30+ banking and finance professionals attended the Africa SME Finance Forum's study tour on May 14. The tour featured seven financial institutions and fintechs that have best in class, innovative ways of serving SMEs clients.

One of the visits was to Equity Bank Kenya Limited, a commercial bank headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

"It was a real life example of what's going on in the industry. It was great to hear their story and to sort of hear how we can go about it as well," said Salima Sikutwa of Madison Bank, Zambia.

A representative from Equity Bank gave the attendees a brief journey of the bank and how they compete with cash, fintechs and telecos .Participants also learned what Equity Bank does in terms of SME banking.

"We have seen how a good strategy well implemented, can transform a bank," said Fabien Amany of Ecobank Transnational, Togo.

The tour also included visits to Commercial Bank of Africa, Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion, Kountable, Uber Technologies and Tala.