WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: The Microfinance Gateway (www.microfinancegateway.org), Provided by World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)

Launched in 2000, the Microfinance Gateway is self-proclaimed as “the most comprehensive online resource for the global microfinance community,” getting over four million page hits from 200 countries in 2008. The website is provided by the microfinance arm of the World Bank, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), in an effort to advance knowledge and encourage innovation within the microfinance industry [1]. In May of this year, the site was re-launched, with interactive features such as ratings, reviews and comment boards. Also among the additions are “Hot Topic” pages with relevant links and overviews for microfinance-related investment, rural and agricultural finance, social performance, microinsurance, savings, technology and more. In an effort to further improve the site, CGAP has released the Microfinance Gateway User Survey 2009, which asks users to rate and comment on new features including accessibility, breadth and depth of information, job postings and the “attractiveness” of the new user interface [2].

An independent policy and research center, CGAP is supported by a consortium of 33 donors that include development agencies, multilateral financial institutions and private foundations which support microfinance. These donors work with CGAP in the pursuance of five main objectives: (1) developing a wide range of financial institutions to serve the poor; (2) broadening and deepening outreach; (3) improving the quality and availability of information; (4) fostering a supportive policy and regulatory framework; and (5) improving donor effectiveness [3].

During FY2008, CGAP’s total assets exceeded USD 40 million, with total revenues of USD 28.16 million and total expenses of USD 31.43 million (p57). Operating expenses (p57-58), which included all components of total expenses except for grants and initiative commitments (USD 8.56 million), the CGAP/Gates Technology Initiative (USD 12.32 million) and project preparation costs (USD 313,207), increased from USD 8.2 million in FY2007 to USD 9.6 million in FY2008 (p54). This was mainly due to higher costs associated with new hires, increases in staff training expenses, and new investments in CGAP communications and IT (p54). CGAP allocated USD 3.23 million in donor commitments to fund the Gateway’s ongoing activities (p59). CGAP expects that its “significant up-front investment [in information dissemination] will lead to cost savings because the CGAP IT team is able to control the sites, and staff can upload information rather than rely on expensive IT consultants and coders” (p54). CGAP’s detailed 2008 Annual Report can be found here [4].

The MIX Market, a private microfinance information platform, was founded by CGAP in partnership with the Citigroup Foundation, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Rockdale Foundation and others. It provides information on microfinance institutions (MFIs), public and private funds that invest in microfinance, MFI networks, evaluators, advisory firms, and governmental and regulatory agencies. The MIX Market provides data on over 1,400 MFIs, over 100 investors and almost 200 partners. In 2008, CGAP allocated USD 1.5 million in commitments to the MIX Market, less than half the amount it provided for the Microfinance Gateway [5]. For FY2008, the MIX reported net assets of USD 2.51 million, with a total revenue of USD 3.41 million and total expenses of USD 1.7 million [6].

The Microfinance Gateway is one of the top ten out of over 1,000 sites hosted by the World Bank. In FY2008, more than 50,000 individual users visited the site each month, representing a 25 percent increase from FY2007. The site emphasizes outreach towards microfinance practitioners in developing countries including. The top ten developing countries Microfinance Gateway constituents come from are: India, Morocco, Senegal, the Philippines, Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, and Benin [7].

The website is divided into six sections: home, library, jobs, training and events, organizations, and consultants. Chief among these sections are the library, which houses over 7,000 documents, including white papers, PowerPoint slides, newsletters, books, journal articles, and CD-Roms; the “organizations” section with brief synopses and links to over 1,000 organizations; and the “consultants” section which features over 400 consultant profiles. Selected press releases are also featured on the site and updated regularly. The site is interactive, as it allows users to post publications, publicize conferences and training courses, announce job openings, contribute articles, and debate current issues.

To extend global outreach, the Microfinance Gateway has established three affiliate language sites in French, Arabic, and Spanish [8, 9, 10]. The Arabic affiliate site was launched in December 2004, in association with Sanabel, a network of MFIs in Arab countries, whose members serve 80 percent of the active microfinance clients in the region [11]. Portail Microfinance, the French affiliate, was established in 2005 in partnership with Research and Technological Exchange Group (GRET), a France-based development support organization; and Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA), a non-profit based in Luxembourg that provides financial services and technical support to MFIs [12, 13].

More recently, in August 2009, the Microfinance Gateway announced the launch of the Portal de Microfinanzas, its Spanish-language affiliate site. Developed with regional partner INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, the Portal de Micofinanzas features over 500 publications, news articles on microfinance in Latin America, country profiles, a calendar of events, and organizational and job listings. INCAE, founded in 1964 under the guidance of the Harvard University Business School, is a private, non-profit, multinational institution [14].

Mr. Xavier Reille, Lead Microfinance Specialist and Director of the CGAP Middle East and North Africa Initiative, founded the Microfinance Gateway. He is Chairman of the MIX Market and leads CGAP’s Transparency Team. Prior to joining CGAP, he was the regional microfinance adviser for Southeast Asia with Catholic Relief Services. Mr. Reille has a master’s in International Finance from the University of Paris.

Ms. Elizabeth Littlefield is CEO of CGAP and a director of the World Bank. Prior to joining CGAP, she was the managing director of JP Morgan’s Emerging Markets Capital Markets in London, where she was responsible for all bond offerings, structured financing, and credit ratings for emerging Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. She is a graduate of Brown University and has also studied at the École Nationale de Sciences Politiques in Paris.

The Microfinance Gateway has one full-time staff manager and one assistant who work in Washington DC, and four content managers who work from a partner firm, Intellecap, in India [15]. Ms. Sherry Sposeep, Microfinance Gateway Manager, has been working for CGAP since 2007. She manages the Microfinance Gateway as well as its three aforementioned affiliate sites. Prior to this position, she managed a microfinance research project at Chemonics International, an international development consulting firm based in Washington DC. She has a master’s degree in Development Management from American University. Ms. Margarita Rayzberg, Microfinance Gateway Associate, works on content development and website management. Prior to joining CGAP in 2009, she worked as an analyst for a start-up management consulting firm. She has a master’s in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University and a BS in International Business from Northeastern University.

Established in 2002 in India, Intellectual Capital Advisory Services, or Intellecap, serves as the content manager for the English website. Intellecap’s main objective is to accelerate the growth of upcoming MFIs and micro and small enterprises by coordinating markets, people and capital internationally. To date, it has intermediated over USD 100 million in capital to development opportunities. Ms. Aparajita Agrawal, Vice President of Intellecap’s Knowledge and Insights division, heads the Microfinance Gateway content management at Intellecap. Prior to joining Intellecap in 2004, Ms. Agrawal was a consultant for CARE India. She has a BS in Mathematics, Statistics and Economics from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, in Meerut, India, and a master’s from the Indian Institute of Forest Management.

By: Stefanie Rubin, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

[1] The Microfinance Gateway: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/home/

[2] Microfinance Gateway User Survey 2009: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.1.3339/

[3] CGAP: http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/

[4] CGAP 2008 Annual Report: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.9334/CGAP%20Annual%20Report%202008.pdf

[5] MIX Market: http://www.mixmarket.org/about

[6] The MIX 2008 Annual Report: http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/Annual%20Report%20FY%202008%20for%20Web.pdf

[7] CGAP Job Description: http://www.devex.com/jobs/sep2009-cgap-microfinance-gateway-deputy-manager

[8] The Microfinance Gateway Arabic Site: http://arabic.microfinancegateway.org/

[9] Portail Microfinance: http://www.lamicrofinance.org/

[10] Portal de Microfinanzas: http://www.portalmicrofinanzas.org/p/site/s/