This 
event, hosted by Corvinus University, focuses on research and management in economics and financial services. Sample topics include:
Category: Events
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Opportunity Collaboration; September 25-29, 2022; Miches, Dominican Republic
This event is dedicated to fostering relationships among social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and funders via “conversations for change, capacity-building clinics, mealtime salons, affinity circles and impromptu working groups.” Delegates may also present
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Skoll World Forum; April 6-8, 2022; NOW VIRTUAL
The Skoll World Forum is an annual event intended to advance entrepreneurial solutions to social problems. Although the detailed agenda has not been released, previous conferences have addressed topics such as
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp Africa Summit; March 1-4, 2022; Nairobi, Kenya
In parallel with its sibling Sankalp events that have a global or Southeast Asian focus, this forum is intended to “leverage the knowledge and networks from entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and policymakers” to promote “development through entrepreneurship and innovation.” The theme for the ninth Sankalp Africa Summit is “mainstreaming impact” to create
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Islamic Microfinance Forum; December 12-14, 2021; Dubai, UAE
The 10th annual Global Islamic Microfinance Forum is a one-day event focusing on increasing awareness of Islamic microfinance and providing a “platform for dialogue between microfinance networks.” Islamic finance is that which complies with Shariah law, such as by using
SPECIAL REPORT: Networks in Nigeria, Latin America & Caribbean Boost Trajectory of Women Staff, Clients of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
At a session titled “Professional Women’s Networks and Women’s Leadership in Financial Inclusion,” Mariana Martinez of FinEquity, a platform hosted by CGAP that promotes women’s financial inclusion, described the platform’s new Spanish-language arm, FinEquityALC. FinEquityALC focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, serving as a pilot project that could lead to FinEquity establishing other regional projects. The goals of FinEquityALC are to improve public policy that impacts women’s financial inclusion as well as financial products and financial education that are targeted at women. Its 1,100 users span 250 institutions.
Barbara Magnoni of Andares and EA Consultants described how Andares connects
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Invest in Africa Summit; Africa Trade and Investment Convention; July 1-2, 2022; Amsterdam, the Netherlands – NEW DATES
The purposes of the Invest in Africa Summit are promoting “investment and trade opportunities in African countries, connecting foreign companies with competent authorities and businesses from Africa, and enabling small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and startups to find alternative financing solutions….” The summit includes
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week – Christoph Pausch Discusses the Main Event, November 17-19, Plus 2 Bonus Training Days
MicroCapital: European Microfinance Week (EMW) 2021 – like in 2020 – will be virtual. How is it possible to make an online conference a success?
Christoph Pausch: Like last year’s successful first virtual conference and in the years before it, EMW2021 remains primarily a member-led event, and the programme is developed based on what members propose and consider important. This is as true as ever. There are things we learned from last year’s event, and there will be some changes based on what we observed – and based on feedback from attendees, of course. But fundamentally the idea remains the same: a programme covering a wide range of topic streams and presented via a whole array of different session models, chosen depending on the subject matter, the audience and the objectives of the session. That means plenaries, traditional panels, workshops, topic lounges, publication launches and Action Group meetings – among others. As much as possible, we help our members put together sessions that are current, relevant, important and interactive. Beyond this, there are
SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (the French Acronym for African Microfinance Week) in Progress in Rwanda Until October 22, 2021
Get an overview of the five-day SAM from the ADA press release or follow the proceedings on our Twitter feed!
This feature is part of a sponsored series on the SAM 2021, which is organized by the Luxembourgish NGO ADA, the Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), with the support of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg and the Government of Rwanda. The event is taking place from October 18 to October 22 in Kigali, Rwanda. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and document each of the SAMs since 2015.
SPECIAL REPORT: SIDI Credits the SAM Investors’ Fair with Seeding Partnerships with Emerging MFIs in Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique
During the SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance – African Microfinance Week in French) in October, the 2021 Investors’ Fair will build on the 2019 Investors’ Fair, during which 120 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 24 investors met in over 500 “speed-dating” sessions to explore whether they might be compatible partners. Of the MFIs, which represented 24 countries, about half were for-profit firms, and about half were organized as cooperatives or NGOs.
At the 2019 event, Altemius Millinga, the Managing Director of Tanzania’s Yetu Microfinance Bank, told MicroCapital that the Investors’ Fair “was the best part of the SAM because I was able to interact with investors, while at the same time sharing experiences immediately with other MFIs. The SAM gave me the opportunity to meet investors and make several preliminary proposals on funding; it was surely worth the investment!”
FEFISOL, an Africa-focused fund launched by SIDI, has had a presence at all four of the SAM Investors’ Fairs to date, and its representatives will return this year. The CEO of SIDI, Dominique Lesaffre, reports that his institution has leveraged the Investors’ Fair not only to develop relationships with “successful institutions such as Centenary Bank in Uganda or Kafo Jiguinew in Mali – with their massive social-financial outreach – but also with emerging MFIs such as Microbanco Confiança of Mozambique, Ishaka of Burundi and Buusaa Gonofaa of Ethiopia.”
