MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Foundation Horizonti of Macedonia Wins 2011 European Best Practices Award from Foundation Giordano Dell’Amore, European Microfinance Network (EMN)

Microcredit Foundation Horizonti (Horizonti) of Macedonia recently received the 2011 European Best Practices Award, which is offered jointly by Italy’s Foundation Giordano Dell’Amore and the France-based European Microfinance Network (EMN).

Having started as a microfinance programme in 2000 Horizonti registered as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in 2005. It provides financial services to low-income populations in Macedonia through business loans for microenterprises and small housing repair loans. Horizonti received the award for its program “Housing Microfinance for Roma and marginalized people”, a joint initiative of Horizonti and Habitat-Macedonia, a part of Habitat for Humanity, a US-based nonprofit Christian ministry that provides housing to low-income families. The program was started in 2007 with the aim of providing affordable housing to the Roma people, a minority group in Macedonia, and to women. As of 2009, Horizonti reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 5 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 3.9 million, approximately 3,000 borrowers, return on assets (ROA) of -1.45 percent and return on equity (ROE) of -2.98 percent.

The European Best Practices Microfinance Award aims at “raising awareness of microfinance as tool to assist the economic initiative of excluded persons in Europe, sharing good and transferable practices in the field of microfinance, innovation and sustainability and promoting and good practices to other microfinance agencies in Europe.”

By Nisha Koul, Research Associate

About Microcredit Foundation Horizonti (Horizonti): Horizonti started as a microfinance programme in 2000 and then registered as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in 2005. It provides financial services to low-income populations in Macedonia through business loans for microenterprises and small housing repair loans. As of 2009, Horizonti reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 5 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 3.9 million, approximately 3,000 borrowers, return on assets (ROA) of -1.45 percent and return on equity (ROE) of -2.98 percent.

About Foundation Giordano Dell’Amore: Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore is a foundation based in Italy that has been operating since 1967. It was formalized under Italian law in 1977 by Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lomabrde, an Italian state-owned bank. The foundation’s mission is to catalyze the skills and resources of Italians in order to develop the microfinance sector in developing countries. The foundation is a member of RITMI, the Italian Microfinance Network, and is associated with the European Microfinance Network (EMN), a nonprofit membership organization that promotes microfinance. Financial information is not currently available for Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore.

About European Microfinance Network (EMN): The European Microfinance Network (EMN) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was launched in April 2003. EMN aims to bring together microfinance practitioners and people involved in microfinance activities in Europe with the purpose of promoting microfinance, self-employment and microentreprise development based on good practices, and to improve the regulatory framework at European Union and member state levels. EMN currently has 87 members and partners located in 21 European countries. As of December 2009 EMN reported total assets of EUR 333 million (USD 429 million).

Sources and Additional Resources:

Event Announcement, Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, http://www.fgda.org/eventi_fondazione_dettagliouk.php?Id=59

MICROCAPITAL STORY: April 2011, “ Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore Accepting Applications for Microfinance Best Practices International Award 2011”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fondazione-giordano-dellamore-accepting-applications-for-microfinance-best-practices-international-award-2011/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Fondazione+Giordano+Dell%27Amore

MicroCapital Universe Profile, European Microfinance Network, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=European+Microfinance+Network+%28EMN%29

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