At the recent “First Southern Sudan Microfinance Conference,” microfinance practitioners discussed the need to expand the microfinance industry in Southern Sudan by focusing on two objectives, building capacity and listening to clients. The conference was billed as the first of its kind and was attended by Sudanese government officials, donors, technical experts and microfinance practitioners with the aim of sharing best practices and discussing ways to expand the sector. The conference was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Generating Economic Development through Microfinance in Southern Sudan (GEMSS) project. The GEMSS project was launched in 2009 by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), US-based nonprofits that support growth and work to improve health, education and economic development in developing countries. The 3-year project is intended to strengthen Southern Sudan’s microfinance sector by providing technical assistance and lending capital towards expanding loan services.
The GEMSS project was launched in partnership with the government of Southern Sudan, the Microfinance Association of Southern Sudan and the Southern Sudan Microfinance Development Facility, a microfinance investment facility supported by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Southern Sudan.
During the conference discussion, several key obstacles to expanding loan services were noted, mainly the industry’s inadequate physical and legal infrastructure and the low financial literacy and technical competency of both customers and staff. Practitioners agreed that they could improve the sector by investing in such changes as increased legislative advocacy efforts and staff training and education.
As of 2010, Southern Sudan operates semi-autonomously of the central Sudanese government in Khartoum, as described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Sudan.
For a suite of tools intended to improve the impact of international development efforts, you may visit http://www.kdid.org.
By Jennifer Shevock, Research Associate
About the United States Agency for International Development (USAID):
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a United States government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance. It focuses on areas such as economic growth, agriculture and trade, global health, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. Under the Development Credit Authority (DCA), it provides partial credit guarantees that cover up to 50 percent of defaults on loans made by private financial institutions to institutions that lend to underserved borrowers.
Sources and Additional Resources:
“Southern Sudan Microfinance Industry Seeks to Expand Loan Services” August 16, 2010. http://www.acdivoca.org/site/ID/news-Southern-Sudan-Microfinance-Industry-Seeks-to-Expand-Loan-Services
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Southern Sudan Holds Microfinance Conference with Sponsorship from United States Agency for International Development (USAID)” July 27, 2010.
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-southern-sudan-holds-microfinance-conference-with-sponsorship-from-united-states-agency-for-international-development-usaid/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Southern Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF) Provides $92k to Rural Finance Initiative (RUFI), a Microfinance Institution (MFI), for Technical Assistance and On-Lending” March 2, 2010.
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-southern-sudan-microfinance-development-facility-ssmdf-provides-92k-to-rural-finance-initiative-rufi-a-microfinance-institution-mfi-for-technical-assistance-and-on-lending/
MicroCapital Universe: United States Agency for International Development (USAID): https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=United+States+Agency+for+International+Development+%28USAID%29
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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