MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI) and the Università Degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo) in Italy, with Support from the Rural Finance Program (RFP) at The Ohio State University (OSU), to Hold Conference on the Future of Rural Finance

Boulder-Bergamo Forum on Access to Financial Services: Expanding the Rural Frontier

September 18-20, 2008, University of Bergamo, Italy

The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI), a nonprofit organization which grew out of microfinance training programs initiated in 1995, and the Università Degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo), an institution outside of Milan, Italy that offers a one-year Master on Microfinance program, will jointly host “Boulder-Bergamo Forum on Access to Financial Services: Expanding the Rural Frontier,” a conference focusing on rural financial services meant to gather researchers, government leaders, managers of financial institutions, and representatives of international organizations for dialogue on the future of the sector. The Rural Finance Program (RFP) at The Ohio State University’s (OSU) Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE) will support the conference.

As shown in the Conference Schedule, there will be five plenary sessions and three breakout sessions. The program includes presenters from universities around the world as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation), and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), among others. A list of confirmed presenters can be found here.

Registration is on-going and is initiated by downloading the Registration Form and e-mailing it to info@bouldermft.org. The conference fee is EUR 400 and payment may be made by wire transfer or by credit card, as detailed here.

An opportunity for five scholarships exists through the Call for Posters. Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to submit a poster and an accompanying 400-word abstract (for a subsequent research paper due August 22nd) for inclusion in two poster presentations. The top five submitted posters will receive full scholarships and the deadline is July 15th. The poster application is available in PDF or Word format and should be submitted to Davide Castellani at findev@unibg.it.

BI was incepted in 2004 and is currently presided over by founder Robert Peck Christen, the Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Gates Foundation and a founder of the MicroBanking Bulletin (MBB), the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX Market), and the Microfinance Management Institute (MFMI), as stated in his profile on BI’s web site. Mr. Christen was appointed to his position at the Gates Foundation in 2007, as reported by MicroCapital here. He is also the author of multiple publications, one of which MicroCapital reported on here, in October of 2007. Mr. Christen will be a presenter at the conference.

BI’s flagship program, the annual Boulder MFT (to be held in Turin, Italy from July 21st through August 8th), claims over 2,500 alumni from 135 countries, 60 percent of whom are direct practitioners of microfinance. Financial information was not available. MicroCapital recently reported on another upcoming BI training event here. BI may be contacted by e-mail at info@bouldermft.org or by phone in the US (+1 303 800 0825) or in Canada (+1 514 509 7168).

The University of Bergamo was founded in 1968 as “The Institute of Foreign Languages and Literatures” and had enrollment of nearly 13,000 students during the 2003-2004 academic year. Master on Microfinance, which is run through the university’s Research Centre on International Cooperation, has been operating since 2002 and is attended mainly by students from Africa, the Middle East, and Italy. Financial information was unavailable.

The RFP was established in the 1960s and its researchers created the Development Finance (DevFinance) listserv, an e-mail discussion group with subscribing practitioners and researchers from around the world. Also, RFP faculty teach annually at the Boulder MFT. Financial information for the RFP was not available.

By Anthony Busch, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Home, Financial Services for the Poor

Boulder Institute of Microfinance: Home, Our History, About, Boulder MFT, Alumni

Boulder-Bergamo Forum on Access to Financial Services: Home, Conference Schedule, Presenters, How to Register?, Registration Form, Call for Posters, Poster Application PDF, Poster Application Word

MicroCapital article, June 26, 2008: “The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom to Offer a Five-day Training Program Entitled ‘Integrating Microfinance in Development’ at the University of Sussex”

MicroCapital article, April 13, 2007: “Gates Foundation Names Robert Peck Christen of the Boulder Institute of Microfinance as Head of Microfinance Team”

MicroCapital wrap-up, October 29, 2007: “Sustainability of Self-Help Groups in India: Two Analyses”

The Ohio State University: Home, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Rural Finance Program, About

University of Bergamo: Home, Research Centre on International Cooperation, Master on Microfinance, Information on Past Editions