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The First Small Business Conference in Yemen Calls For Change

Participants in the first conference of small and medium-sized enterprises in Yemen Called to create a public financial institution help banks and microfinance institutions to grant loans to the sectors of small and medium-sized enterprises guarantees easy, accessible and simple interest rate.

microfinance in YemenThe conference was held the first Yemeni small and medium-sized enterprises in the 26-27 / May in Sana'a organized by the Yemeni Association for Business Development and in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Said Dr. Abdullah Al-Mikhlafi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and professor of banking at the University of Taiz, in an interview with balcony "will not list for economic development only if there is interest in SMEs via its support in the planning stage and provide technical support her and to expand and facilitate the process of funding them."

He admitted Al-Mikhlafi not sharing the government enough to support small and medium enterprises, calling for the establishment of a governmental body working to secure the necessary funding for these projects and allocate part of the capital of commercial banks and Islamic countries, between 10 and 15 per cent, to finance small and medium enterprises.

The participants recommended that the central bank required a certain percentage of the loan portfolio mandatory in Islamic and conventional banks in Yemen of not less than 15 per cent went to the small and medium-sized enterprises.

As well as to avoid activating the insurance for bankruptcy protection and activating the role of compulsory insurance affordable for entrepreneurs, as well as enable, support and encourage women in the implementation of small and medium-sized enterprises and to provide financial and technical support to them.

He said Munawar Essanoui, Executive Director in Yemen Society for Business Development, for the balcony "The small projects are of great importance in the economies of developing countries and account for about 90 per cent of the total national income because it is fast in generating jobs at a high rate as it provides job opportunities free to a large number of members of the community . "

"If we want to promote sector small and medium enterprises we establish a joint body including private and government sectors concerned with SMEs and working to develop this sector from three directions: the first regards the legislative structure provided that they are accessible and supportive of the sector, and the second for funding and soft loans, and the third terms of providing opportunities for training and advisory services, feasibility studies and technical support. "

'Column the economy'
In turn, he said certified Abdo Srora, the director of human resources at the Small Industries Development Fund, said that small and medium-sized enterprises are the "pillar of the economy" in Yemen and developing countries in general.

He continued, saying, "If the government wants to achieve sustainable development and the recovery of real economic interest in this sector in kind and financially and in terms of infrastructure."

And the constraints faced by small enterprises, summed up by failing to provide legal protection, as well as funding for banks to production processes only instead of starting from scratch funding.

And the Central Bank's role in supporting small and medium enterprises, explained Balkis Ahmad, Director of the Department of Islamic banks and specialized in the Central Bank, saying he was "focused on control over the institutions and banks lending small and medium enterprises in addition to passing legislation encouraging the work of the private banking microfinance."

She stated that the law gave incentives for the establishment of microfinance banks, including reducing the required capital to 600 million riyals (2.8 million U.S. dollars), compared to six billion riyals ($ 27.9 million) to other banks, and shorten the establishment procedures to enable the granting of a license in a period of two months from the date of submission demand. KD Suite

Ahmed added that making the central bank rate-setting open to microfinance banks, unlike other banks.

Her "The microfinance banks made good strides in the provision of services to beneficiaries," and this is what encouraged other institutions to provide microfinance services and small as she put it.

She explained, "We now have new applications to provide these services from one of the exchange companies and offshore bank, as there is a proposal under consideration to integrate some financial institutions and converted to a smaller bank financing." Forex Indicator Predictor
Learn More about Microfinance in Yemen

Microfinance in Yemen

Microfinance in Yemen - Afrah Ahmed (23 years) Her small project in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is accustomed to micro-loans; and is now poised to request her third loan, but when asked whether she previous loans have helped to improve her life, came a lukewarm response.

She added in an interview with Network (IRIN), "benefited from only somewhat, because life is very difficult, and I do not have money in the house, and no one works.'m Looking for a solution to improve life."

The question whether the micro loans "succeed" in lifting people out of poverty is still under discussion not only in Yemen but in all parts of the world.
Microfinance in Yemen

Said David Rodman, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, and author of a recent book on microfinance entitled "due diligence": "I would not call it a great way to address the problem of poverty, it achieved modest results at modest cost."

"I think it's something that enriches the economic fabric of society and contribute to the economic transformation process in a way that a modest but useful, and this is one of the meanings of development."

Microfinance includes financial services such as microcredit and micro-savings (which makes it easy to save small amounts of money).