Edmund Higenbottam, the Managing Director of Verdant Capital, also
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week – Online November 17-19, 2021 – Registration Now Open
Despite the pandemic, the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) once again presents one of its flagship activities, European Microfinance Week (EMW), online this November. While the detailed agenda has not yet been released, it will include the presentation of the EUR 100,000 European Microfinance Award, as always. Over three days, last year’s EMW included 130 speakers reaching 500 attendees via the internet. Registrations fees vary from EUR 40 to EUR 200. More details appear at https://registration.european-microfinance-week.eu/website/27793/.
This notice is part of a sponsored series on EMW, the next iteration of which will occur online from November 17 through November 19, 2021. This event is held annually by e-MFP, a Luxembourg-based network with approximately 130 members. MicroCapital has been engaged to cover the event each year since 2012.
Additional Resources
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) information on European Microfinance Week 2020
http://www.e-mfp.eu/european-microfinance-week-2020
MicroCapital coverage since 2012 of European Microfinance Week, including each European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
MICROFINANCE EVENT: European Microfinance Network (EMN) Annual Conference; October 14-15, 2021; Brussels, Belgium
The 18th European Microfinance Network (EMN) Annual Conference is themed “inclusive finance for an inclusive future.” The agenda includes topics such as the digitization of financial services, creating resilient business models and “microfinance as a pioneer in impact investing.” The second day of the event coincides with
MICROFINANCE EVENT: The SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance); October 18-22, 2021; Kigali, Rwanda
This year’s SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) includes five days of conference sessions, an investors’ fair, an “Innovators’ Village,” research presentations, training sessions and workshops under the theme “Resilience of the African Inclusive Finance Sector.” The two-day conference portion of SAM includes sessions on topics such as how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, financing agricultural value chains, risk management, serving youth, digital infrastructure and post-crisis reconstruction. The other days of SAM include workshops on topics such as social performance,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Centraal, Google, IDB Lab Seeking Applicants for LAC Women Founders Accelerator Program Through September 12
Three organizations recently launched the LAC Women Founders Accelerator Program “for STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] startups led by women in Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC]”: (1) Centraal, “a coworking space, a meeting place, and home to a number of startups” in Mexico; (2) US-based technology firm Google; and (3) IDB Lab, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. Twenty startups will be selected to participate in the 10-week program, which includes mentorship; a “Demo Day,” during which entrepreneurs can
SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience for Microfinance Clients – the SAM 2021 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 18-22
MicroCapital: How will the theme resilience be addressed during the SAM 2021?
Yombo Odanou: The EU has defined resilience as “the capacity of an individual, household, community, country or region to resist, adapt and recover quickly from crises and shocks.” The dual climate and COVID-19 crises and their effects on the global economy are forcing institutions to find new ways to take advantage of this austere environment.
Christophe Hebting: We believe the discussions at the SAM can build the resilience capacity of all actors in the inclusive finance sector. This includes addressing questions such as: How can resilience be increased through structural change? In the face of climate change? Through technological innovations?
MC: How are you addressing concerns attendees may have regarding the potential transmission of COVID-19 during the event?
YO: Since the beginning of this pandemic, MAIN has initiated actions to enable its members to minimise the risk of infection, allowing them to continue
SPECIAL REPORT: “Financial Inclusion Compass 2021” Reveals a Sector Grappling with the Consequences of COVID-19 – and Trying to Look Beyond It
In
2018, e-MFP launched the first Financial Inclusion Compass, a new annual publication series to collate sector opinions on emerging short-, medium- and long-term trends in the financial inclusion sector. e-MFP is delighted to now publish the English language version of the Financial Inclusion Compass 2021 – the fourth in the series.
The survey on which this paper is based was open in May 2021, with financial services providers (FSPs), investors, donors, researchers and support services providers evaluating and describing the importance of various current Trends, rating future New Areas of Focus, and providing open-comment qualitative input on the expected (and hoped-for) direction of financial inclusion progress.
The survey had two main sections: in Section 1, respondents rated from 1-10 the current importance of a list of 20 Trends and evaluated a list of 16 future New Areas of Focus to rank their highest five in terms of future significance. Optional comments on each were possible. Section 2 had three optional and open-ended questions, with a focus on the impact of the pandemic.
The Compass received 125 responses from 39 countries. A plurality of respondents were FSPs, followed by consultants/support services providers, infrastructure organisations, funders and researchers. On the main geographic focus of respondents’ work, a plurality selected Global, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Trends
Two new trends, introduced in response to the uniquely challenging context of the pandemic, took the top two spots
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investing World Forum; September 23-24, 2021; London, UK, with Virtual Option
The Impact Investing World Forum (IIWF) is focused on investments that are in line with concerns such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The event will feature speakers from
SPECIAL REPORT: Online Event: Strengthening Cybersecurity to Boost Financial Inclusion in Africa; July 13, 2021
The 
53rd Midi de la Microfinance, held by Luxembourg-based NGO ADA Microfinance, will focus on cybersecurity as it relates to financial inclusion in Africa. This includes suggested “points of attention and concrete actions” microfinance institutions may use to minimize the risks associated with