SME Growth & Cyber Readiness: Mastercard’s Dreamonomics report says EEMEA SMEs are chasing growth while leaning on stability, deep customer relationships, and cyber protection—78% prioritise cyberthreat defence and 42% already use tools, with strong interest in AI and emerging payments. Youth Enterprise Finance (Liberia): YEIB-MANCO targets at least 30,000 young Liberians directly and 120,000 indirectly, using an AfDB-backed model that blends financing with business support to tackle high rates, collateral demands and long-term credit gaps. Women & Agri Lending (Ecobank): Ecobank plans to mobilise $2.6bn by 2030—$2bn for women-led businesses and $600m across agricultural value chains—aiming to expand formal women’s access to finance and boost rural digital payments. Enterprise Jobs Fund (South Africa): UIF and NEF launch a R1bn, five-year partnership to stimulate SME growth and create 30,000+ jobs, with NEF as implementation partner. Local Content & Supplier Readiness (Ghana): CNML holds a supplier summit to help local firms meet mining procurement and regulatory standards, aligning with Ghana’s local content policy. Tourism Spend Gap (Mpumalanga): Tourism leaders warn visitors are “coming to a showroom” but spending is low—only ~8% of tourist spend stays in the province. Energy & Trade Infrastructure (Horn of Africa): Ethiopia and Djibouti hail Dangote’s $660m Damarjog–Dewele pipeline and terminal as a jobs and regional integration boost. Digital Finance for SMEs (Kenya): Absa Kenya launches an all-in-one mobile app for saving, investing, and borrowing (including for business needs), using open banking to improve credit access. Fraud Fighting (Cambodia-UK): Cambodia and the UK sign an MoU to coordinate against cross-border scam networks, including data sharing and victim support.