he served as chair of the board from 2015 – 2016, and a member of the steering committee for the Munich Re Foundation / Microinsurance Network annual conference on inclusive insurance. He is a current member of the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) Climate Insurance Linked Resilient Infrastructure Finance (CILRIF) Working Group, and a member of the Insurance Development Forum’s (IDF) Inclusive Insurance Working Group, Operating Committee Leadership Team, and representative of our Sterring Committee member. The MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman is an organizational member of the InsuResilience Global Partnership. Michael also serves on the Editorial Board of the Bangladesh Insurance Journal. Michael is now honored and pleased to serve as an Honorary Director of the Risk and Insurance Studies Centre’s (RISC) Diploma in Risk and Insurance Management at York University.

Panelist: Hadil Abdel Kader, Secretary General, Insurance Federation Egypt (IFE)

No bio available.

Panelist: Tohama Nabulsi, Public Relations & External Communications Manager, MicroFund for Women

Tohama Nabulsi is a senior marketing, communications, and development professional with over 27 years of experience spanning Marketing, Digital and Social Media Strategy, Public Relations, Strategic Communications, Tourism Product Development, Crisis and Reputation Management, SME support, and Women’s Economic Empowerment. Since joining Microfund for Women in 2017 as Public Relations and External Communications Manager, Tohama has played a key role in strengthening the organization’s brand and visibility locally and internationally. She leads strategic communications initiatives, develops impactful content, builds media and stakeholder relationships, and supports MFW’s positioning as a leading institution advancing financial inclusion and women’s empowerment.

In addition to her communications role, Tohama leads MFW’s Non- Financial Services Department, which provides beneficiaries with opportunities that go beyond finance, including networking, marketing linkages, capacity building, and product development. She has also been instrumental in advancing Souk Baladna, an MFW initiative that supports women entrepreneurs in developing, branding, and marketing their products and connecting them with new markets and opportunities. Prior to joining MFW, Tohama built an extensive career in tourism and destination marketing, including more than a decade with the Jordan Tourism Board, contributing to Jordan’s international tourism positioning and destination branding.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from the Lebanese American University in Beirut and a Master of Arts in Tourism Destination Management from the University of Granada, Spain.

Panelist: Mohammed Abu Rabie, Head of the Micro insurance Department, Jordan Insurance Company

Mr. Mohammed Abu Rabie joined JIC in 2009 and began his career within the Micro insurance Department, where he applied his expertise to support the development and advancement of the micro insurance sector and related fields. Over the years, he steadily progressed to become Head of the Micro insurance Department. His extensive experience in this field provides him with valuable strategic and practical insights into the role of insurance in delivering meaningful value to customers.

𝟮) 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽)
الاستثمار الزراعي المسؤول في الممارسة العملية (ورشة عمل)
📍 Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

Implementing more responsible practices in the agriculture and food sector can help protect smallholder farmers and build a more resilient sector.

Climate change makes agriculture an increasingly risky sector, while harmful or irresponsible practices can create additional risks for smallholder farmers and their communities. Traditional approaches to environmental and social (E&S) risk management do not always offer the level of specificity and depth needed to assess and promote client protection and responsible practices in agriculture.

At the same time, agricultural organizations—particularly those working with smallholder farmers and local communities—can play a critical role in strengthening food security and nutrition, expanding equitable economic opportunities, providing inclusive and decent work, and promoting climate-smart and biodiversity-sensitive agricultural practices.

Achieving these outcomes requires agricultural organizations to align their policies, procedures, and operations with best practices in responsible business conduct.

Since 2021, Cerise+SPTF has managed the Responsible Agricultural and Food Sector (RAF) project, which provides a framework for helping agricultural value chains deliver fair economic, social, and environmental outcomes for farmers, workers, and communities.

What does the RAF approach look like when it is fully embedded in a business model—not as a compliance exercise, but as a guiding philosophy?

This workshop explores concrete examples of how the RAF approach can be translated into practice across agricultural and food value chains. Through case studies and perspectives from investors and agribusinesses, participants will examine how long-term farmer partnerships, fair value sharing, sustainable agriculture, inclusive governance, and strong feedback mechanisms can contribute to a more responsible and resilient agricultural sector.

