PRESS RELEASE: As Canada Celebrates International Development Week Développement International Desjardins (DID) Honors African Microfinance Leaders

Source: Développement International Desjardins (DID).

Original press release available here.

LÉVIS, CANADA, February 4 – Développement International Desjardins (DID) partners and Proxfin member institutions include individuals who are strongly committed to the development of their community finance institution. Like Alphonse Desjardins, they have shown extraordinary dynamism and creativity to increase access to financial services. During the International Development Week, which takes place from Sunday, February 3 to Saturday, February 9, 2008, DID wishes to highlight the commitment of 4 of these Outstanding Partners.

In Burkina Faso, Adeline Zongo has worked with the country’s financial cooperatives for 23 years and played a leading role in the evolution and growth of these institutions. Director of the Caisse populaire de Cissin in the capital, Ouagadougou, since 1990 she is distinguished by her awareness of the many needs of her community. She was involved in the testing, introduction and marketing of numerous innovative financial services and products such as specialized loans and services for women and entrepreneurs, housing loans, insurance, etc. In addition to these innovations she successfully introduced automated financial operations to her coop. Under her direction, the Caisse populaire de Cissin underwent rapid growth and today can be proud of its exceptional performance. This enviable situation, combined with her outstanding qualities as the cooperative’s main manager, led to Adeline Zongo being made a Chevalier de l’Ordre National in 2004 by the President of Burkina Faso.

In West Africa, Mamadou Touré and Alpha Ouedraogo are respectively Chair and Director General of the Centre d’innovation financière (CIF). These two leaders, who were both made a Chevalier de l’Ordre National in their respective countries in recent years, made unprecedented efforts to reposition the CIF and make it a confederation of financial institutions. This organization now has the mission of supporting, harmonizing and supervising the activities of the six networks of financial cooperatives attached to it, and diversifying and increasing the outreach of the financial services offered to communities in West Africa. The networks affiliated with the CIF are located in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo. The work done by Mamadou Touré and Alpha Ouedraogo has helped structure the community finance sector throughout West Africa, which has in turn opened the door to numerous innovations such as the creation of an insurance company and a financial unit capable of offering the specialized services required by the member networks in an effective manner.

In Tanzania, Aloyce D. H. Mbunda is Chair of the Changanyikeni SACCO, or financial cooperative. The commitment of this leader to integrating his cooperative into a structured network, the Dunduliza network, was quickly rewarded since it opened the door to several improvements, such as a better internal control system, access to technical training for coop employees and management, innovative information technology applications, and considerable support for developing new products. The Changanyikeni SACCO, led by the vision and drive of Aloyce D. H. Mbunda, was able to post rapid growth and maintain its offer of accessible and secure financial services to each household in Songea, the town where the coop is located. Between June 2005 and September 2007, the number of members increased from under 500 to over 3,000 and the volume of savings climbed from less than CAD 10,000 (USD 9,900) to CAD 190,000 (USD 188,000).

Proxfin is a global network that groups 30 community finance institutions and Développement international Desjardins (DID). This network has been set up to stimulate thought and discussion among its members, which share the same model and values, and to promote good practices in the field of community finance. Together, Proxfin member financial institutions reach more than seven million families throughout the world, which represents some 35 million individuals.

Développement international Desjardins (DID) is a component of the Desjardins Group and has been providing support for the creation, development and strengthening of financial institutions in twenty countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central and Eastern Europe for over 35 years. DID, which specializes in providing technical support and investment for community finance, counts on the rich and diverse experience acquired through its collaborations with numerous partners, and on the 100 years of the Desjardins Group, the most important cooperative financial group in Canada. DID works in partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency, the World Bank and other multilateral organizations.

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