MFTransparency et Lux-Development Lance l’Initiative sur la Transparence des Prix en Afrique de l’Ouest

 Press Release in English will be announced later.

MFTransparency et Lux-Development Lance l’Initiative sur la Transparence des Prix en Afrique de l’Ouest

LANCASTER, PA,  24 Juin 2010 — Ensemble MicroFinance Transparency (MFTransparency) et Lux-Development ont mis en place un partenariat pour étendre l’Initiative sur la Transparence des Prix en Afrique de l’Ouest. Ce projet doit contribuer à l’instauration d’un environnement propice à la transparence et à la protection des consommateurs dans toute la région.

A cet effet, deux ateliers de formation sont prévus le 06 juillet 2010 à Dakar, au Sénégal et le 09 juillet 2010 à Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso. Ces travaux ont pour objectifs de former les professionnels de l'industrie sur les questions liées à la transparence des prix dans les pays de l'Union Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (UEMOA).

Les partenaires de la mise en œuvre stratégique de ce projet sont le Réseau International des Institutions Financières Alternatives (INAFI International), partenaire régional de MFTransparency et les réseaux locaux de microfinance. Au Sénégal, MFTransparency travaille avec la Direction de la Microfinance (DMF), l’Association Professionnelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés, (AP/SFD-Senegal). Au Burkina Faso, MFTransparency collabore avec l’Association Professionnelle des Institutions de  Microfinance au Burkina Faso (APIM-BF).

Les ateliers du Sénégal et du Burkina Faso marqueront le lancement officiel du démarrage des activités de MFTransparency sur  la Transparence des Prix dans huit pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest: Sénégal, Burkina Faso, Bénin, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinée-Bissau, Mali et Niger. Ces pays ont été sélectionnés pour leur dynamisme dans le secteur de la microfinance, ainsi que pour leur  appartenance à L’Union Economique et Monétaire de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Africaine (UEMOA). As the industry leader in microfinance pricing methodology and transparency, MF Transparency will facilitate the process of information sharing and cross-learning related to microfinance pricing and consumer protection in these eight countries.En tant que leader dans la méthodologie de tarification et la transparence des prix en microfinance, la formation de MFTransparency portera essentiellement sur : Les coûts, la tarification des produits de microcrédit, les prix de collecte de données, la publication, le développement et la diffusion de matériel éducatif.

Ce projet est basé sur une valeur fondamentale qui est la protection des consommateurs en leur permettant de prendre des décisions éclairées. It also facilitates the functioning of healthy free markets in which fair competition is possible and artificially high profit-seeking rates are exposed.Il facilite également le bon fonctionnement d’un marché libre propice à une concurrence loyale dans lequel les taux artificiellement élevés à but purement lucratif seront exposés. MF Transparency focuses on training and education of the broad range of stakeholders to create an environment in which transparency leads to a strengthening of the local microfinance indust MFTransparency met l'accent sur la formation et l'éducation de tous les acteurs afin de créer un environnement dans lequel la transparence conduit au renforcement du secteur de la microfinance locale. Through the Transparent Pricing Initiative in West Africa , MF Transparency seeks to further sustainable microfinance and expand access to microloans for the poor.A travers l’Initiative sur la Transparence des Prix  en Afrique de l'Ouest, MFTransparency cherche à promouvoir la microfinance de manière durable et à accroître l'accès des populations à faible revenus aux microcrédits.

A Propos de MFTransparency

MicroFinance Transparency est une Organisation Internationale non Gouvernementale (O.N.G.) fondée en 2008. Elle a pour but de faciliter la transparence des marchés grâce à la diffusion d'information sur le coût véritable de tous les intervenants du marché. MFTransparency représente une industrie avec des pratiques équitables et  responsables. Basé aux Etats-Unis, le groupe a organisé des travaux sur la transparente des prix en Bosnie, au Pérou, au Cambodge, en Azerbaïdjan, au Kenya, au Bangladesh, en Équateur, en Bolivie et en Inde. Pour plus d’information veuillez-s’il vous plait visiter notre site web www.mftransparency.org . Dr. Mohammad Yunus de Grammeen Banque et Elizabeth Littlefield, précédemment Directeur Général du CGAP, et plus de 400 professionnels et organisations se sont engagés à la tarification transparente en approuvant MFTransparency et son initiative.