The discussion will highlight how RAF assessment tools and resources can be used to map, analyze, and strengthen responsible practices in agricultural value chains—going beyond risk mitigation to support shared prosperity and sustainability. Participants will explore how values-driven models such as SEKEM in Egypt, as well as experience with technical assistance and focused due diligence from IDH, Incofin, and others, can inform investors, agricultural organizations, and other value-chain stakeholders seeking to put responsible practices into action in emerging markets.

This session offers both practical lessons and strategic guidance for advancing responsible, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agricultural investment.

Workshop Moderators: Cecile Lapenu, Executive Director of Cerise, and Maxence Soulet, Environment & Agriculture Project Officer of Cerise, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Helmy Abouleish, CEO, SEKEM
Thomas Kockmeyer, Impact & Learning Advisor, IDH Investment Management
Dannet Liv Castillo, Head of Risk, ESG and Impact, Incofin
Mathilde Bauwin, Head of Knowledge and Methodology, ADA

Moderator: Cécile Lapenu, Executive Director of Cerise

Moderator: Maxence Soulet, Environment & Agriculture Project Officer of Cerise, Cerise+SPTF

Maxence Soulet is Environment & Agriculture Project Officer. His main responsibilities are to develop the e-learning module of the Environmental Pathway, to train and support financial institutions and microfinance networks in environmental performance management (Dimension 7 of the Universal Standards), and to develop impact measurement tools for agricultural projects. Before joining Cerise, Maxence interned at Chamroeun Microfinance in Cambodia, working on their alignment to the SDGs. He also interned at Inpulse in Belgium, where he worked on ESG impact measurement and assessment.

Maxence has an undergraduate degree from the European Microfinance Programme of the Free University of Brussels and holds a master’s degree in International Affairs and Development with a specialization in Sustainable Development from Paris-Dauphine – PSL University. His master’s thesis involved research in the Philippines with ADA and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI), working on the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance project. Maxence speaks French and English.

Panelist: Helmy Abouleish, CEO, SEKEM

No bio available.

Panelist: Thomas Kockmeyer, Impact & Learning Advisor, IDH Investment Management

Thomas Kockmeyer is Impact and Learning Advisor at IDH Investment Management, where he leads impact management and measurement for the IDH Farmfit Fund and related mandates supporting smallholder farmers and agri-SMEs. Over more than ten years in impact investing, agricultural finance, and rural development, he has advised on Theory of Change design, portfolio monitoring, due diligence, and investee action planning across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He previously worked at Oikocredit, linking social performance, ESG, and financial data across its investment portfolio. Thomas co-develops the Agri Client Protection Standards with Cerise+SPTF, translating responsible finance principles into practical improvements in farmer-facing services. He holds a Master’s in development economics from Wageningen University and is based in Amsterdam.

Panelist: Dannet Liv Castillo, Head of Risk, ESG and Impact, Incofin

Dannet Liv Castillo believes that finance can be a powerful force for inclusion when we are intentional about the outcomes we seek and disciplined in how we measure them. As Head of Risk, ESG & Impact at Incofin Investment Management, she works to ensure that financial performance and social impact are not competing objectives, but mutually reinforcing ones. With more than 19 years of experience in international development and over a decade in impact investing, Dannet has worked across emerging markets to strengthen financial inclusion, promote sustainable food value chains, increase access to safe drinking water, improve livelihoods, and build more resilient communities. Having started her career at Incofin as an investment manager in Asia, she now leads the firm’s global Risk, ESG & Impact function, helping integrate impact, climate, gender, and sustainability considerations throughout the investment process. She is a certified SPI auditor, active contributor to industry initiatives including CERISE+SPTF and is an advisory board member of the Operating Principles for Impact Management. She is passionate about advancing a more intentional, transparent and evidence-based approach to impact investing.

Panelist: Mathilde Bauwin, Head of Knowledge and Methodology, ADA

Mathilde Bauwin has been working for ADA for 9 years and is currently Head of Knowledge and Methodology. Her team is responsible for facilitating knowledge acquisition, generation, and sharing within the organization and among inclusive and impact finance practitioners, as well as for developing appropriate methodologies and tools for project management, monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement. Before joining ADA, she worked for a Tunisian inclusive finance institution and a French NGO. She holds a PhD in Development Economics from Paris Dauphine University.