It seems that five randomized control studies conducted in Morocco, the Philippines, Mongolia, India and Bosnia and Herzegovina have shown that micro-credit can improve business profitability, but does not seem to improve poverty indicators such as household spending and the number of children in schools.

Due to having 15 years of experience and the necessary legal framework, Yemen is (the poorest country in the Middle East) of the leading countries at the regional level in terms of the granting of microcredit, and microfinance sector wider (which also includes, in addition to microcredit products, such as accounts savings for people who are normally excluded from mainstream banks).

Although large-scale unrest that swept across the country over the past two years, the expansion of this sector to a large extent, although it is still far from achieving all of its possibilities.

According to Adel Mansour, author of the report of the Social Fund for Development in 2011, the MFI has been able to reach 439 thousand people between 1998 and the end of 2011 in a country with a population of 25 million people suffer from poverty rates exceeding 40 percent.

The success of the Mujahid, executive director of network Yemen Microfinance "We estimate (we need) million customers in order to achieve the microfinance industry what we aim to it, which is to help the poor. But under current figures, we are not satisfied with the achievements of the industry."

Roots

The roots of microfinance in Yemen to 1997 when it was the establishment of the Social Fund for Development with the support of donors and government department. In 2009, the Bank was inaugurated hope, which is the first bank dedicated to microfinance in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Bank of Hope since its inception 60 A with an average loan size of approximately $ 200, which is now the largest source of microfinance in Yemen.

Mohammed said Lai, the founder of the bank and its chief executive, "We see ourselves as a bank for the majority of Yemenis."

He added that the loans are used in a variety of ways, particularly as a way to secure funding for small and medium enterprises, although the Bank of hope gives some consumer loans to qualified borrowers as well.

Although these consumer loans not exceeding a quarter of the loans provided by the Bank of hope, but there is concern at the global level of conversion of micro-credit sometimes to cover short-term needs such as bills of health and food, instead of providing capital for micro.

In order to adapt to the Yemeni market, the majority of customers choose microcredit loans are compatible with the principles of Islamic finance.

Shooting a cause for concern

Regardless of the model used, the repayment rates of microfinance in Yemen is very high, and more than 99 percent in many cases.

According to the report by the Social Fund for Development, the proportion of risky loans (which are defined as total accounts in arrears for more than 30 days) 1.6 percent in 2010, and was the rate of defaults final less than that in that year.

Lai pointed out that "our lending have a reciprocal relationship with the health of our customers. If the client's son's disease, for example, may not repay the loan."

I would call it a great way to address the problem of poverty, it achieved modest results at modest cost and over the past two years, became repayment more cause for concern, and industry microcredit is not immune from instability prevailing in the country resulting from the uprising "Arab Spring" in Yemen.

In 2011, risky loans increased more than five-fold, and offer loans to very slow, as the office of at least one, in the troubled southern province of Abyan, looted and forced to close.

Financial literacy

While the industry is trying to recover from the turmoil, there are still many challenges impeding lending to the poor, including the ability of persons who did not receive formal education to understand how these services work.

And can understand the mechanism of action becomes problematic loans for people with limited knowledge of financial matters, as reported by Mujahid.

And trying to donors and institutions to address this problem through institutions such as the promotion of service SMEs (SMEPS), which provides subsidized management training for entrepreneurs.

But small business owners who use microcredit are a minority in these courses.

The broader question that you ask Mujahid for the microfinance in Yemen - as others have done in other places - is whether truly serve the poor.

"It did not happen a real assessment of the impact of the microfinance industry since it began in 1997."

The report concludes the Social Fund for Development, which uses very few measurements of the economic impact, that people are extremely poor - often in rural areas - have not benefited from the financial services in Yemen, despite efforts to reach them.

Experiments were lending very poor people in Yemen relatively unsuccessful, the report says, because "the basic needs of survival is more important than managing a small activity requires constant effort and dedication to work."

As interest rates - or the equivalent in the Islamic system - which starts from 18 percent make borrowing difficult for the very poor people and those who wish to establish a new business.

The high interest rates in part to inflation in Yemen, with a lot more than 10 percent, and the national currency relatively volatile.

And banking services via mobile phone, and marketing campaigns roaming, and push for increasing the number of savings accounts and borrowers very poor through partnership Social Fund for Development with the Yemen Post and Social Welfare Fund are factors that can help society in greater use of financial institutions.

But Ali Abdul Wafi, an economist and former member of parliament, it is believed that the greatest responsibility for the growing financial sector rests with the government.

