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 Summary of the workshops

European Commission’ ‘Code of Good Conduct for Microfinance Providers

The first JASMINE MDS workshop was held on 6 September in Krakow as part of the second ‘Active Europe’ conference. The theme was the European Commissions’ ‘Code of Good Conduct for Microfinance Providers’ (the EC Code) that will be launched in the coming months. There were three panellists: Sandra Moreau - EMN Senior Programme Manager - moderated the session and introduced the EMN code of conduct; Pål Vik - from the University of Salford in Britain - introduced the EC Code; Piotr Zimoląg - from Inicjatywa Mikro, a Polish MFI - gave his thoughts about the draft EC Code and how the majority of the EC Code’s components have already been implemented in his own organisation.

There were 12 participants in an interactive session where people posed questions on the content the EC Code and its future implementation in MFIs in the EU; they were particularly interested in knowing if the EC Code would become a future label of quality for MFIs once they had adopted it. The participants also understood how the ethically-inspired ‘Code’ was also a performance measurement tool. The session was also attended by representatives of the Code’s sponsors, the Commission and the European Investment Fund.

Strategic planning and the sustainability of MFIs in the European Union

 The second workshop was organised around the theme “Strategic Planning and Sustainability of MFIs in Europe”. It took place on 15 September in Berlin within the framework of the COPIE 2 meeting (Community of Practice for Inclusive Entrepreneurship) held by the German Microfinance Institute DMI. The workshop was introduced by Stefanie Lämmermann, EMN Programme Manager. It was led by Fabio Malanchini from Microfinanza/Impact Finance in Italy who gave an overview of sustainability and presented good practice examples from Europe. Ratings and institutional diagnostics of MFIs and the legal/regulatory environment were other issues raised. This was followed by a podium discussion between the workshop leader, German MFI representative Jochen Bloss, and Christophe Guene from DMI.

Thirty-four people, mainly from German MFIs, participated in the workshop. The discussion turned around ways of reaching sustainability in Germany. The audience highlighted some of the obstacles that the MFIs are currently facing. As such, the German microfinance operators are tied to a very specific loan product which does not favour product innovation and makes it hard to extend the outreach. The MFIs need to speak as one in order to obtain changes and improve the environment for microfinance activities. The German Microfinance Institute will play a major role in this regard.

Foreign exchange risk management techniques

The third workshop was held on 15 October in Reghin during a one-day event organised by FAER Foundation, within the framework of a series of workshops presenting best practices in Romania and in the European Union countries - a EU/ESF funded project. The name of the event was ‘Entrepreneurship, from business idea to success’. There were 31 participants. The majority came from the Romanian microfinance sector. One person came from a French microfinance foundation.

The theme of the workshop was ‘Foreign exchange risk management techniques’. There were four panellists: Sandra Moreau - EMN Senior Programme Manager - moderated the session; Maria Doiciu - from EUROM in Romania - facilitated the workshop, presenting an overview on risk management with a particular emphasis on financial risks. Ioan Vlasa and Carmen Eften - from FAER in Romania - presented a case study on FX rate fluctuation and its impact on the MFI’s clients.     

Good governance of MFIs in Europe

 The fourth workshop was held on 25 October in Milan during the conference ‘Present and future in the microfinance sector - Transparency, client protection and social impact for a sustainable growth’ organised by Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore. There were 18 participants. The majority came from Italy, three from Hungary and others from France, Bosnia, Albania and Ecuador. They represented MFIs, Ministry of Labour, students and other institutions.

The theme of the workshop was ‘Good Governance of Microfinance Institutions in Europe’. There were four panellists: Sandra Moreau - EMN Senior Programme Manager - moderated the session; Massimo Vita - from Microfinanza in Italy - facilitated the workshop, introducing corporate governance development and the key factors implying an MFI governance development.

Vasil Davaliev from Horizonti (FYR of Macedonia) described the governance structure within Horizonti and its strengths; the critical issues linked to the board members; and the challenges faced by Horizonti as far as governance is concerned. Henry Ariolfo Quezada Minga from Cooperativa Jardin Azuayo (Ecuador) described the governance structure of his organisation.

Management information systems

The fifth workshop was held on 4 November in Luxemburg during the European Microfinance Week entitled ‘Inclusive Finance for Excluded People’ organised by the European Microfinance Platform. There were 13 participants. They came from Luxemburg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Hungary. They represented various institutions among which banks, NGOs and consultancy companies.

The theme of the workshop was ‘Management Information Systems: Planning and Selection - Is the ‘Software as a Service - Saas’ model nowadays a real option for MFIs?’. The objective of the workshop was to present the different MIS models available to MFIs and share the experience of two MFIs, one from the south and one from the north.

There were six panellists: Sandra Moreau - EMN Senior Programme Manager - moderated the session; Tom Bauer - from Triodos Facet in The Netherlands - facilitated the workshop presented the pros and cons of the three technology solutions offered to MFIs between buy, build or outsource; Tibor Szekfü and Éva Faragó - from Fejer Enterprise Agency in Hungary - explained the model that was developed in Hungary more than fifteen years ago. Jean Pouit - from MyTransfer and the European Microfinance Platform - explained the computerization phases that an MFI goes through, from a simple excel sheet to a centralised database. Finally Teshome Dayesso - from Buusaa Gonofa in Ethiopia - described his experience when the MFI introduced its MIS system in Ethiopia.

The emergence of a European model in microfinance

The 6th workshop was organised during the Global Microcredit Summit, in Valladolid, Spain, on Monday 14 November. There were some 30 participants. The majority came from all over Europe but others came from Japan, Mexico and Ecuador. They represented various institutions including NGOs, foundations, consulting companies and universities.

The theme was ‘The Emergence of a European Microfinance Model’.
There were four panellists: Sandra Moreau - EMN Senior Programme Manager - moderated the session; Mirko Bendig - from Evers & Jung in Germany - facilitated the workshop and presented the two emerging models: microenterprise lending and inclusion lending.
Corrado Ferreti - from PerMicro in Italy - represented the inclusion-lending model and Georgie Friederichs - from Qredits in The Netherlands - represented the microenterprise-lending model.

Although the workshop was planned to last an hour and was scheduled at a late hour (18:15 to 19:15), the audience was proactive and directed many questions to the two MFI representatives. As the audience came from various parts of the world, some were surprised that, in Europe, a microcredit could be up to €25,000 (according to the EU definition). Both MFIs explained that they were lending to people who are excluded from the traditional financial sector and that the standard of living in Europe is higher than in developing countries; this the reason why the amounts lent are higher than in the South.

Reporting standards: Financial and Social Performance

JASMINE is financed by the European Commission - Directorate General for Regional Policy - and managed by the European Investment Fund.

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