𝟯) 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀: 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
إعادة بناء التمويل في الأسواق ذات التحديات: التمويل الرقمي من أجل الشمول والتعافي والصمود
📍 Nefertiti

Session Description

As countries facing conflict, fragility, or regional economic pressures reconnect with financial systems, digital finance often becomes the first scalable and operational lifeline — beginning with payments, but increasingly extending to savings, transfers, and, where institutions dare to take the next step, credit. In such challenging markets—where infrastructure may be disrupted, institutions weakened, and trust eroded—digital financial ecosystems present both a powerful opportunity and significant risks.

Digital finance can enable humanitarian cash transfers, remittances, wage payments, savings continuity, and small business transactions even when traditional banking infrastructure is impaired. At the same time, rapid digitalization in fragile environments may deepen exclusion, expose vulnerable users to fraud and data misuse, or strain weak consumer protection systems if not properly governed — and evidence increasingly shows that digitizing money movement alone, without extending the same care to lending, leaves both institutions and clients exposed when crisis hits.

This session draws on lived experience from Lebanon and Palestine, alongside a comparative research perspective from Eastern DRC, to explore how digital finance — in its fullest sense, not just payments — can support recovery while ensuring safety, inclusion, and resilience, even where the underlying crisis differs in nature and stage.

Session Moderator: Rula Mheissen, Director MENA and CP Pathway+, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Patrick Murhala, CERMi (Centre for European Research in Microfinance)
Alaa Kanani, Senior Supervisor, Payment Services Companies Supervision Division, Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA)
Alia Farhat, Partnership Manager, Al Majmoua
Rania Elkhairy, PR Manager, Vitas Palestine

Moderator: Rula Mheissen, Director MENA and CP Pathway+, Cerise+SPTF

She is also responsible for supporting the strategic direction of Vitas group especially regarding social performance management, customer centricity, and gender.

Rula received her bachelor’s degree in economics and political science, and holds certificates in financial inclusion policy and microinsurance. She is based in Amman, Jordan.

Panelist: Patrick Murhala, CERMi (Centre for European Research in Microfinance)

Patrick Murhula Cubaka is a Professor of Microfinance and Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of Bukavu (D.R. Congo) and a researcher at the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi), Belgium. His research mainly focuses on microfinance, financial cooperatives, and entrepreneurship. He also serves as an independent consultant in microfinance, financial inclusion, applied economics, and entrepreneurship, collaborating with organizations across Africa, Europe, and Asia on diverse projects.

Panelist: Alaa Kanani, Senior Supervisor, Payment Services Companies Supervision Division, Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA)

Alaa is a Senior Supervisor at the Payment Services Companies Supervision Division within the Supervision Group at the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA). He has over a decade of experience in supervising Payment Services Providers (PSPs), as well as experience in banking supervision and licensing. His responsibilities include contributing to supervisory strategies and policies, developing annual supervisory plans, assessing risks within the payment services sector, and contributing to the development of laws, regulations, and supervisory instructions at non-banking department. He holds professional qualifications in digital finance, including a Certified Expert in Digital Finance, as well as a Diploma in Compliance and AML/CFT.

Panelist: Alia Farhat, Partnership Manager, Al Majmoua

More than 25 years of expertise in financial inclusion, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, MSME support with a focus on the economic empowerment of women, youth and forcibly displaced populations in different contexts in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Alia is the Partnership Manager at Al Majmoua, the largest microfinance institution in Lebanon. She is an ILO certified trainer on Making Finance Work for the refugees, IDPs and host communities and an ILO certified trainer on Making Green and Inclusive finance work for Microfinance institutions. She is also an IFC Consultant for the West African hub specialized in Banking on Women and Non-Financial Services.

Panelist: Rania Elkhairy, PR Manager, Vitas Palestine

Ms. El-Khairy joined Vitas Palestine in April 2010 and brings more than 27 years of professional experience in management, operations, human resources, public relations, and institutional development. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Birzeit University in Ramallah, Palestine. She has also strengthened her expertise in responsible and inclusive finance through specialized professional development in Client Protection with Cerise+SPTF, completing the Get Started on Client Protection and Go Deeper on Client Protection programs. These qualifications complement her practical experience in promoting responsible financial services and strengthening client-centered practices within the microfinance sector. Prior to joining Vitas Palestine, Ms. El-Khairy held several positions at the Palestine Trade Center (PalTrade), including Senior Operations Officer and Human Resources Manager.

