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

Conference Day Two – Thursday 7th July, 2011

8.30 Registration and Coffee

9.05 Chairperson’s Welcome and Opening Remarks

Bob Bragar, General Counsel, Oikocredit

9.15 Building Institution Capacity to Enhance Opportunities and Foster Growth

Moderator:

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

Gideon Asare Ampofo, Manager, Sunrise Microfinance

Admir Imami, Executive Vice President, Corporation Financiere Europeene S.A

Dr. Justin Bomda, CEO, ADAF/MC2 Microbank Network

In today’s microfinance market, too many funds are being allocated to too few institutions. Many infant MFIs are being financially excluded due to lack of history, experience and being considered as too much of a risk factor. Join an invited panel of leaders from both sides debating the key challenges regarding how MFIs can compete in saturated markets and where the solutions may lie.

• Determining  the measures that MFIs can take to overcome their lack of history and experience challenges
• Identifying the best approaches to raise the visibility of infant MFIs and catalyse potential partnerships
• Examining funding alternatives:
• gaining financial access to grants
• preparing MFIs for multiple lending
• monitoring each individual covenant to ensure you stay above the law
• setting up the right systems to track quarterly reportings
• Uncovering the criteria that MFIs need to be considered eligible for funding
• what are the expectations of investors in terms of:
• business plan
• social and financial objectives
• portfolio
• governance
• operations
• staff management
• technology
• interest rates
• What are the main obstacles MFIs are encountering for ticking every box?
• Exploring strategies that enable investors and MFIs to meet in the middle:

MFIs

• Limiting risk by proving commercial viability and social performance
• Protecting clients against overindebtedness whilst still remaining solvent
• Best practice examples of obtaining repayments from customers
• Increasing transparency for lenders
• Enhancing reporting activities to demonstrate tangible results
• What can MFIs expect from investors in return?
• employing investor know-how to optimise recruitment, training and expertise
• upgrading technology to scale up outreach

Investors

• What are some reasonable expectations for optimising MFIs?
• supporting MFIs who do not have the bandwidth to deploy your minimal capital criteria
• helping tier 2 MFIs grow and be investment ready
• Outlining the minimal accepted requirements for MFIs to be considered a sound investment
• Applying both due diligence and credit risk to institutions that are not being covered 
• Setting up a framework to give MFIs more structure and monitor their progress

10.50 Morning Refreshments

 11.30 Ensuring MFIs are Investment-Ready to Enable Growth and Generate Appropriate Financial and Social Returns

Marcus Fedder, Managing Partner, Agora Microfinance Partners LLP (UK)

• An overview of the MFI landscape
• what are the current opportunities?
• Reviewing the MIV landscape
• Understanding the potential investors
• what are investors interested in?
• what are their main objectives?
• what kind of returns do investors need to see?
• what information are they typically looking for?
• Identifying the minimum acceptable criteria for MFI investments
• How can “infant” MFIs that do not tick all the boxes be assisted?
• overcoming the lack of history and experience challenges
• The importance of Social Performance Management
• What should MFIs be looking for as added value from their investors?
• equity investors
• debt investors
• the importance of gaining access to longer term local currency funding
• The key role of technology
• specific examples of how technical assistance is being implemented to strengthen MFI infrastructure
• Uncovering new, global MFI models: what practices are working best?

12.00 Promoting SME Finance to Create a More Sustainable Market

Moderator:

Admir Imami, Executive Vice President, Corporation Financiere Europeene S.A

Mikhail Mamuta, President, Microfinance Centre of Russia

Pierre Carpentier, Investment Director, Investisseur & Partenaire Pour Le Developpment

• What solutions are made available for loans that go beyond microfinance?
• Uncovering the growth of SME finance
• what are the benefits to this approach?
• Examining the main risks involved
• Defining the right approach to provide adequate funding for SMEs
• risk-sharing
• mezzo finance
• setting up loans with medium-term maturities
• providing refinancing to financial institutions tailored to SMEs
• What is the best approach for SME Finance in developing countries?
• Banks vs. MFIs – which entity would be the most commercially viable partner?
• assessing MFIs and their levels of developments
• to what extent are they already involved in SME finance?
• how can their capabilities be improved?
• Exploring a different approach – Setting up SME funds at a local level
• what are the pros and cons for financing SMEs directly?
• how does this approach help in serving the missing middle? 
• Examples of successful initiatives taking place in SME finance today

