The Citi Foundation, the grant-making foundation of international financial services firm Citigroup, has pledged a USD 100,000 grant to PlaNet Finance, the French non-profit company that assists microfinance institutions (MFIs), towards the development of a microfinance training curriculum in Arabic. This will be aimed at MFIs in seven Arab countries and delivered through 50 course modules designed to provide them with skills in human resources, planning and strategy, products, accounting, supervision and finance. There will be five-day training sessions in Casablanca, Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Ramallah, Damascus and Sana’a over the next three years.
PlanetFinance, which provides technical assistance, rating assessments and financing to MFIs, claims that the number of microfinance active clients in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has increased more than tenfold since 1999, from 129,000 to approximately 1.5 million, but that another 4.5 million are still lacking access to financial services. Compared to other parts of the world such as Latin America and South Asia, the microfinance sector in the MENA region is still underdeveloped both in terms of beneficiaries as well as MFIs. So far the majority of the MFIs in the region are non-profit, non-government organisations (NGOs) with very few commercial banks active in the sector.
The Citi Foundation supports programs in the areas of youth education, financial education, and supporting communities and entrepreneurs. It donated USD 92 million in grants in 2006.
Amy Rennison, MicroCapital writer
Additional Sources:
Microfinance Gateway:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/content/article/detail/43799
Citigroup Foundation:
http://www.citigroupfoundation.com/citigroup/corporate/foundation/
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity International, UPS Foundation Announce “Unstoppable Women Initiative” to Expand Financial Services in Colombia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Sustainable Finance in the MENA Region;” by Natalia Realpe Carrillo, Alexander Reviakin; Published by Sanad Fund for MSME Technical Assistance Facility, HEDERA Sustainable Solutions
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Launch Mobile Money Program in Ethiopia
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sun King Raises $130m for Pay-as-you-go Solar in Kenya, Citi is Sole Arranger
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aflatoun, Fintech Robos to Collaborate on Financial Literacy in Middle East, North Africa