A propos de Lux Development:

Lux-Development est l'Agence luxembourgeoise pour la Coopération au Développement. L'Agence se concentre principalement sur les dix pays partenaires privilégiés de la coopération luxembourgeoise dont la liste est définie par le gouvernement du Luxembourg et dont le choix est primordialement orienté par la faiblesse de l'indice composite sur le développement humain (IDH). Inspirée par les objectifs du millénaire pour le développement (OMD), la coopération luxembourgeoise cible principalement trois secteurs clés : la santé-éducation, la formation-insertion professionnelle et le développement local intégré qui inclut différents volets, tels que l'eau, l'assainissement, la décentralisation et la micro finance.

Pour les questions relatives à ce communiqué de presse veuillez-s’il vous plaît contacter:

Fatima Kourouma
MFTransparency
fatima@mftransparency.org

MFTransparency Launches Pricing Initiative in Senegal

On July 6^th, 2010, MFTransparency will host a workshop and cocktail reception to celebrate the launch of the Transparent Pricing Initiative in Senegal. The workshop will be held at Pullman Teranga Hotel in Dakar from 9:00am – 1:30pm. This event has been coordinated in conjunction with Luxembourg Cooperation, INAFI International, DMF (Direction de la Microfinance) and APSFD (Association Professionelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés). 

 MFTransparency works with MFIs, Central Banks, and investors to bring pricing transparency to the microfinance industry. Senegal is the first country in West African to be selected for MFTransparency‘s Transparent Pricing Initiative. In this workshop we will share with all MFIs the new industry standard for calculating interest rates for microcredit products. We will also explain how each institution can actively participate in becoming a member of the MFTransparency project. As a member, MFIs will benefit directly from MFTransparency’s Senegal Market Data. This workshop is a wonderful opportunity to share experiences with peer institutions as well as learn from experiences of other institutions in other countries from around the world.

If you have not yet RSVP’d to the MFTransparency’s Transparent Pricing Workshop or if you have any further questions please contact Fatima Kourouma at fatima@mftransparency.org or contact AP/SFD-Senegal at apsfdsenegal@orange.sn

Africa Development Indicators 2010

Silent and lethal:  How quiet corruption undermines Africa’s development efforts

Africa Development Indicators 2010 provides the most detailed collection of data on Africa available in one volume. It contains more than 450 macroeconomic, sectoral, and social indicators, covering 53 African countries. Additional data may be found on the companion CD-ROM, covering about 1,600 indicators from 1961 to 2008.

Where a little bit goes a long way: microcredit loans to women in need

Hasine Taçilik, a 44-year-old woman living in Yukarı Köseli village in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, earns a living for her seven children through selling dairy products produced from a dairy cow that was purchased with a small loan.

“This lovely sorrel-colored cow brought joy, peace and happiness to our house,” she says.

Taçilik is, in fact, just one of thousands of indigent women whose lives were radically changed by obtaining as little as TL 100 up to TL 700 in credit from a micro lending institution. The money has to be repaid within 46 weeks in weekly or bi-weekly installments without interest but with a small service fee. Normally, these people are excluded from the formal financial system, as it is impossible for them to provide guarantees and the collateral demanded by commercial banks, in addition to coming up against social and gender barriers. But based solely on trust, the microfinance system has played a vital role in lifting the poor out of poverty throughout the world.
Read more

Why We Need Transparency?

MFTransparency is a global initiative for fair and transparent pricing in the Microfinance industry. Our desire is to be the venue for the Microfinance industry to publicly demonstrate its commitment to pricing transparency, integrity and poverty alleviation. Our vision is a Microfinance industry operating with healthy free market conditions where consumers and other stakeholders can make informed decisions.

