Looking Beyond the Pandemic: Building Back Better for MSME Finance

Abstract

This paper provides a conceptual overview of what a post-pandemic ecosystem for MSME financing might be, and how policymakers might apply it. Current COVID-19 emergency measures are not sustainable, and fintech and other technologies offer improvements for access to MSME finance worldwide. We offer a macro-perspective of how MSME financing might balance the competing interests of various stakeholders via the lens of ikigai. The Japanese term for fulfilment, and how fintech provides the “digital unlock” that has been missing to this point. We derive practical suggestions for policymakers from our theoretical framework, using real-world examples to transition from the abstract to the concrete.