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 December 29, 2008 — IFC called for collaboration between microfinance institutions at a recent summit in India.
The Microfinance India Summit, held in New Delhi, brought together major players in the field -- leading microfinance institutions, donors, bankers, and others from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
IFC Director Mamta Shah, a featured speaker, emphasized the need for all stakeholders to work together to continue progress already made.
“For every one percent drop in global GDP growth, about 20 million additional persons are estimated to join the poor,” she explained while highlighting the turmoil in financial markets and its impact on the poor.
Responsible Finance
IFC's responsible finance initiative has played an important role in promoting best practices in serving clients in the microfinance sector. We plan to work closely with the World Bank to improve the business environment for microfinance institutions.
IFC's microfinance strategy is:
- helping non-governmental organizations grow into non-banking finance corporations
- developing new products such as micro-insurance
- nurturing new microfinance institutions
- supporting specialized microfinance funds
Invest Asia 2008
As a run-up to the summit, IFC also supported Invest Asia 2008, an investment fair for small and mid-sized microfinance institutions that helped introduce potential investors to the sector. A workshop on Investor Readiness was found particularly useful by many smaller microfinance institutions that face problems in attracting private and social equity investors.
India, home to one of the world’s largest microfinance sectors, has a portfolio estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Indian microfinance has reached more than 114 million people.
Contributed by Minakshi Seth, South Asia/Communications Practice Group |
