On October 29, IPA in collaboration with the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), a state corporation under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Cooperatives held a one-day policy dialogue on MSME development in Kenya.The event aimed to bring together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to discuss the key priorities, opportunities, and challenges facing the SME sector in the country. Recognizing that the SME sector may be a catalyst to advancing economic and social development, the Kenyan government has rolled out the Big Four Agenda, under which SME will play an important role as part of the manufacturing agenda.

On Tuesday, October 22, 2019, IPA hosted an interactive webinar aimed at researchers and practitioners in behavioral finance, as part of Financial Inclusion Week 2019.Researchers Jeremy Burke (USC) and Sean Higgins (Northwestern University) and IPA’s Michael Rosenbaum and Rebecca Rouse discussed findings and policy implications from two recent studies on prize-linked incentives in financial product design. An interactive Q&A session followed the discussion.Financial products that incorporate sweepstake entries as incentives for use (or prize-linked) are increasingly popular in both developed and developing economies.

On October 21 and 23, IPA presented at the 2019 African Microfinance Week (SAM) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.SAM is a major conference dedicated to the development of financial inclusion in Africa that takes place every two years.IPA also presented at the Research Meets Africa conference, taking place within the framework of SAM.