This event offers discussions of topics including microinsurance, financial technology (fintech), funding mechanisms, how to serve refugees and other strategies for enhancing financial inclusion. The program includes
Category: European Microfinance Week
SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP Launches the Green Map, a Pioneering Resource to Address an Information Gap in Green Inclusive Finance
As the inclusive finance sector increasingly understands the crucial role it can have in supporting the most vulnerable populations – who are disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change – the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) is delighted to announce the launch of the Green Map, a project implemented by the e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group (GICSF-AG) and supported by the Government of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The Green Map was officially launched on Thursday, September 28 at an in-person and live-streamed event entitled “Addressing Climate Change via an Open Resource for Green Inclusive Finance Projects & Practices.”
What’s this all for? The Green Map project aims to
SPECIAL REPORT: Fortune Credit of Kenya, Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala, Yikri of Burkina Faso Are Finalists for European Microfinance Award 2023 on Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): On September 19 and September 20, 2023, the Selection Committee for the European Microfinance Award (EMA) 2023 on “Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition” selected the three finalists that will go on to compete for the prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 105,000): Fortune Credit Limited from Kenya, Fundación Génesis Empresarial from Guatemala and Yikri from Burkina Faso.
The choice of topic for the EMA2023 comes at a
SPECIAL REPORT: An Interview with Christoph Pausch of e-MFP on European Microfinance Week, Luxembourg & Online, November 2023
MicroCapital: What can we expect from EMW2023, happening in-person November 15-17 in Luxembourg and online?
Christoph Pausch: EMW2022, back in-person after two years, showed us that there is no substitute for getting the opinion leaders and decision-makers in the inclusive finance sector together in-person, ensuring they have the time and space to debate, make new connections, and of course give presentations and discuss the various challenges and innovations underway around the world.
After the success of the hybrid EMW2022, which gathered 570 attendees (including over 200 who joined us online) from 48 countries, we are delighted to return to the beautiful Abbaye de Neumunster in Luxembourg for another hybrid event, which will once again offer an exceptional networking and knowledge-sharing experience with the top experts in the financial inclusion sector. And the programme is designed to be as conducive as possible to those joining us online from different time zones. Plus, sessions will be recorded for “catch-up” after.
MC: What choices of sessions can attendees expect?
CP: As always, EMW sessions have been put forward largely by our members – so they address the sector’s current “hot topics” – and we organise them across several thematic streams. We received an enormous response to our call for proposals that went out early in the summer, giving us great scope for a fascinating, diverse program across different streams. In addition to our usual annual topic areas – digitisation, social performance, funding/investment – this year there also will be streams on refugee finance, agri-finance, a particular emphasis on
SPECIAL REPORT: Christoph Pausch on the European Microfinance Award 2023 – Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
MicroCapital: Why was “Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition” chosen as the topic of this, the 14th edition of the European Microfinance Award?
Christoph Pausch: For a long time, it looked like progress in this field would be positive and continuous. But a combination of factors – among them climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the global inflationary context – means that progress in food security and nutrition may have stalled, or in fact reversed. According to the World Food Programme, “Conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertiliser prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions.” And the Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the number of people affected by hunger has grown by 150 million since the onset of the pandemic. But the problem is not only one of hunger – lack of access to sufficient food – it’s also one of insufficient quality, meaning poor nutrition, and lack of access to the micronutrients necessary for good health, all compounded by the stress of uncertain supply. There may be 2 billion people worldwide in this category.
There are many sectors that have to play roles in addressing food security and nutrition. And because the people most vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition are largely those who are low-income, living in low-income countries and financially excluded, there is a vital role for the financial inclusion
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Financial Inclusion That Works for Women; March 2, 2023; London, UK
This event will review the 2022 edition of the European Microfinance Award, which was themed “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women.” Sam Mendelson of the Luxembourg-based European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) will discuss
SPECIAL REPORT: Saluting MFI Staff, Promoting Flexible Products, “Keeping the Client at the Heart” as European Microfinance Week Closes
A panel of microfinance luminaries shared their moments of pride and disappointment at the closing plenary of this year’s European Microfinance Week. Yannick Milev of the Cambodian microfinance institution Chamroeun expressed his admiration for the staff members of Chamroeun, who continued to work through the COVID-19 pandemic at significant risk to their and their families’ health because “stopping operations completely would have had a terrible effect on us and on our clients.” Mr Milev added that Chamroeun issued many loans during the early days of the pandemic to help clients diversify in response to the economic effects of COVID-19.
Marc Labie of Belgium’s University of Mons described the pandemic as “a chance for the industry to
SPECIAL REPORT: Increasing Financial Access for Women with Better Data, Mentoring, Staff Training, “Gender-smart” Audits
Silke Mufflemann of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management described the common differences between women-owned micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and those owned by men during a session at this month’s European Microfinance Week. On average, women owners are more cautious regarding business decisions and want more information before accepting a loan. In lower-income countries, women often have had less access to education and are less confident in their financial and business management skills. They also tend to have more limited social and business networks from which to draw information and other resources. For all these reasons, Ms Mufflemann argues, it is key that financial services providers (FSPs) connect women with non-financial support services.