1.15 Networking Lunch

2.45 Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges of Social Impact Investment for Sustainable Industry Growth

Moderator:

Dominique Falque, Founder, IDFI

Hans Ramm, Policy Advisor - Financial & Private Sector Development , Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) & Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Sachin S Vankalas, Operations Officer, LuxFLAG(Luxembourg)

Dorine Putman-Devilee, President Social Ethical Funds, Netherlands Bankers Association,
Manager institutional relations, ASN Bank (The Netherlands)

Monique Dolfing-Vogelenzang, Executive Director, Medical Credit Fund

• Where do social responsible investments fit into the microfinance arena?
• Determining which countries are advanced in promoting social investments
• Evaluating today's social impact investments and their effects on the industry
• Bringing social performance to the front to ensure responsible finance
• incorporating innovative products to optimise social performance models
• optimising risk analysis for social sectors
• increasing transparency
• Expanding the social performance measurement and indicators to impact monitoring
• reporting
• social responsible finance
• Integrating the triple bottom line to demonstrate tangible results from the perspective of MIVs
• An examination of the Vehicles Disclosure Guidelines
• how the guidelines have improved assessment of:
• the risk and return profile
• the social orientation of individual MIVs
• how have MIVs aligned their reporting standards to these guidelines?
• to what extent have investors benefited?
• Reviewing the degrees of social impact investments – From minimalistic to extreme
• social responsible investments
• what are the variables and criteria that funders are looking for in order to invest?
• implementing outreach into programmes to meet both social and business objectives
• incorporating credibility, scale and value into the programme to meet social performance goals
• what is the adequate return on investment for a social investor?
• social business investments
• analysing the strategies social businesses need to take to support developing countries
• understanding the legal environment to better identify the right investments
• reviewing the framework of the target country
• what are the benefits and constraints?
• acquiring the means and the backing to maximise development and growth
• What role does social responsibility play in the decision-making process of financial institutions?
• Gaining insight to mainstream investors and social impact investing: what are the incentives?
• Examining private equity models for social impact investing
• Analysing the influence of non-financial drivers in market value
• What are the results of measuring and collecting for standardised industry performance to date?
• examining the evidence of social performance indicators in terms of financial stability
• Current examples for investing in socially high impact projects and creating an investable return

4.20 Afternoon Refreshments

4.40 What does the future hold for microfinance?

Moderator:

Noor Aftab, Director Finance & Co-founder, Shahina Aftab Foundation

Zubyr SoomroChairman, Pakistan Advisory Council, Acumen Fund Director, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund

Mark Campanale, Director, Social Stock Exchange, Advisor, Halloran Philanthropies

Audrey Choi, Managing Director and Head, Morgan Stanley Global Sustainable Finance (USA)

• To what extent is it still profitable to invest in microfinance?
• where can funds come from to meet the full demands of microfinance?
• do the financial returns outweigh the costs?
• Examining the financial risks
• how can these risks be better managed?
• How suitable are today’s interest rates, given the health of the industry?
• what the rates say about the development of a microfinance market
• In what way can microfinance still be considered an emerging asset class?
• Balancing the demands of social and commercial returns
• how can investors ensure that both these needs are met?
• What are the lessons learned from the financial crisis in India?
• Reviewing  the use of technology and innovation
• how has this furthered the microfinance landscape?
• Assessing media impact on the microfinance industry
• has the lack of attention affected the landscape’s performance, sustainability and growth?
• What can be done to continue sustainable growth?
• Aligning microfinance with the Millenium Development Goals
• addressing the greatest challenges of the world today:
• how can microfinance help us achieve MDGs?
• What expectations can financial institutions have with respect to their investments?
• how can they progress from here?
• What is forecasted to happen in the next few years?

5.40 Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

5.50 Close of Conference