MICROFINANCE EVENT: 8th Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) Annual Conference & General Assembly 16 Nov 2009 to 20 November 2009

Event Name: 8th Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) Annual Conference & General Assembly

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

Cost: No details regarding cost have been provided.

Summary of Event: This event will focus on recommending strategies to boost economic growth in Africa with the view to building strong and inclusive rural financing systems that create employment, wealth and increase income of the poor in rural areas.

Background on Organizer: AFMIN was established in 2000 and is an association of microfinance networks throughout Africa. It consists of 22 country-level networks of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in East, West, Central and Southern Africa. The networks in these 22 countries collectively have 1,118 MFI members who reach over 13 million borrowers and 9.7 million savers, as at the end of December 2007. These MFIs had cumulative loans outstanding of USD 2 billion and net savings of USD 1.2 billion for the same period.

The mission of the AFMIN is to contribute to the development and provision of effective and sustainable financial services to low income population in Africa, by supporting country-level networks and their member MFIs. AFMIN’s core programs include capacity building for members, advocacy and policy change, performance monitoring and benchmarking, research, information dissemination and knowledge building, and network management.

Event Themes and Discussion Topics: The theme for this conference is ‘Building rural financing systems in Africa: How microfinance institutions might meet the diverse demand for financial services in rural areas?’ There will be a focus on best practices and innovative ideas in rural financing systems, panel discussions and small group discussions around the following topics:

Lessons learnt in agricultural and rural microfinance including speakers from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Food for Agriculture Organization (FAO), African Development Bank (AFDB), African Rural Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Innovations for rural areas: Developing the livestock sector (Mercy Corps in Azerbaijan), Mobile Banking, Weather insurance pilot scheme (Malawi), Accessing Credit and Markets, Equity Building Society of Kenya, Emerging Markets Group (USAID Kenya), Rural finance and HIV-AIDS (ECI Africa), Managing risks and designing products for agricultural microfinance (IFAD), Sector Specific Business Reform (TechnoServe, Coffee Industry in Tanzania)
Building inclusive rural financing systems: Issues, challenges and strategies which will include speakers from the UNDP/UNCDF, World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank
Agricultural Value Chain financing
Roles of key actors in building rural financing systems: policy makers, development partners, private sector organizations, banks, microfinance institutions, country-level networks
Models to support rural Development
Fostering business and financial services in rural areas.