During a G20 meeting in St. Petersburg on 5-6 September 2013, leaders lauded discussion from AFI member institutions to formally establish AFI as an independent international organization. In recognition of the critical role of SMEs in the promotion of economic growth, the G20 praised the formation of AFI’s SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG).

“We welcome the progress made at the country level to address the specific challenges in access to finance faced by SMEs through the implementation of the SME Finance Challenge and the SME finance Initiative as well as the support for peer learning through the SME Finance Compact in cooperation with the Working Group on SME Finance of the AFI,” leaders stated in the G20 Leaders’ Declaration.

Additionally, the G20 acknowledged the support from AFI in assisting the “progress made by the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) on advancing financial inclusion and integrating consumer empowerment and protection, particularly through the establishment of the GPFI subgroup focused on Financial Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy … (and endorsed) the extension of the G20 Basic Set into a more holistic set of the G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators, thereby enabling more informed financial inclusion target setting and monitoring.”

Click here to download the full G20 Leaders’ Declaration.

For additional information about AFI’s transition and the latest updates of the independence process, visit the AFI independence page by clicking here.