In 2023, the ILO’s Social Finance Programme continued to draw insights from pioneering companies that are contributing to the development agenda. Our Emerging Insights of 2023 covered a variety of topics, including emergency loans, catastrophic agriculture insurance and innovative partnerships. Below are the three most popular Emerging Insights from last year:

Financial services to enhance resilience. Financial institutions serving micro and small enterprises can play a critical role in assisting their client base to manage their risks. In this Emerging Insight, we highlighted the implications on staff when offering integrated risk management products.

Becoming a long-term ally for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Argentina. The Argentine insurance market is competitive and has many as 200 registered insurance companies. This Emerging Insight showcased how micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are a crucial market segment.

Selecting a digital payment platform. With support from the ILO, a microfinance institution in the Philippines launched a digital finance pilot to train and equip its members to act as merchant-agents for digital transactions. In this Emerging Insight, we looked in more detail at the key factors when considering platforms.