Currently, she heads the Public Relations Department at Vitas Palestine, where her responsibilities extend beyond corporate communications to include Client Protection, Gender Equality, and Sustainable Finance. In this capacity, she contributes to strengthening responsible finance practices, promoting the fair and transparent treatment of clients, supporting gender equality initiatives, and integrating sustainability considerations into the institution’s approach and operations. Ms. El- Khairy is also a member of Palestine’s Financial Inclusion Committee on behalf of Vitas Palestine, which contributed to the development of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Palestine. Throughout her career, she has developed a strong interest and expertise in client protection, responsible and inclusive finance, gender equality, sustainable finance, and financial inclusion, combining institutional leadership with a commitment to ensuring that financial services create meaningful and sustainable value for clients and their communities.

11:00-11:30

Tea, Coffee, & Networking Break

11:30-12:30

PLENARY: From Financial Literacy to Customer Empowerment
الجلسة العامة: من الثقافة المالية إلى تمكين العملاء

📍Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

This plenary will move the conversation from financial literacy as knowledge transfer to customer empowerment as a pathway toward better financial health and well-being.

Using practical experiences from Egypt, Cambodia, and the Philippines the panel will explore what empowerment looks like at different points in the customer journey—from deciding whether and how much to borrow, to understanding risks, asking questions, raising complaints, coping with financial shocks, and negotiating solutions when repayment becomes difficult.

The discussion will focus on three interconnected questions:

Capability: Does the customer understand the product, its risks, their rights, and their options?
Agency: Does the customer have the confidence and practical ability to ask questions, say no, complain, negotiate, and make choices?
Enabling environment: Do providers, regulators, funders, and other market actors create conditions in which customers can actually exercise that agency?

This framing deliberately avoids placing responsibility for good outcomes solely on customers. The goal is not simply to create a “better educated borrower,” but to create a financial system in which informed customers have meaningful choices, are treated with dignity, and have the power and support to act.

Session Moderator: Laura Foose, Executive Director of SPTF

Panelists:

Lucie Charrier, Task Team Leader, Financial Systems Division, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Allan Sicat, Executive Director, Microfinance Council of the Philippines, and program direction for Aral Plus program
Dalal Takla, Chief Business Excellence Officer, Tamweely Financial Services
Nitin Madan, Project Director, Cambodia Debt Stress Project

Moderator: Laura Foose, Executive Director of SPTF

Panelists

Lucie Charrier, Task Team Leader, Financial Systems Division, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

Lucie Charrier is Project Manager in the Financial Systems Division of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Paris, where she leads sustainable finance initiatives for public financial institutions in Africa and the Caribbean. With over 15 years of experience in financial inclusion and sustainable finance, she has worked with institutions across more than 30 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia.

Prior to joining AFD, she held positions at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Oikocredit and Planet Rating. Lucie has collaborated with Cerise+SPTF for over 10 years and is a Qualified Social Performance Auditor. She holds Master’s degrees from Sorbonne University and EDHEC Business School.

Allan Sicat, Executive Director, Microfinance Council of the Philippines, and program direction for Aral Plus program

Allan Robert Sicat is the Executive Director of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc. (MCPI), and has over 25 years of experience in program management and implementation, training, and advocacy related to access to finance and microfinance. Under his leadership, MCPI was awarded the Good Corporate Governance Champion by the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2020 to 2025 and the Financial Inclusion of the Year Partner by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from 2013 to 2015.

Before joining MCPI in 2004, he was part of the Rural Banker’s Association of the Philippines – Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) program, a USAID-funded initiative that assisted rural banks in developing microfinance services for low-income households. He is an accredited Social and Environmental Performance Management assessor.

Allan earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the De La Salle University Graduate School of Business in 2008. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, major in Management of Financial Institutions from the De La Salle University in the Philippines. He earned a Course Certificate on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance from the Harvard Business School in 2024.

Dalal Takla, Chief Business Excellence Officer, Tamweely Financial Services

Dalal Takla, DBA is a C-suite executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience in business transformation, corporate governance, and organizational excellence within the non-banking financial services sector. As Chief Business Excellence Officer at Tamweely Financial Services, she leads enterprise transformation, governance, business excellence, and organizational capability initiatives. An internationally recognized microfinance expert, she has delivered executive development programs across more than 10 countries and collaborated with organizations including IFC, USAID, ILO, JICA, EIB, and CIDA. Dr. Takla is a Certified Corporate Director, an Advisory Council Member of G100 Egypt MSME Wing, and one of Egypt’s Top 50 Most Influential Women.