Endorse MFTransparency NOW:  

check the powerpoint presentation 

FCTA To Create Microfinance Institutions In All Council Areas

ABUJA, June 24, (THEWILL) - The FCT Administration has concluded plans to create microfinance institutions in all the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed stated this on Thursday at the occasion of the official passing-out of Batch ‘B’ 2009 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, Garki I District, Abuja. Read more

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010

"An estimated 1.4 billion people were still living in extreme poverty in 2005. Moreover, the effects of the global fi nancial crisis are likely to persist: poverty rates will be slightly higher in 2015 and even beyond, to 2020, than they would have been had the world economy grown steadily at its pre-crisis pace." - MDGs Report 2010

Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
20-22 September 2010

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs   Visit the Summit website!

Creating a global private equity fund for the African microfinance

A Regional Investment Fund for micro, small and medium enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA) was launched on 5th May 2010 in Berlin. Symbiotics Investment Manager SA, a Geneva-based management company specialized in microfinance, was selected to manage this new fund.

Created by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the development bank KFW, the REGMIFA will be given a budget of $ 150 million. The fund is meant to meet the financing needs of African financial intermediaries who provide loans to micro, small and medium enterprises in Africa. Read more

French version:

How Microfinance is Helping to End Poverty in Developing Countries

Namono Lakeri lost her husband to AIDS in 1996. She expanded her business with a loan and now all her children attend school

FEDECREDITO: IFC Offers First Remittance-Secured Financing for El Salvador’s Microenterprise Sector

San Salvador, El Salvador, June 16, 2010—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide up to $30 million of debt financing to Fedecredito using an innovative funding approach that leverages the significant remittances of El Salvadorans working abroad to increase lending to microentrepreneurs and low-income people in the country.


This will be the first funding backed by future remittance flows undertaken anywhere by a financial intermediary focused on low-income clients.  Fedecredito is a cooperative owned by 55 El Salvadoran credit unions and workers banks that mobilize savings deposits from 600,000 low-income member owners, who represent close to one-quarter of El Salvador’s workforce.  In addition to raising wholesale funding for these credit unions and workers banks, Fedecredito also processes remittances for them.  Read more

About Fedecredito
Established over 60 years ago, Fedecredito is a cooperative owned by 55 El Salvadoran credit unions and workers banks located throughout the country. These entities mobilize savings from 600,000 individual member-owners.  In turn, they profitably provide credit and other financial services/products to their individual member-owners and microenterprises. One of Fedecredito’s main functions is to complement deposit funding at these credit unions and workers banks to increase the amount of financing made available to their individual member-owners and microenterprises. For more information, visit: www.fedecredito.com.sv.

Top 200 MFPs worldwide

The Center’s offerings are available to WWB network members and the top 200 MFPs worldwide who demonstrate excellence as measured by the Composite Ranking of The Microfinance Information Exchange (The MIX). The MIX ranking measures high outreach, low transaction costs, profitability and transparency. For more information on The MIX Composite Ranking, visit:www.mixmarket.org The MIX top 100 on PDF Center Eligibility List on PDF

Top 200 Microfinance Providers 

Read more

CONGRATULATIONS to INAFI Member MFIs which are on the list of top MFI providers!

Events of 6 African wide MFInetworks

This page lists all the events that the 6 African wide networks are organising throughout the coming months. The networks concerned are AFMIN, MAIN, INAFI, AFRACA, AMAF and AMT.  

For more information regarding any of the listed events, please contact the related network directly. 

Source 
African Microfinance Transparency

For INAFI Africa, please contact: inafi@africaonline.co.ke

GRAMEEN Report: Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look

Grameen Foundation today released a new report that takes a fresh look at recent studies on microfinance’s effectiveness in alleviating poverty.  Titled, Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look, it notes that studies have shown that microfinance helps poor people better cope with financial shocks that often upend their lives.  It also points out the difficulties in isolating microfinance’s impact from the myriad forces at play in poor people’s lives.
Written by Kathleen Odell, assistant professor of economics at Dominican University’s Brennan School of Business, Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look is one of the most comprehensive reviews of microfinance impact studies that have been conducted since 2005.  It updates a 2005 Grameen Foundation paper by Nathanael Goldberg (Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Stock of What We Know) which reviewed almost 100 studies which were conducted between 1970 and 2005.
Both reports are available below.

