Eleventh Annual Conference 2015:

Sanabel’s 11th annual conference was held under the patronage of Her Excellency Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of International Cooperation, in the Savoy Hotel, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, from 20-21 October 2015. Mr. Hassan Farid, Chairman of Sanabel network, inaugurated the conference.

This year's conference was held under the theme "Progress toward Financial Inclusion - Global Trends and Regional Initiatives”. Through the presentation of regional and global experiences, the conference highlighted some of these opportunities including the following:

• Innovations of financial service providers and their attempts in diversifying  the products and services they offer.
• Improved regulatory frameworks that enhance broader market penetration.
• Effective partnerships and the increasing presence of the private sector and their role.
• Growing use of available technology platforms to expand and improve the delivery channels of financial services.
• The increasing awareness of the importance of client protection by providers, governments, and key stakeholders and how it can enhance progress towards financial inclusion in the Arab region. 

Over two days, more than 330 participants attended the event including microfinance practitioners, government officials, investors, donors and other parties involved in the industry in the Arab region, in addition to 50 speakers from the Arab region and beyond.

This year's Conference addressed several topics including:  risk perceptions in the Arab region; the role of microfinance institutions in times of crisis; regulations toward financial inclusion; global regulatory expertise and what it can do in the Arab region; new and innovative initiatives for Islamic risk sharing; peer-to-peer exchange and its pros and cons; digital financial services and  innovative approaches to facilitate customer transactions; the successes and failures of technology in small rural enterprises (VSE); lending in the Arab region; microfinance products and services and its role on consumer protection.