MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 15 Caribbean Microfinance Institutions to Benefit from $2m Phase Two of Caribbean Microfinance Capacity Building Project (CARIB-CAP II)

Fifteen microfinance institutions in the Caribbean have recently become beneficiaries of a USD 2.7 million technical cooperation fund that will provide customized staff training programmes. The funding is the second phase of the Caribbean Microfinance Capacity Building Project (CARIB-CAP), which seeks to strengthen the technical and financial capabilities of microfinance institutions in the English-speaking Caribbean by providing training in the areas of marketing, management and product design [1]. The goal is for the microfinance banks to benefit from increased client outreach and improved financial performance. The 15 institutions, which have not been identified, operate in the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. CARIB-CAP is a combined initiative of the Multilateral Investment Fund, a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank Group; the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank; the African, Caribbean and Pacific Microfinance Project of the European Union; and the US-based Citi Foundation [2].

Phase one of CARIB-CAP, which was valued at USD 3 million and ran for a 30-month period ending in early 2012, focused on strengthening the Caribbean Microfinance Alliance (CMFA), a network of 22 microfinance institutions. After a year of operation, participating institutions attested to a 14-percent increase in client outreach and a reduction in portfolio-at-risk from 27 percent to 13.7 percent. The training support provided through CARIB-CAP II,which was just launched at the Caribbean Microfinance Forum IV in Bridgetown, Barbados, will be administered by Développement International Desjardins (DID), an arm of the Canada-based cooperative financial group Desjardins.

By Chioma Okwudiafor, Research Associate

About the Caribbean Microfinance Forum
The Caribbean Microfinance Forum immediately precedes the FOROMIC, a Spanish acronym for Forum on Micro-enterprise, which is offered by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group. The Caribbean Microfinance Forum is an annual gathering of microfinance institutions that was begun under the auspices of the Caribbean Microfinance Capacity Building Project (Carib-Cap), a joint effort by MIF, the Caribbean Development Bank, the EU’s European Commission and the US-based Citi Foundation.

About the Multilateral Investment Fund
Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) is an autonomous fund that was founded in 1993 by the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Now a member of IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) Group, MIF has 39 donating member countries from the Americas, Europe and Asia. Since its inception, MIF reports having approved 1,600 projects in 19 countries, disbursing approximately USD 100 million per year in grants, equity and loans.

About the Caribbean Development Bank
Founded on October 18, 1969, by 18 countries and territories, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has its headquarters in Bridgetown, Barbados. It is a financial institution which aims to assist the economic growth and development of member countries by financing social and economic programs. CDB has a membership of 26 countries 2012.

About the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Microfinance Project (ACP) of the European Commission
ACP group of states was established in 1975 with the signing of both the Georgetown Agreement, the document that laid the foundation for cooperation among African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, and the Lome Convention, the trade and aid agreement signifying the first stages of cooperation between Europe and the ACP group. The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. With a EUR 22.7 billion (USD 29.3 billion) endowment for the years 2008- 2012, the European Development Fund (EDF) is the European Commission’s main financial instrument for development aid in ACP countries.

About Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation provides grants and guarantees focusing on the areas of microfinance, small and growing businesses, education, asset building and neighborhood revitalization. As of 2010, Citi Foundation reported total assets of USD 63.1 million. Citi Foundation is the charitable arm of US-based financial services provider Citigroup.

About Développement International Desjardins (DID) A subsidiary of cooperative institution Desjardins Group, Developpement International Desjardins (DID) is a Canadian corporation that specializes in providing technical support and investment for development finance in emerging countries. As of 2011, DID is assisting projects in approximately twenty nations in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. As of the same period, DID reports total assets of CAD 29.2 million (USD 30 million), return on assets of 5.5 percent and return on equity of 7.27 percent.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Caribbean 360 story: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/business/617079.html#axzz274hwAmDt

[2] MicroCapital Story: February 5, 2008, MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Grants $1.9m to Development of Microfinance in the Caribbean
https://www.microcapital.org/mcirocapital-story-idb-grants-19m-to-development-of-microfinance-in-the-caribbean/#more-1697

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Caribbean Microfinance Forum
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Caribbean+Microfinance+Forum

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Multilateral Investment Fund https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tikiindex.php?page=Multilateral+Investment+Fund+%28MIF%29

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Caribbean Development Bank
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=caribbean+development+bank

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Microfinance Project (ACP) of the European Commission https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Africa-Caribbean-Pacific+Project+of+the+European+Commission

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Citi Foundation
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Citi+Foundation

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