And despite the fact that the Yemeni government has adopted a strategy the granting of micro-credit in 2005, and issued a law microcredit in 2009, but Abdul Abdul Wafi did not think they played an active role enough.

"The government may be busy with other issues, but they must pay attention to the financial sector it is extremely vital for the economic situation in Yemen."

And believes that Yemen needs to "further advocacy and interest microcredit industry, because it is a tool to combat poverty, and not just for charity."
IM John Chow 
IM John Chow

Microfinance in Syria

Microfinance in Syria still at the stage of evolution and to engage in a market where no more than 10 years old which is in its infancy and did not reach the stage of maturity yet.

The sources indicated that the coverage of microfinance to the need of the market amounted to 9% as indicated by a study before the start of the crisis and indicated a strong need in the Syrian market for this type of financing is estimated at about 91% at least, and therefore constitute an attraction important for many institutions working in this area .

Microfinance in Syria

The sources revealed, according to the "homeland" local, that many of the new institutions have taken more than a step to enter this promising market and obtained the necessary approval from the "central bank" but under the current circumstances froze the rest of the steps.

It also pointed out that the coverage of microfinance to the need of the market fell as clearly below the level of 9%, but this did not prevent the renewal of some of the old loans to customers who have committed themselves to paying in accordance with the deadlines associated with this type of small loan.

Attributed the shrinking small loans for two reasons: The first is the non-renewal of each building on the desire of the customer to its inability to meet the terms of the loan and the second is linked to the inability of some institutions to refinance the same volume of customers in the light of the prevailing economic conditions and the high degree of risk.

The sources ruled out the possibility of exit of any of the four institutions working in the field of microfinance market, especially the market is still virgin and the interest of these institutions to maintain itself in the market, which will have a big advantage when you return to stability and the economic wheel to normal.

She explained that in spite of the fact that microfinance in syria semi-frozen but adapted primarily in natural working conditions to work in difficult conditions to qualify to take the role in the return of relative stability to the economy.

AGFUND poses mechanisms of microfinance a funky alternative to the fight against hunger in the world

Confirmed the Arab Gulf Program for Development "AGFUND" headed by Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, his commitment to the fight against hunger in the world through the mechanisms of microfinance and poverty reduction, and improve the conditions of needy segments.

AGFUND supports development strategy is based on three axes: finance projects around the world without discrimination, and building projects for the benefit of those in need, such as banks for the poor, and development partnerships.

AGFUND

In the context of the third track, which means "partnerships" Search AGFUND promote development of relations with the World Food Programme of the United Nations, during a meeting held yesterday at the headquarters of AGFUND in Riyadh.

The Executive Director of AGFUND Nasser bin Bakr Al-Qahtani said the two sides discussed visions serve the fight against hunger in unconventional ways, stressing the readiness of AGFUND to contribute to the financing of projects aimed to fight hunger through alternatives to traditional developed, which mechanisms of microfinance, and banks poverty founded by AGFUND and deployed in the region .

The long cooperation between AGFUND and United Nations organizations makes the common language between them and clear, which helps to achieve common goals in the time frame and in a timely manner for the target segments.

The meeting was attended by AGFUND Executive Director of AGFUND Nasser bin Bakr Al-Qahtani, Director of Project Management Jibreen Jibreen, and the Secretary General of the AGFUND Prize Media Director Abdul Latif Alazaviha, and was attended by the World Food Programme Executive Director Catherine Cazin and the Deputy Executive Director Chief Operating Prince Abdullah, the Assistant Director Executive Romer Lopez, and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome Bandar bin Abdulmohsen Al-Shalhoub, WFP Regional Director Mohamed Diab, Donor Relations Officer World Jewels Atef Programme.

Entrepreneurship Fund To Finance Institutions

The Private Investment Corporation "OPEC" U.S. government institution specialized in finance and development and "ABRAJ Capital" Agreement commitment to invest $150 million in a fund to support small and medium enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa "MENA".

Small Business Loans

The fund, which invests dubbed "Entrepreneurship Fund to finance institutions" in the small and medium-sized enterprises and administered by Aureus Capital, a subsidiary of Towers Fund represents of its $ 400 million capital funding source for small and medium-sized projects with countries in the region.

