Nairobi, Sept. 2 -- Attend any fintech conference or read the latest report about trade financing gaps in developing economies including Kenya and you will notice that the debate is about the same wall: Micro, small and medium enterprises' struggle to access affordable credit.

We love to point fingers at both our mainstream and alternative financial systems. We accuse commercial banks of being risk-averse, elitist, and detached from the realities of informal trade. We accuse fintechs of predatory lending.

But spend some time analysing and working within the financial ecosystem and you will come to a humbling realisation: while systemic gaps exist, the biggest bottleneck to MSME financing is not always bank rigidity or risk over pricing ...