The Microfinance CEO Working Group, which was launched by eight microfinance organizations with goals including the improvement of client outcomes, has hired Anne Hastings as the group’s manager [1]. Ms Hastings comes to the Working Group after 17 years as a leader at Fonkoze, a microfinance institution serving poor women in rural Haiti. Additionally, she is the founder and director of Fonkoze Financial Services, a commercial MFI that takes profitable branches and well-tested products from Fonkoze and expands them to rural areas that have historically been under-served by the finance industry. She is also a co-creator of Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO), a Barbados-based reinsurance company that provides insurance protection for catastrophic events.
By Anesa Kratovac, Research Associate
About Microfinance CEO Working Group
The Microfinance CEO Working Group is a collaborative effort by the CEOs of eight microfinance organizations: Accion, FINCA International, Freedom from Hunger, Grameen Foundation USA, Opportunity International, Pro Mujer, VisionFund International and Women’s World Banking. The Working Group seeks to support the microfinance industry in bringing a broad range of financial and related services to those who have traditionally been excluded. Its goals include promoting improved client outcomes through the provision of responsible financial services. The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion serves as the secretariat for the Working Group.
About Fonkoze
Fonkoze was established in Haiti in 1994 with the mission of “building the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.” As of December 2011, Fonkoze reported total assets of HTG 451 million (USD 11 million), a gross loan portfolio of HTG 68.2 million (USD 1.7 million), approximately 60,100 borrowers and 273,000 depositors with total deposits of HTG 138 million (USD 3.4 million). The institution had 899 employees in 46 branches as of the same date. Fonkonze’s last published annual report was for 2011.
About Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO)
MiCRO was formed in March 2011 by Haitian microfinance provider Fonkoze and Mercy Corps, a US-based nonprofit organization, with support from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Swiss Re, a reinsurer and financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland. MiCRO offers a hybrid insurance product with a payout partially based on a set of weather-related triggers (wind speed, rainfall and earthquakes) and part based on the extent of actual losses. All Fonkoze microentrepreneurs pay for insurance coverage through a partially subsidized premium at the beginning of each loan cycle. In 2011, MiCRO provided Fonkoze with USD 1.64 million in payouts for nearly 6,800 Haitian women. At the end of 2012, MiCRO insurance portfolio was estimated at USD 18 million, and its payout to microentrepreneurs totaled USD 8.8 million as of March 2013.
Additional Sources and Resources:
[1] Information provided to MicroCapital.org by Microfinance CEO Working Group
MicroCapital Article, March 5, 2013, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Anne Hastings of Fonkoze Outlines Framework for National Mobile Money Systems,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-anne-hastings-of-fonkoze-outlines-framework-for-national-mobile-money-systems/
MicroCapital Article, February 11, 2013, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Donate $2m to Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO) of Barbados, Insurer to Haiti’s Fonkoze,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-international-finance-corporation-ifc-to-donate-2m-to-microinsurance-catastrophe-risk-organization-micro-of-barbados-insurer-to-haitis-fonkoze/
MicroCapital Article, November 26, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fonkoze, Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO), Make Insurance Payout to Haitian Women After Hurricane Sandy,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fonkoze-microinsurance-catastrophe-risk-organisation-micro-make-insurance-payout-to-haitian-women-after-hurricane-sandy/
MicroCapital Article, January 26, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance CEO Working Group Issues Road Map for Microfinance Industry Promoting Smart Campaign, Microfinance Transparency, Social Performance Task Force,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-ceo-working-group-issues-road-map-for-microfinance-industry-promoting-smart-campaign-microfinance-transparency-social-performance-task-force/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Fonkoze, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Fonkoze
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Microinsurance+Catastrophe+Risk+Organisation
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Microfinance CEO Working Group, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Microfinance+CEO+Working+Group
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