Bettina Wittlinger, also from the Frankfurt School, discussed how to determine whether a FSP is “gender-smart.” Among the factors is
SPECIAL REPORT: Nurturing Young Entrepreneurs with Revenue-based Repayments, Accounting Apps, Bank Guarantees
In a conversation during the last day of European Microfinance Week, Daniel Buchbinder of Guatemala-based Alterna described his NGO’s fee-based support for young entrepreneurs. Upon Alterna’s founding in 2010, its goal was to help its clients’ businesses develop into more stable operations that could qualify for funding. The NGO had served 2,000 firms by 2015, but funders were not investing in many of Alterna’s clients. Hence the NGO launched Catalyzer, a fund that lends small enterprises USD 10,000 to USD 50,000 on a collateral-free basis. Terms range up to five years, and repayments start at 3 percent of revenue and range up to
SPECIAL REPORT: Fintechs vs MFIs – a Debate at European Microfinance Week
At Thursday’s debate on “high-tech” versus “high-touch” financial services at European Microfinance Week, Dorcas Thorpe of Nigeria’s LAPO Microfinance Bank argued that customers in rural areas are more likely to access financial services via high-touch channels such as branches and agents rather than mobile money because they have – on average – lower levels of digital literacy and trust in digital financial services. Gregoire Lecomte of
SPECIAL REPORT: Sounding Alarm Bells on Financial Health: Inclusion Is Not Sufficient
On Friday in Luxembourg, a panel of experts sounded alarm bells on trends in financial health. Amrik Heyer of FSD Kenya noted that financial health in Kenya, for example, has gone down significantly since 2016, the first year for which her data are available. This has occurred while usage of digital financial services (DFS) has gone up.
The panel was adamant that financial inclusion alone does not boost financial health, which encompasses the ability to meet current needs, absorb shocks and pursue financial goals. In fact, Jaspreet Singh of the UN Capital Development Fund argued that
SPECIAL REPORT: Financial Inclusion for Women Requires Engaging All Levels of the Microfinance Institution
During a plenary session on financial inclusion for women at European Microfinance Week 2022, the presenters highlighted the need to collect and use good data. Not only must financial services providers (FSPs) disaggregate data by gender, but they must segment it further, as not all women have the same needs. Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking cited the example of regulators in Chile realizing their data pointed to a need for housing loans, which the entity then successfully encouraged FSPs to develop.
Carine Roenen of Fonkoze Foundation spoke to the importance of rich data – not just numbers but qualitative data as well. Fonkoze has had success encouraging line staff to report important client experiences to supervisors. For example, when thieves started targeting clients
SPECIAL REPORT: Banco FIE of Bolivia Takes $100k “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” European Microfinance Award 2022
From the European Microfinance Platform: After a selection process that reviewed applications from 88 organisations, Banco FIE SA has been chosen by the Luxembourg Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs to receive the €100,000 European Microfinance Award 2022.
The Bolivian bank captured the High Jury’s attention by incorporating a gender-related dimension into its products and services, in an effort to make them more accessible to women. To do this, it conducted a large number of customer surveys. Banco FIE provides a wide range of products, including micro-insurance (family life insurance and cancer policies), digital financial literacy and technical support to enhance agricultural productivity among women. Within its own organisation, Banco FIE has introduced an innovative business management model called “Marca Magenta” to promote inclusive leadership, the empowerment of women, the prevention of violence and
SPECIAL REPORT: Chamroeun Microfinance Scaling Up to Fund SMEs Supplying Piped Water in Cambodia
Yannick Milev of Cambodia’s Chamroeun Microfinance presented today at European Microfinance Week on the lender’s expansion into providing loans as large as USD 250,000 to private companies that supply piped water to households in Cambodia. In rural parts of the country, the government issues monopolies to private water providers to serve given areas. Approximately 400 companies are licensed to receive these monopolies.
In designing the loan product, Chamroeun employed a technical assistance grant of
SPECIAL REPORT: Solar-powered Onions in Senegal, Meso-insurance Against Storms in Nicaragua, Performance-based Interest Rate Reductions for Climate-smart Lending in India
In a session on strengthening agricultural value chains today at European Microfinance Week, Daphne van Dam of Cordaid described her organization’s work to support onion farmers in Senegal. The farmers were struggling with the cost of fuel for irrigation. Cordaid was able to partner with local microfinance and solar providers to supply farmers with solar-powered irrigation systems that they could pay for on a schedule attuned to the harvest time of their crop.
Magdalena Arbelaez of Incofin described her firm’s work enabling insurance for farmers in Nicaragua. Rather than microinsurance, which would have been unworkable for many of the smallholder farmers in the region, the project extended
SPECIAL REPORT: Enabling Microinsurance via Technology: RFID Tags Slash Fraud, Costs of Livestock Cover in Rwanda
At a well-attended workshop today at European Microfinance Week, Ovia Tuhairwe, the CEO of Radiant Yacu Microinsurance, described her firm’s journey to develop a viable product to insure livestock in Rwanda. On its own, a subsidy of 40 percent from the Rwandan government did not make it easy to insure cattle, pigs and chickens in the country. Before Radiant Yacu moved to its current model in 2019, fraud was rampant, and costs were high at 10 percent of
SPECIAL REPORT: How to Achieve Responsible Digital Financial Services: European Microfinance Week Opens
At the opening plenary of European Microfinance Week, where over 500 attendees are gathering now in-person and online, Tidhar Wald of the UN’s Better Than Cash Alliance noted that over 1 billion more people worldwide have achieved financial inclusion over the past decade. While this has helped some to boost their livelihoods, many have accessed financial services via digital services, which carry different risks than in-person services. Data protection is an obvious example, as more client data is being digitized, and fraud is on the rise. Other risks, even though well-known to providers of in-person financial services, require different
SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group Focuses on Capacity Building
During the opening day of European Microfinance Week today, roughly 75 members and potential members of the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group met in-person in Luxembourg – and remotely – to discuss strategies for increasing access to finance that helps people with low incomes to adjust to and reduce climate change. Co-chair Natalia Realpe Carrillo argued, “This is not something extra; this responsible finance!” She went on to describe the Action Group’s work to: publish a glossary of terms for those just getting started in green lending; offer seven related training modules; continue an ongoing webinar series, which is also available on-demand; publish