Nitin Madan, Project Director, Cambodia Debt Stress Project

Nitin has a master’s in poverty and development from the Institute of Development Studies in the UK. He is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

12:30-14:00

Lunch

📍Pool Terrace (4th floor)

14:00-15:30

CHOOSE A BREAKOUT SESSION:
:اختر إحدى الجلسات الفرعية

𝟭) 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 (𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗟 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣)
أنظمة الإنذار المبكر لمقدمي الخدمات المالية لمعرفة شرائح العملاء الأكثر عرضة لمخاطر التعثر
📍Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Session Description

This workshop will explore the hypothesis that financial service providers (FSPs) can develop Early Warning Systems (EWS) to identify which customers have a higher risk of defaulting on their loans. Analyzing a variety of data about customers, such as the frequency and amount of their transactions, changes in behavior patterns, and the diversity of products used, can signal emerging risk. With this information, an FSP can intervene to help customers before a default occurs, which improves outcomes for both customers and the FSP. The session will begin by sharing promising research on EWS from India and from East Africa, and then break into small group discussions for peer brainstorming and debate about the most effective ways to use EWS data for the mutual benefit of customers and FSPs.

Session Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelists:

Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, Founder & Executive Chairman, 4G Capital
Adet Kachi, CEO, Yehu Microfinance
Esther Moyi, CEO, ECLOF Kenya
Devika Misra, Director- Data Management and Analytics, ACCION

Moderator: Amelia Greenberg, Deputy Director of SPTF, Cerise+SPTF

Panelist: Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, Founder & Executive Chairman, 4G Capital

Panelist: Adet Kachi, CEO, Yehu Microfinance

Mr. Adet Kachi is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director YEHU Impact, where he has provided visionary leadership for over 15 years. Under his stewardship, the organization has experienced significant growth and transformation, establishing a strong presence in Kenya. With a rich background in international development, Mr. Adet brings extensive experience from his work in Southern Africa, which has greatly influenced his strategic approach to financial inclusion and institutional development. He is a seasoned microfinance expert with exceptional capabilities in strategic management, human resource management, change leadership, financial oversight, risk management, and corporate governance. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a unique blend of practical and theoretical expertise, enabling him to drive sustainable organizational growth while fostering innovation and resilience within teams. His leadership has been instrumental in positioning YEHU Impact Ltd as a key player in empowering communities through financial services.

Mr. Adet also contributes to the broader development sector through his involvement in professional and advisory bodies. He serves as an advisory member of the CHOICE Humanitarian Advisory Board globally and has previously served on several boards within the microfinance industry, including the Association of Microfinance Institutions Kenya (AMFI) and the Association of Microfinance Professionals of Kenya (AMPK).

Panelist: Esther Moyi, CEO, ECLOF Kenya

Esther Moyi is the Chief Executive Officer of ECLOF Kenya, a Christian Microfinance Institution dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and improving livelihoods for underserved communities across Kenya. With more than 20 years of experience in the inclusive finance and financial services sector, Esther is a seasoned executive with expertise in strategic leadership, operational transformation, digital innovation, risk management, and institutional growth. Throughout her career, she has led initiatives that have strengthened organizational performance, expanded access to financial services, enhanced portfolio quality, and delivered sustainable social and economic impact.

Before joining ECLOF Kenya, Esther served as Chief Operations Officer at VisionFund Kenya, where she championed operational excellence and digital transformation programs that improved efficiency, customer experience, and organizational growth. Her leadership is grounded in a strong commitment to customer-centric innovation, responsible finance, and building resilient institutions that serve vulnerable and low- income populations. As CEO of ECLOF Kenya, Esther is leading ECLOF Kenya through a period of strategic transformation, strengthening institutional resilience, expanding inclusive financial services, and positioning the organization for sustainable growth and greater impact across communities in Kenya.