The agreement was signed by John Morton representing OPEC Foundation and Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, CEO of "ABRAJ Capital".

finance

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Microfinance Mechanism

ofid opec

The Arab Gulf for Development Program "AGFUND" and the OPEC Fund for International Development "OFID" was organized an international symposium, entitled "The role of donors in meeting the basic needs of the poor (education, health, energy, housing, agriculture) through the mechanism of microfinance" ; Which was held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, headquarters of the "OFID", 5 June 6, 2012. The main objectives of the workshop focused on: the definition of effective role for the use of microfinance mechanism to meet the basic needs for the life of a large segment of the poor in developing societies.

The workshop reviewed the benefits of linking the provision of financial services in the microfinance industry of non-financial services in the sectors of health, education, energy, agriculture and housing. Addressing the seminar, Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, President of AGFUND, and displays the vision program for the development of Arab Gulf in the recruitment of microfinance to fight poverty, and the positive results achieved by the project "AGFUND" to establish banks for the poor in the region. Was to provide models of successful experiences in the application of international microfinance.

 It is noteworthy that the most important challenges facing the microfinance industry and hinder their growth is the presence of a large financing gap in the industry between demand and supply for microfinance services, as they limit the expansion and the spread of existing institutions aiming to provide services to the poor in an effective manner to narrow this funding gap initiated "AGFUND" launch a fund to provide "financing facility" for microfinance banks founded by a number of Arab and African countries, and for other MFIs in the Arab region.

 Such an initiative of the International Symposium to encourage donors and financial institutions to open the windows to support the MFIs operating in developing communities to reduce poverty rates. And broke up a seminar to develop new mechanisms for definition by the microfinance sector and its future, and develop its role in reducing poverty, combating unemployment. Has also been monitoring the number of experiences and successful applications in the delivery of microfinance services integrated. It will AGFUND and OFID on the dissemination of these applications for the benefit of MFIs.

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Al Amana Microfinance and Wafacash Partnership

Al Amana Microfinance

Al Amana Microfinance, a leading microcredit in Morocco, is diversifying its business and expands its services to customers by signing a partnership agreement with Wafacash Development and distribution services Domestic Money Transfer (Cash Express), Transfer of International money (Western Union and Money Gram) and the manual exchange.

This partnership will broaden the range of products and services of Al Amana and thereby contribute to reinforce its mission of financial inclusion of large populations across the kingdom.

The offering of these new services will eventually cover the entire distribution network of Al Amana Microfinance which has 450 outlets and 50 mobile branches. It is worth mentioning that Al Amana Microfinance has already served as part of its activities over a million customers.

Other banking should expand in the coming months, the product range of Al Amana Microfinance.
Source: http://themicrofinance.blogspot.com

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Family Bank Bahrain

Family Bank Bahrain
Family Bank in Bahrain was accepted as a new member of Sanabel Microfinance, a regional network based on the membership of MFIs in the Arab countries. Where members of Sanabel serve more than 80% of microfinance clients activists (more than 750,000 smaller entrepreneur in the Arab world).

Sanabel Microfinance Network is access to the largest possible number of microentrepreneurs in the Arab countries by strengthening the capacity of MFIs through capacity building services such as training, translation and publication of sources and literature on microfinance and to encourage and facilitate the exchange and communication between workers in the microfinance industry through the conference annual Sanabel website and newsletter of their own, in addition to the Arab Grid for microfinance based in Arab Republic of Egypt-based and are Sanabel first network of its kind and the only one designed to serve microfinance institutions in the Arab world as a non-profit network includes ears 87 members of the 13 Arab countries are mainly Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

The Family Bank in Bahrain was established initiative of the partnership of the Ministry of Human rights and social development with a number of partners from the private sector has received the Bank's license in October 2009 as the first Islamic bank specialized in microfinance, in partnership between: the Ministry of Human Rights and Social Development , the charity's property, the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, Ithmaar Bank and Ahli United Bank, Kuwait Finance House, and according to the framework of cooperation with Grameen Foundation Trust.

Bank of the Poor in Sudan

Arab Gulf Programme for the support of the United Nations Development "AGFUND" began the executive steps to establish a sixth microfinance bank in the system "AGFUND" to combat poverty called Bank of the Poor in Sudan like Grameen bank in bangladesh by the microfinance guru Muhammad Yunus

The team of  "AGFUND" discuss, chaired by Executive Director Nasser Bakr Al-Qahtani with the Sudanese side complete the contributions of the private sector in the Sudanese capital of the bank of the poor after it obtained the approval of the Central Bank of Sudan.
AGFUND

AGFUND has received the approval of a number of prominent Sudanese businessmen to contribute to the bank's capital.
The delegation will attend AGFUND in the Forum's seventh Islamic Development Bank to be held in Khartoum on Islamic finance and provides Qahtani and a paper on the successful experiences of AGFUND in the area of ​​job creation and social and economic impact of this experience, the most important obstacles to job creation is represented in (funding, training and rehabilitation, and the labor market ) will also speak about the role of microfinance and micro in the provision of employment opportunities.

