Certified Expert in SME Finance
Course Overview
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important engines of growth, jobs and social cohesion. However, the creation, survival and growth of SMEs is often hampered by access to finance. Thus, access to SME finance has become a key priority in developing and transition countries.
This online course, is tailored to the needs of mid-level managers and loan officers active or interested in SME Finance.
The introduction to the course starts with positioning SME Finance compared to other client segments, e.g. corporate clients or retail clients. The learning goal of the course is to explain the main SME Finance principles, mainly focusing on credit risk analysis, the lending decision process and appropriate risk-taking intermediation as well as customer relationship management. SME businesses face a number of specific risks in their business but SME lending is a profitable business for many MFIs and banks that use the right methodology –cash flow based lending- and appropriate decision making tools.
Understanding the challenges that small and medium business owners are facing is fundamental to the provision of excellent service and achieving good credit decisions.
The course folloes the below listed basic logics and assumptions on SME Finance:
- SMEs require specific financial services and products according to their comparably small size and often limited scope.
- SMEs sometimes operate in informal or semi-formal environments; access to reliable (or even audited) financial data is therefore often limited.
- Since audited financial statements and sound business planning may not be available, the financial institution has to analyze the situation of the client carefully and verify verbal or internal statements.
- Once data is gathered and verified, lending decisions can be taken based on financial considerations and depending on risk appetite.
Target Audience
- Mid-management of financial institutions working with SME Finance
- Operational staff within financial institutions working with SME Finance
- Top management of financial institutions wanting to enter SME Finance
- Staff of regulators, policy makers, donors and other SME Finance related institutions
- Staff of SME associations
- Consultants, students and other individuals interested in SME Finance
The course takes approx. 6 months assuming 5-7 hours of self-study per week. It consists of 7 units which build upon each other. You will take the units in sequence and will need to pass an online multiple choice test before accessing the next unit.
Unit 3, 4 and 5 include an assignment which you will need to submit at a fixed deadline.
Registration
Registrations for the course beginning on 1 September 2024 are now open.
Awarding Body
The certification is awarded by Frankfurt School of Finance and Management,Germany.
Learning Objectives
On successful completion of this course, students will have a thoroughout comprehension of principal concepts and theories in SME finance, i.e. they will be able to:
- recall differences between SME finance compared to other client segments, e.g. corporate clients and retail clients
- explain the specifics of SMEs in a geographically limited area
- identify products and services required by SMEs in transition and developing countries