Beyond her executive role, Esther actively contributes to the advancement of the inclusive finance sector through industry leadership and governance. She serves on the Governing Council of the Credit Information Sharing Association of Kenya (CIS Kenya) and is in the Leadership Team of the Governing Council of the Business Development Services Donor Coordination Group (BDCG), supporting collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the promotion of responsible and inclusive financial systems.

Esther is passionate about leveraging inclusive finance as a catalyst for poverty reduction, women’s economic empowerment, agricultural development, and community resilience. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of South Wales and is a strong advocate for responsible finance that delivers both social impact and institutional sustainability.

Panelist: Devika Misra, Director- Data Management and Analytics, ACCION

Devika Misra is a consultant with Accion Advisory, where she works with financial institutions across Asia and Africa to strengthen data strategy, improve data quality across the value chain, and build robust measurement frameworks. Her work centers on impact measurement, and alternative data solutions that expand women’s access to financial services. With over 17 years in the financial inclusion space, Devika has advised banks, microfinance institutions, and fintechs on translating data into practical strategy, helping them design products, sharpen underwriting, and track impact in ways that hold up to scrutiny from investors and regulators alike.

𝟮) 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗨𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 (𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣)
كيف يعمل التأمين لصالح العملاء: نهج الشامل (ورشة عمل)
📍Babylon Room

Session Description

For insurance to be effective in low-income and emerging market contexts, it must meet a simple but demanding standard: it must work for customers. This interactive workshop introduces the SUAVE framework — insurance that is Simple, Understood, Accessible, Valuable, and Efficient — as a practical lens for designing, regulating, and delivering inclusive insurance products. The workshop will also highlight the importance of processes as well, for it is not just the product itself but how it is sold, serviced, and how claims are managed.

Participants will explore how poor product design, weak understanding, and misaligned incentives undermine both customer protection and trust in insurance markets. The session will also examine the role of regulators, financial service providers, and insurers in moving beyond narrow definitions of microinsurance toward approaches that prioritize customer value over institutional convenience.

Designed as a participatory session, this discussion invites attendees to reflect on their own experiences, test assumptions, and contribute to a shared understanding of what responsible, customer-centered insurance should look like—especially in markets where insurance is still emerging and regulatory capacity is evolving.

Workshop Moderator: Michael McCord, Managing Director, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman

Moderator: Michael McCord, Managing Director, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman

𝟯) 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗮𝘆: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣)
عندما يواجه العملاء صعوبة في السداد: إدارة الأزمات المالية لتحويل الضائقة إلى حل (ورشة عمل)
📍Kahramana Room

Session Description

When customers tell a financial service provider that they are struggling to repay, it is a critical moment not only for the customer, but also for the institution. Too often, hardship is treated mainly as a collections problem: the customer has missed or may miss a payment, so the system responds with pressure, reminders, warnings, or escalation. But hardship handling starts from a different premise: early disclosure of repayment difficulty is a chance to prevent deeper debt stress, reduce complaints, protect customer dignity, and improve the likelihood of a realistic resolution. The question is not whether every loan can be forgiven or restructured, but whether providers have a fair, consistent, and practical process for responding when customers say, “I cannot pay as agreed.”

This session brings together NGOs, MFIs/banks, regulators, researchers, and investors to explore what good hardship handling should look like in practice: how frontline staff should listen and assess the situation; how providers can distinguish temporary shocks from chronic over-indebtedness; what options may be appropriate, such as grace periods, rescheduling, restructuring, refinancing safeguards, counseling referrals, or escalation to specialist teams; and what standards are needed to ensure that hardship responses are respectful, documented, timely, and free from coercion. The session will focus on a practical shared question: when customers raise repayment difficulty, what should a responsible financial service provider do next, and how can hardship handling become a core part of customer protection, not an exception to normal operations?

