Investing in the Missing Middles: a route out of Latin America’s economic crisis.

Covid-19 has led to a deep and unspoken economic crisis in Latin America, which has exacerbated social pressures stemming from existing inequities. Small and growing businesses (SGBs) have been particularly hard hit, but they could hold the key to a sustainable economic recovery across the region. Effectively supporting SGB’s requires segmenting them into multiple “Missing Middles” and tailoring investment solutions to the unique needs of each segment. For this session, we propose a panel discussion with players tackling this challenge across Latin America. We aim to discuss how these players have approached investing in the Missing Middles, what opportunities have emerged in the process, what challenges remain, and what ideas they have for addressing existing challenges. Depending on the conference format and tech setup, we would also explore the option of engaging the audience in a live brainstorming session on the last point: ideas for addressing existing challenges.