at the "Mobile Money Services Africa"
Bezant Chongo from PlaNet Finance Southern Africa will be a speaker at the "Mobile Money Services Africa" Conference that will be hold in Johannesburg from July 20 to 22.
www.iir-telecoms.com/event/mmsa
PlaNet Finance invited students, researchers and practitioners to discuss "Impact and Social Performance of Microfinance"
The workshop "University Meets Microfinance @ Leibniz Universität Hannover" on June 17th and 18th gathered around 80 interested students from 20 universities in Europe, microfinance practitioners and researchers. Among the speakers were experts from the GTZ, Oikocredit, Planet Rating, PlaNet Finance and CERISE, who presented Social Performance frameworks and measurement tools; William Pariente, a professor researching at the MIT Poverty Lab, who shared theory and application of Impact Measurement methodologies; and PhD- and Master students from different European universities who presented their research approaches to the subject. The workshop was organized by PlaNet Finance and the Institute for Money and International Finance of the Leibniz Universität Hannover and supported by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and Ernst & Young. All workshop presentations are available at www.universitymeetsmicrofinance.eu
4c3c265b45649_UMM_Workshop_June2010.pdf
extended to 2013
Begun in 2002, the partnership between PlaNet Finance & the energy company GDF Suez will be extended to 2013.
GDF SUEZ is currently involved in three of PlaNet Finance’s programs.
- Entreprendre en Banlieue: an initiative promoting microbusinesses in rundown outer areas of France’s main urban centres. Its aim is to raise awareness among local unemployed adults and to support them in exploring opportunities for setting up their own microbusinesses.
- FinanCités: provides equity finance to enable small businesses in deprived areas which have been going for at least a year to develop and grow.
- Microfinance & Energy: aimed at enabling disadvantaged groups to access
and develop renewable energy sources and to support sustainable energy use. The program was developed in China and Brazil between 2006 and 2009 and will be rolled out in Morocco and Egypt in 2010.
GDF Suez is also backing the development of a European microcredit internet platform. Known as MicroWorld, it promotes social responsibility by allowing web users to help entrepreneurs in the southern hemisphere to develop their microbusinesses by offering them financial support.
in Morocco and Paraguay
PlaNet Finance launched a new project in 2007 in Tanger, Morocco to improve the integration of disadvantaged youths in their professional life. This project was co-financed by the European Commission, Accor Hospitality Group, the Ministry of Social Development Family and Solidarity. This project gave us the opportunity to create an innovative methodology with efficient tools in order to help 100 young people experiencing difficulty through councils of orientation and professional integration (COIP). PlaNet Finance from hereon will implement this program in Fès and Khouribga helping 150 new young people aged 16 to 30 years old.
As a consequence of the success of this project in Morocco, we intend to launch one in Paraguay in partnership with Fundación Paraguaya. This project will be co-financed by the European Union and will last three years in order to provide support and help in the professional integration of hundreds of young people aged between 17 and 24 years old.
Republica Microfinanzas launched its activities
The most important bank in Uruguay, Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (BROU) has decided to become strongly involved in the development of microfinance in the country through the creation of an external unit, called República Microfinanzas S.A. (RMSA) with the aim to benefit to most of the population currently unattended by the formal system, generating social impact.
RMSA started its activities on March 2nd and 300 persons have already applied for a loan of which 50 have already been approved for an amount of USD 100,000.
PlaNet Finance has assisted the bank throughout the various phases of development of the project, and has for example trained the 30 persons working at RMSA.
The credits are provided through the individual method and an important proximity with the client has been designed. Loans will serve the microentrepreneur for the working capital, investment capital, housing and for its own use.
As RMSA is managed by the economist Luis Murias, Managing Director and the accountant Rosana Fernandez, business manager who both have a previous experience in the microfinance sector and has benefited from technical assistance from PlaNet Finance, it expects to satisfy the demand for microfinancing in Uruguay where the microfinance sector is still nascent.
First successful year 2009
In 2009 the “University Meets Microfinance” program gathered 720 practitioners, students and professors from 14
European universities to foster cooperation between university students in Europe and microfinance practitioners. 130 students participated in microfinance seminars, the mentorship or the scholarship programs. During the UMM Workshops participants discussed research findings of the fields of “Mobile Banking” and “Microfinance in India”. The workshops were held at Université Libre de Bruxelles in cooperation with the First European Research Conference on Microfinance and at Allianz Stiftungsforum in Berlin in cooperation with the Vision Summit on Social Business. Three theses on microfinance which present innovative topics and methodologies have been selected by a
ommittee of professors and practitioners and received the “UMM Awards”. The first Award went to Pim Engels, Tilburg University who researched on “Mission Drift in Microfinance - The Influence of Institutional and Country Risk Indicators on the Trade-Off between the Financial and Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions”. The publication and the results of the UMM Workshop can be found at www.universitymeetsmicrofinance.eu.
The University Meets Microfinance Program is co-financed by the European Union and contributes to microfinance innovation and education for development. PlaNet Finance and Freie Universität Berlin initiated the program in 2009. We thank professors from 14 universities and practitioners from PlaNet Finance, PlaNIS, PlaNet Guarantee, Microfinanza, Oikocredit, Fides, Capgemini and Microenergy for having participated in the selection committee and for collaborating with students conducting field research.
Interested in participating in UMM? Practitioners and professors are welcome to participate in the Selection Committee of the UMM – Scholarships and Awards program. You can also suggest relevant research topics, work with pre-selected experienced students on microfinance and participate in UMM Workshops. Students can apply for UMM Scholarships for field research on microfinance or compete for the UMM Awards. You can find relevant research topics and get guidance for microfinance research. UMM Workshops are open to interested students, professors and practitioners.
Application Deadlines 2010
UMM Scholarships for field research:
July 15th (Bachelor, Master, Phd)
November 15th (Bachelor, Master).
UMM Awards for completed Master theses:August 31st
Contact: Delphine Bazalgette / Pauline Bensoussan / Kathleen Welvers
umm@planetfinance.org
www.universitymeetsmicrofinance.eu