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look, Kathleen Odell (2010)

FEATURE: Small Premiums, Long Term Benefits: Why Poor Women Need Microinsurance

Monica Kirunguru’s husband was an outgoing man, and a prominent member of his community. The couple lived together on a farm near Mount Kenya, where they worked hard to support their seven children and five grandchildren.

In August 2009, Monica’s husband was admitted to the hospital. One month later, he passed away.
Coping with the emotional shock that accompanies the death of a life partner can be staggeringly difficult. Coping with the financial shock at the same time, however, can make the situation seem unbearable. Typically, a Kenyan woman in Monica’s circumstances would have two options to cover the hospital and funeral expenses: take out a high-interest emergency loan, or approach friends and family for money. Read more

INAFI Executive Director Attends CONVERGENCES 2015 Forum and Microfinance Transprency Meeting

Soukeyna Ndiaye Ba, INAFI International Executive Director was invited as a speaker in a panel discussion on “Which future for Microfinance in Africa” during the Convergences 2015 Forum. The meeting took place in Paris last May 25-26, 2010.
Ndiaye Ba based on her personal experience as former Minister of Decentralized Cooperation and regional planning, was also invited as speaker in other panel on “Decentralized Cooperation, local development, microfinance and private sector”. Aside from Ms Ndiyae Ba, Mr. James OBAMA, Managing Director of PRIDE TANZANIA, an INAFI member organization was also invited as speaker. Their participation in the conference not only increased the visibility of INAFI in the global setting but also affirmed that it is being recognized as key player in microfinance industry.

About 1100 experts from the sectors of social business, finance, civil society and new technologies attended the conference. Various thematic areas were also discussed in a workshop on “Microfinance today, Future of Microfinance and main constraints.”

Convergences 2015 Forum was organized by ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Crédit Coopératif and Le Monde AS, a discussion forum aimed at bringing about new convergences between the private and public sectors and social business. Its objective is to contribute to setting up a sustainable development strategy for effectively reducing extreme poverty worldwide, as set out in the Millennium Development Goals in 2000.
Launched in 2008, Convergences 2015 has become an essential European meeting point for all development actors. Initially focused on microfinance, its scope was enlarged to the field of social business, to include a wide range of solutions for the reduction of extreme poverty.

After the Convergence Forum, Ms Ndiaye Ba also attended a meeting to discuss about Microfinance Transparency, a new United States non-profit organization which aims to publish the interest rates and other basic information about the lending practices of microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide. Supported by many throughout the world of microfinance, the founding of this new organization initiated by comes at a time of fierce debate over the role of commercial microfinance. MF Transparency was founded by Charles Waterfield, a professor at Columbia University. The idea was first announced at the Asia-Pacific Regional Microcredit Summit 2008.

Specifically, MF Transparency aims to 1) Adopt international standards on pricing.2) create of a system to be able to compare conditions for loans proposed to competing MFIs, 3) Prevent abusive MFIs from issuing high interest rates and promoting credit delusive offers. According to CGAP, MFTransparency addresses pricing transparency through two joint activities. First, MFTransparency will collect prices on all micro-loan products around the world and report those prices by a common, objective measurement system. Second, MFTransparency will develop and disseminate educational materials to enable microfinance stakeholders at a broad range of levels – analysts, donors and investors, MFI managers, microentrepreneurs themselves – to better understand the concept and function of interest rates and product pricing.

Jean Luc Perron, Managing Director of Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation who facilitated meeting, proposed after this meeting to organize a workshop in Dakar in the coming months in partnership with MF Transparency. INAFI has been asked to facilitate the organization of this meeting which objective is to help a larger number of MFIs to understand better, and participate the global Campaign on MF transparency.

“MFTransparency will give INAFI the opportunity to be more involved in this campaign and to have the opportunity to introduce it to our members and to encourage them to be actively part of the campaign,” Ndiaye Ba said.

Photo of Hon.Soukeyna Ndiaye Ba was taken in Nairobi, April 2010.

Source information on MFTransparency:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.11.94902/