SPECIAL REPORT: ADA, Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Sign Collaboration Agreement at SAM

After Tuesday’s sessions at the “SAM the SAM (Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) conference, Olivier Massart, the General Manager of ADA, and Eric Campos, Managing Director of the Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), signed an agreement to collaborate on their institutions’ service delivery to microfinance institutions (MFIs). Mr Massart explained that the two Luxembourgish NGOs will work “hand in hand” in areas including the measurement of social impact. ADA specializes in technical assistance, and although GCAMF also provides technical assistance, it is a major local-currency funder of MFIs. Both institutions prioritize working with MFIs that serve people in rural areas as well as women in general.

Mr Campos told MicroCapital that a primary motivation for the collaboration is to reduce the workload for MFIs, which are often called upon to submit substantial amounts of overlapping data to funders and other interested parties. He also spoke passionately about how MFIs can maintain market share as fintech (financial technology) firms rise. His recipe for success is three-fold: (1) a warm “hello” when meeting clients in person, which can go a long way in developing customer loyalty; (2) the loan officer having expertise to help the client select the best products for his or her situation; and (3) the loan officer holding “shared expertise” with his or her colleagues, so the client can be transferred seamlessly to the relevant expert within the MFI, when needed.

This feature is part of a sponsored series on the third SAM, which began on October 9 in Addis Ababa. It is organized by ADA, an NGO based in Luxembourg, with the support of Luxembourg’s Ministry for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, in partnership with Microfinance African Institutions Network (MAIN), African Rural & Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), African Microfinance Transparency (AMT), the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI) and Kenya’s Association for Micro-finance Institutions. MicroCapital has been engaged to report on-site from the event.

Sources and Additional Resources

ADA
http://www.ada-microfinance.org/

Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation
http://gca-foundation.org/

2017 SAM Conference
http://www.microfinance-africa.org/en/SAM

Coverage of the 2017 SAM in Addis Ababa and the 2015 SAM in Dakar by MicroCapital
https://www.microcapital.org/category/semaine-africaine-de-la-microfinance-sam/