MICROFINANCE AFRICA: CLOSING THE GAP
Day 1 | Day 2
MICROINSURANCE FOCUS DAY

Conference Day One - Wednesday 6th July, 2011

8.30 Registration and Coffee

9.05 Chairperson’s Welcome and Opening Remarks

Royston Braganza,CEO, Grameen Capital

9.15 Fundamental Weaknesses in Microfinance and How We Can Improve the Industry

Asad Mahmood, Managing Director, Global Social Investment Funds

The microfinance industry is facing its biggest crisis in its history – From  India to Bosnia. Microfinance’s pendulum has swung from being considered an angel to being regarded as the devil. The reality is somewhere in the middle.

Excessive drive for profit and the related high growth have left the industry disconnected to it clients and its mission and exposed it to increasing political and media risk. Lack of product innovation and focus on credit product has only weakened microfinance: its relationship to the clients it serves and the potential it has for providing essential services to the poor segment of the population.

The industry has and is setting up various initiatives that will change microfinance for the better in the next two to three years. The outlook of microfinance can be greatly enhanced if customer service is once again made paramount.

10.00 Steering Microfinance Back on the Path to Growth

Moderator:

Bob Bragar, General Counsel, Oikocredit

Jayshree Venkatesan, Head of Origination, IFMR Mezzanine Finance Pvt. Ltd. *

Pierre van Hedel, Managing Director, Rabobank Foundation

Mikhail Mamuta, President, Microfinance Centre of Russia

Damian von Stauffenberg, Founder & Chairman, MicroRate (USA)

• Re-emerging from the financial crisis and taking stock of microfinance today
• does microfinance still have a heart or has it turned greedy?
• Exploring current investment opportunities
• where are the emerging regions?
• how easy are these regions to penetrate in terms of:
• legal environment
• political status
• microfinance practices
• Examining the economic climate’s effect on:
• SME finance
• social investments
• responsible finance
• Promoting responsible finance with regards to:
• overindebtedness
• client protection
• transparency
• what are the initiatives today which are addressing these concerns?              
• What impact has the new legislation in Andhra Pradesh had on microfinance on both a national and global level?
• How are MFIs in India reducing their rates and costs and still remaining sustainable?
• Gaining insight on the similarities and differences between the current overindebtedness crisis in India and the Bolivia crisis several years ago
• how did Bolivia overcome these challenges?
• what Bolivian experiences can be of direct use to assisting microfinance in India today?
• What can be expected for India in the months ahead?
• what are the lessons learned for other countries?
• Implementing emerging instruments to generate and diversify additional income
• what software is being tried and tested to advance the industry?
• What is the current role of mobile technology in the microfinance marketplace?
• How can mobile banking be optimised?
• acquiring a long-term view of your investments
• Refocusing your approach to ensure a positive response in a difficult environment
• A review of new loan products
• how are they structured?
• how these products can:
• improve collection
• innovate disbursement

11.25 Morning Refreshments

11.45 Global MFI Governance Survey: Discussion Session

Pete Sparreboom, Programme Director, World Microfinance Forum Geneva

• An overview of current Microfinance governance needs and initiatives:
•   assessing the key risks in corporate governance today
• Establishing current industry initiatives to improve governance
• equipping microfinance providers to manage and avoid crises
• Incorporating  stronger self-reported data on governance
• Gaining insight to WMFG Global Governance Survey
• objectives
• methodology
• Conclusion
• Q & A, feedback from investors and practitioners in audience

 

12.05 Capitalising on Private Equity Investments to Leverage Further Returns

Moderator:

Vineet Rai, Founder and CEO, Avishkaar

Mark Allegretti, Senior Managing Partner, New Frontier Capital Advisors

Luca Torre, Board Member, Club Microfinanzas, Co-Founder & Co-CEO Ambers&Co Capital Microfinanzas

• What expectations can private equity investors have in terms of a good investment?
• how challenging is it to fulfill them?
• What are their requirements for injecting more equity into MFIs?
• What are the pros and cons?
• what are the objectives they are looking to achieve?
• Examining the advantages and limitations for investing private equity funds with regards to:
• structured debt
• valuations
• regulatory risks
• aiding exits in equity financing
• what are today’s exit mechanisms?
• How can investors diversify their implementation of equity?

1.00 Networking Lunch

2.30Striking the Balance between Financial and Ethical Responsibilities

Jürgen Hammer, Chief Investment Officer, Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation

Dominique Falque, Founder, IDFI

Bernadette Blom, Partner, Goodwell

• What are the constraints of local currency issues today?
• Managing currency risk
• what are the social and financial implications?
• Who should shoulder the currency risk?
• implementing creative strategies to guarantee that MFIs don’t bear the brunt
• How can investors mitigate their own risks?
• when should they be prepared to take on local currency exposure?
• An analysis of interest rates
• examining transparency and absolute levels
• Examining alternatives to main street return and exit expectations
• Evaluating instruments that can make currency hedging a market for all countries

3.20 Afternoon Refreshments

3.40 Ensuring Sustainability for the MFIs You Invest in

Dr. Koenraad Verhagen,Independent Advisor, SME financing and Microfinance Investments

• An overview of the Principles for Investment
• do the principles themselves make sense?
• What impact have the principles had on investor practices?
• How have they reduced the negative effects of microfinance
  to date?
• What measures have been taken to certify that the investor community lives up to these principles?

4.20 Paving the Path for a More Effective Investment Infrastructure

Moderator:

Damian von Stauffenberg, CEO, MicroRate

Mohammed Belmaachi, Directeur General, JAIDA

Aldo Moauro, Executive Director, MicroFinanza Rating

Deborah Drake, Vice President, ACCION International

• Assessing today's progress on building existing investment structures
• what kinds of ratings are being performed?
• Pinpointing the tools investors need in order to:
• enhance research
• optimise due diligence
• Identifying scenarios related to financial infrastructure for microfinance institutions
• Increasing transparency for all the players
• Reviewing the changes in pricing infrastructure and its ongoing impact on the industry
• Is the infrastructure inadequate to sustain good governance under the present context?
• What do financial institutions expect from the government?
• how can regulators help to strengthen infrastructure?

5.35 Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

5.45 End of Day One