Workshop Moderator: Nitin Madan, Director of Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Southeast Asia, Cerise+SPTF

Moderator: Nitin Madan, Director of Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Southeast Asia, Cerise+SPTF

Nitin has a master’s in poverty and development from the Institute of Development Studies in the UK. He is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

15:30-16:00

Tea, Coffee, and Networking

16:00-17:00

CLOSING KEYNOTE: The Path to Prosperity (الكلمة الختامية: طريق الازدهار)
The Heart of Financial Inclusion: Improving Customer Outcomes, with the Universal Standards as the compass

📍Blue Nile/White Nile Room

Speaker: Edgardo Pérez Preciado, CEO, Fundación Génesis Empresarial

OCTOBER 1

08:00-16:30

VISIT SEKEM – Responsible Agriculture: sustainable development in the desert
زيارة سيكم (SEKEM) – الزراعة المسؤولة: التنمية المستدامة في الصحراء

Details

Agenda:

About SEKEM:

SEKEM is a global model for holistic sustainable development blending organic and biodynamic agriculture, responsible industry, and community-centered economics. Founded by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish, who dug the first well in the desert, it was built on sustainability and community giving. After its 40th anniversary and the founder’s 2017 death, SEKEM set a 2057 vision for Egypt’s ecological, economic, societal, and cultural transformation. Today, SEKEM Holding oversees several independent subsidiaries and partners with organizations like IFC, DEG, GLS Bank, Triodos Ventures, and Oikocredit. The visit focuses on responsible agriculture, sustainable food systems, and responsible finance, showing how SEKEM implements its values through its supply chains, demonstrating successful, ethical, and ecological business models.

Purpose of the Visit:

Examine SEKEM’s holistic approach to sustainability and responsible development. Participants will see firsthand how a distinctive ecosystem of organic farming and ethical industry operates in real conditions during a guided tour of the farm’s production areas. They will grasp the practical use of the “Economy of Love” and Fair Share principles, learning how a business can focus on fairness, respectful collaborations, and long-term social benefits rather than just profits. Additionally, attendees will gain insights into SEKEM’s partnership with Fairtrade International to enhance local livelihoods, how Egypt has adopted national sustainable development standards inspired by this model, and how the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA) trains and certifies regional farmers under EU Organic and Demeter biodynamic standards to foster scalable agricultural change.

Core Objectives:

To demonstrate the practical deployment of biodynamic and organic cultivation in arid environments alongside responsible industrial manufacturing.
To illustrate how ethical supply chains, transparency, and fairer trading conditions are maintained through international Fairtrade partnerships and local sustainable development standards.
To highlight how scalable agricultural transformation is supported nationally via farmer training, targeted research, and rigorous advisory/certification systems.

08:15-16:15

VISIT TANMEYAH – Insurance, financial education, and client protection
زيارة تنمية (TANMEYAH) – التأمين والتثقيف المالي وحماية العملاء

Details

Agenda:

About Tanmeyah:

Tanmeyah is one of Egypt’s largest non-bank financial services providers, focused on empowering underserved small and micro-enterprise owners across the country. Founded in 2009, and operating as a subsidiary of EFG Finance—an EFG Holding company—Tanmeyah operates an extensive network of more than 400 branches across 25 Egyptian governorates, spanning both urban and rural areas from the Delta to Upper Egypt, and supports thousands of entrepreneurs monthly through financing, digital financial solutions, and personalized service.

Purpose of the Visit:

The field visit is designed to provide participants with a practical understanding of Tanmeyah’s finance model and its contribution to financial inclusion in Egypt.

During the visit, participants will:

Observe the end-to-end customer journey, from customer acquisition and credit assessment to loan disbursement and after-sales support.
Understand how responsible finance principles and client protection are embedded throughout Tanmeyah’s operations.
Meet branch staff and clients to gain first-hand insight into the social and economic impact of microfinance.
Explore Tanmeyah’s digital transformation initiatives, onboarding systems, mobile apps, payment solutions, and staff apps.
Learn how Tanmeyah balances commercial sustainability with measurable social impact through robust governance, risk management, and ESG practices.
Gain insights into Tanmeyah’s approach to serving women, youth, and underserved entrepreneurs while expanding financial inclusion across Egypt.

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Featured Programs/Initiatives:

Responsible Microfinance Model
- Duration: Ongoing
- Objectives:
  - Expand access to finance for underserved entrepreneurs.
  - Promote responsible lending and client protection.
  - Support sustainable income generation and business growth.
Financial Ecosystem
- Duration: Ongoing
- Objectives:
  - Enhance customer experience through easy onboarding and payment solutions.
  - Increase operational efficiency and accessibility.
Financial Inclusion & Client Protection
1. Duration: Ongoing
2. Objectives:
  - Promote financial capability and informed financial decision-making.
  - Deliver transparent, responsible financial services aligned with international Client Protection Standards.
  - Strengthen long-term customer resilience through insurance and value-added services.

