PlaNIS, the entity of PlaNet Finance Group dedicated to advising SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) funds, is partner of Hanson Wade for the Micro Financial Services World which will be held in Amsterdam from the 8th to the 11th of May.  This event is an opportunity for PlaNIS to share with the leading actors of microfinance who will be there.

For more information: www.mfs-world.com

New technology represents a key driver for the evolution of the microfinance sector: its use could result in doubling the number of microentrepreneurs, beneficiaries of microfinance, to 300 million worldwide.

Moreover, in Morocco the microfinance market already appears promising for providers of technology solutions attracted to the sector.

In this context, PlaNet Finance is co-organising with the Banque Populaire Group and Sogeti the 2nd international conference “Microfinance and New Technologies”, taking place on March 11th & 12th 2010 at the Royal Mirage Hotel in Marrakech, on the theme “Which models are best placed to increase access to financial services for the unbanked?”

An international ideas exchange and networking event for leading decision makers in new technologies and microfinance fields

The 2nd Microfinance and New Technologies Summit (MFNT) is a key event for decision-makers in the technology and microfinance fields.

After the inaugural event held in India in 2008, its principal objective is to reinforce the synergies between the two sectors in order to develop the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the microfinance sphere.

The theme for the 2nd MFNT Summit, “Which models are best placed to increase access to financial services for the unbanked?” will deal with the following subjects:
- Which management information systems for microfinance?
- What technological solutions are available to improve microfinance institutions’ performance?
- Mobile banking and microfinance: what is the most efficient use?
 

Around 50 international experts will speak at the conference, including representatives and consultants from microfinance institutions, IT and telecommunications companies, banking and money transfer sectors, regulatory authorities, public and private investors and international development agencies.
Sessions will be held over 2 days in order for speakers to share their experiences, present their technology-based solutions and propose ideas to develop the use of ICT in microfinance.
Around 250 decision makers from around the world are expected to attend.
Both national and international exhibitors will be showcasing their products and services.

Some of the speakers
• Global leaders
- Jacques ATTALI, President, PlaNet Finance Group, France
- Norman FRANKEL, CEO, Mi-Pay, Romania
- Hannes VAN RENSBURG, CEO, Fundamo, South Africa

• Technologies & Finance Experts
- Kamal BOUDHABHATI, CEO, Craft Silicon, Kenya
- Oscar MADEDDU, Credit Management Specialist, IFC, World Bank, United States
- Alfred MESGUICH, MIS Global Coordinator, The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, Switzerland
- Ernst HENNCHE, CEO, Fisa Group, Ecuador
- Elio VITUCCI, General Manager, Experian Micro Analytics, France
- …etc.

To learn more, please visit the event website: www.mfntsummit2010.com

Mobile financial services are about to reach the ‘tipping point’ in Southern and Central America. Mobile penetration in Latin America and the Caribbean stands at 80%, whilst in contrast the unbanked population in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Jamaica averages over 60%. That is why PlaNet Finance decided to be a partner of the MMT, the first conference dedicated to mobile money innovations throughout Central and Southern America, the Caribbean and the US.

For more information: www.mobile-money-transfer.com/americas

PlaNet Finance Nepal is organizing the 8th Handicraft Trade Fair and 6th Craft Competition implemented by its local partner Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN). The event will take place from February 18th to 22nd 2010 in Kathmandu.
 

The fair aims to promote Nepalese handicraft and entrepreneurship through products exhibition on the one hand, and business meetings with both national and international sellers on the other hand.
 

For more info, please visit: www.smelink.com.np

Nepalese entrepreneurs heading towards Europe
 

The SMElink project, implemented by PlaNet Finance in Nepal is co- funded by the European Commission. The project is entering its third and final year. For two years, more than 150 Nepalese Small and Medium Entrepreneurs have learnt about various business-
related issues in order to fulfill their dreams of exporting to Europe.
 

The Small and Medium Entrepreneurs were selected sector-wise, according to a preliminary survey about European demand for Nepalese supply. The chosen sectors were Jewellery and Metalcraft, Pashmina and sustainable tourism.
 

Since February 2008, entrepreneurs attend training courses on business planning, marketing, quality management system (QMS) and information technologies. These courses led to various concrete results like the designing of their own business plans (for 50 among them) in Year 1; in Year 2, 62 of them came up with their own marketing plan. The QMS training scheme is still going on and will empower 50 entrepreneurs to get a certification based on the ISO 9000- 2000 format. As for the Information Technologies training course, entrepreneurs are now able to use it in their everyday business (word, internet, etc.) and 25 entrepreneurs who did not have a website before, now do.

PlaNet Finance Colombia is currently working to develop tailored microfinance services which will focus on the needs of a specific group – the 3,000 producers who belong to the ECOCACAO cocoa-growing cooperative. What makes this initiative special is that services will be directly provided by ECOCACAO in partnership with the commercial bank, Bancolombia.
Access to financial services will mean that producers can move into growing organic cocoa and the manufacture of high value added products like speciality chocolates for sale on national and international markets.The second phase of this initiative can now get underway and will see a new microfinance institution receiving backing in the form of technical support over a two-year period. The project will be part funded by ECOCACAO alongside other investors brought in by PlaNet Finance.

PlaNet Finance is now a beneficiary of the Arrondi Solidaire initiative, France’s first micro-donation payroll giving scheme.
This new form of fundraising takes its inspiration from the “payroll giving” schemes used in countries like the UK and USA is proposed in France by ADP, the leading human resources and payroll management group, in partnership with microDON, a social enterprise following the social entrepreneurship model and Excel agency.
The Arrondi Solidaire gives employees and employers the chance to support organisations working for the general good. In an economic climate affected by the global financial meltdown, PlaNet Finance’s international work in using microcredit funding to create jobs led it to be chosen as a beneficiary organization alongside ADIE, a French charity tackling job and financial exclusion.
The scheme’s principle is one of giving little but giving regularly. Employees can elect to have their salary payments rounded down and to use the cents this frees up to make a micro-donation to the charity of their choice (which will then be shown as a payslip deduction). Further donations of up to several euros can also be made, with arrangements enabling employers to top up donations by 100% or more through matched giving.
ADP client Eutelstat is the first company to take advantage of this scheme which will be made available to its 500 employees. ADP is planning to offer all its clients the chance to roll out the scheme within their company, with the ultimate aim of raising 6 million euros a year.
These donations will enable PlaNet Finance to provide vital funding for microfinance institutions in countries where the need is greatest and to enhance the sustainability of the microfinance sector. Small business owners will thus be able to develop their activities and thereby improve living standards - for themselves, their families and their communities.
You are a client of ADP and would like to support us: www.larrondisolidaire.org