MICROCAPITAL EVENT: Mitigating Cost of Access to Finance for Micro and Small Enterprises in Southern Africa, September 29 – 30, 2010, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Event Name: Mitigating Cost of Access to Finance for Micro and Small Enterprises in South Africa

Event Date: September 29 – September 30, 2010

Event Location: University of Pretoria, South Africa

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Cost: ZAR 4,800 (equivalent to USD 660)

Summary of Event: The event will focus on strategies to decrease the cost of access to financial services for clients. Specific costs that will be addressed are: transport costs, interest and fees, opportunity costs, compliance and regulatory costs and social and psychological costs.

Background on Organizers:

About The Ronald H Brown Institute for Sub-Saharan Africa:

Founded in 2004, the Ronald H Brown Institute for Sub-Saharan Africa (RBI) is a project funded by the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), a collaborative funding effort by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States State Department and the United States Peace Corps. Its goal is to “contribute to private-sector-driven economic growth, through human capital development, business creation, expansion and promotion.”

About The University of Pretoria’s Centre for Microfinance (CMF):

Established in 2004, The University of Pretoria’s Centre for Microfinance (CMF) is a member of the Microfinance Management Institute’s (MFMI) global community, which includes 65 training and academic institutions from approximately 29 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. It is located in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria. The goal of the centre is to “improve capacity in microfinance institutions” and “to build management capacity in microfinance and to enhance access to financial services for low income clients and general microfinance knowledge in financial institutions.” CMF receives support from the South African Banking Sector Education and Training Authority.

Event Themes and Discussion Topics:

-Explore cost to clients (including small and macro enterprises) of accessing financial services

-Share experiences and lessons learned on meeting the challenges of improving financial inclusion

-Create a research agenda to comprehensively address cost to clients and strategies to decrease these costs over the next five years

-Form institutional partnerships on the basis of the discussions and networking during the conference

About the Presenters:
Roland Pearson, Academy for Education Development, Washington, DC in the US; Adrian Vermooten, Head of Mobile for Absa Bank in South Africa; Barbara Calvin, Head of Education for Centre for Microfinance in India; and more. For a full list of schedule and speakers, you may visit: http://www.xtracker.co.za/files/uploaded/rbissa/migrating_cost/programme.pdf

Event Website: http://www.rbi-ssa.org/site.html?q=/cgi-bin/static.cgi!p=index:cms=rbissa

Online Registration Address: http://www.xtracker.co.za/files/uploaded/rbissa/migrating_cost/registration.pdf

For additional information, you may contact: centremf@up.ac.za or rbi@up.ac.za. There is no name or contact phone number available.

Submit Your Event: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

By Julia Korn, Research Associate

Additional Resources:

MicroCapital Universe. University of Pretoria Centre for Microfinance.

MicroCapital Universe. The Ronald H Brown Institute for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/