09:00-17:00

VISIT TAMWEELY – Financial capability and entrepreneurship development
زيارة تمويلي (TAMWEELY) – القدرة المالية وتنمية ريادة الأعمال

Details

Agenda:

About Tamweely:

Tamweely Financial Services is one of Egypt’s leading non-banking financial institutions dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and supporting the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) Established in 2017. Through innovative financial solutions and a strong customer-centric approach, Tamweely enables entrepreneurs to expand their businesses, generate income, and improve their livelihoods. Since its inception, the company has served more than 500,000 clients, disbursed over EGP 17 billion in financing, and expanded its network to more than 230 branches across 24 governorates nationwide.

Tamweely’s mission extends beyond financing to empowering communities through financial education, capacity building, and responsible finance practices. The visit will focus on Tamweely’s branch operations, customer engagement model, lending processes, field practices, and financial literacy initiatives that help clients strengthen their financial and business management capabilities.

Purpose of the Visit:

Understand Tamweely’s business and operational model and its contribution to financial inclusion and entrepreneurship development in Egypt.

Featured Programs/Initiatives:

Microfinance Branch Visit – 3 hrs
- Explain and observe the end-to-end microfinance process, from client acquisition and assessment to loan disbursement and follow-up.
- Learn about the systems, controls, and methodologies used to ensure responsible lending and portfolio quality.
- Gain insights into how Tamweely combines financial services with non-financial support to create sustainable impact.
- Meet branch employees, loan officers, and operational staff to better understand their roles and daily practices.
Financial Literacy & Business Development Program – 2hrs
- Observe a live financial literacy and micro-business management workshop (board-game) delivered to clients.
- Understand how financial education contributes to improved financial decision-making, business growth, and client resilience.

11:00-16:00

VISIT ERADA FINANCE – In-house XFin platform, AI, automation, and digital infrastructure to deliver inclusive and responsible digital lending

Details

Agenda:

About Erada Finance:

Erada Finance is an NBFI established late 2022 powered by financial technology, providing a diversified set of innovative financing solutions aligned with Egypt’s financial inclusion endeavors. With the partnership of e& Egypt 65%, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt 25% and Amr Abou ElAzm 10%.

Erada facilitates access to unique & differentiated financial products tailored to its client’s convenience in alignment with Egypt’s vision for woman empowerment, entrepreneurs & youth.

Erada carries a social and economic impact for financial inclusion, poverty alleviation & income generating activity, which is embedded in the identity of our financial proposition, with the ultimate goal to create a legacy of empowerment and support for Egyptians by making them economically self-sufficient.

Today, Erada Finance operates through an expanding branch network across Egypt, serving more than 100,000 clients and delivering over EGP 5 billion in financing.

Purpose of the Visit:

This field visit will showcase Erada Finance’s digital transformation journey through XFin, its FRA-approved digital core banking system developed entirely in-house by the company’s Tech Hub. Participants will gain insight into how Erada leverages AI, automation, and digital infrastructure to transform non-banking financial services while maintaining responsible finance practices. The visit will also highlight Erada’s approach to customer protection, including data privacy measures, the use of aggregated rather than raw customer data, and safeguards designed to minimize bias in decision-making.

The visit will provide participants with practical insight into how Erada Finance is driving digital innovation in Egypt’s non-banking financial sector:

Explore the complete digital lending journey from customer onboarding to credit scoring, disbursement, collection, and portfolio management.
Visit the Tech Hub to understand how in-house technology team develops secure and scalable digital financial solutions.
Exchange knowledge on leveraging technology to expand financial inclusion while promoting responsible digital finance.

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Featured Programs/Initiatives:

XFIN:
- Showcase XFin’s comprehensive financing ecosystem, including Nano Finance, & Supply Chain Finance in terms of Microfinance & SMEs
- Demonstrate AI-powered credit scoring, integrated lead management, loan and portfolio management, and customer protection practices, including protecting customer data and ensuring fair decision support.
- Show the customer experience journey & the deployment of the client protection.
Tech Hub:
1. Introduce Erada’s technology excellence team, the company’s technology excellence team and strategic innovation engine, responsible for developing digital solutions that support Erada’s digital transformation and future growth.
2. Demonstrate Erada’s expansion into fintech, nano-finance, and future digital financial products.

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