Will address Qahtani Horizons initiative Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, microfinance, which led to the establishment of 5 banks for the poor in the Arab region and Africa, (the National Bank to finance small projects in Jordan, Al-Amal Microfinance in Yemen, the Bank of creativity in Bahrain, Bank of creativity in Syria, the Bank of partnership and innovation in Sierra Leone. The pump "AGFUND" in the role of banks, 130 million, benefiting far more than a million in the poor.

The practice of AGFUND to establish banks for the poor on the principle of social investment, and therefore the profits went to the capital increase, and the disposal of the partners, and moreover they are Members of the Board of Directors of the private sector, and shareholders.

Believes that the AGFUND Bank for the Poor in Sudan carries a lot of the features of the success and development and expansion of Sudan because of the countries that created a legislative structure to promote microfinance.

It should be noted that Sudan has launched an initiative to support young people to do small projects to improve their social situation and fight against poverty.

Sanabel Microfinance Conference 2011

The Microfinance Network of Arab Countries "Sanabel" which will be Held Eighth Annual Microfinance Conference between 7th to 9th June 2011 in Jordan.

The theme of this year’s Microfinance conference will be Microfinance in the Arab Region: Challenges of the Past and Opportunities of the Future.

With more than six hundred participants will have the opportunity to learn from Guru panelists and share individual experiences through sessions, mini-trainings, and workshops designed under Three different tracks:

- Microfinance and Risk Management,
- Responsible Finance,
- Microfinance Products, 
- Development and  Innovation. 

The Microfinance Network of Arab Countries "Sanabel" is The Largest Microfinance Network in MENA, which was established in 2002 by 17 microfinance institutions from Seven Arab countries as a membership driven regional network of microfinance institutions in the Arab world.

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MasterCard Management Scholarships

The MasterCard Foundation will be providing MCF Management Scholarships for MFI Managers from Developing Countries to attend the 17th Annual Boulder Microfinance Training Program. This Program is held at the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-ILO) from July 18th through August 5th, 2011.

Celebrating 16 years of excellence, The Boulder Institute of Microfinance once again brings its renowned faculty and thought-provoking course offerings to the Boulder MFT in Turin, Italy.

This program offers a space for reflection and analysis dedicated exclusively to sustainable microfinance training where participants and world-renowned faculty are brought together to discuss and analyze issues surrounding Microfinance. This is an excellent opportunity for learning, dialogue, and debate with expert faculty and microfinance professionals from all over the world.

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Microcredit Banks in Morocco


There are Two Microfinance Banks in Morocco, The Banque Populaire Foundation for Microcredit (FBPMC) and Credit Agricole Microcredit "ARDI Foundation":

- The Banque Populaire Foundation for Microcredit (FBPMC): was established September 6, 1999.
It is an Institution nonprofit governed by the Dahir of 15 November 1958 (regulating the right of association) and Law 18/97 on the performance of the activity of microcredit. It is an answer citizen of Groupe Banque Populaire, which aims to effectively contribute, alongside the state and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national effort to fight poverty and unemployment and to promote employment.

On 1st March 2000, the FBPMC received approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to conduct the activity of microcredit. Its object is essentially:

* Distributing microcredits to enable the economically
low to create or develop their own productive activity or service,
to ensure their integration into the economy overall.
* Carry the benefit of its customers, all associated operations relating to the granting microcredits, including training, consulting and technical assistance.

The approach combines the proximity Foundation, funding, coaching, training and monitoring of micro-entrepreneur.
The network of Banque Populaire Fondataion For MicroCredit currently consists of
219branches and distributed antennas travers12 regional supervision.

The establishment of new branches has been accompanied by the recruitment of new officers.
The actual network has reached 833 officers, while the effective seat was 116 components, a comprehensive emotional 949 (44% men and 56% women).

- ARDI Foundation: was established in 2001 as an association of economic and social profit. Its mission is to fight against financial exclusion and promote micro-enterprises particularly in rural areas, through the exercise and the promotion of micro credit.

With a new logo, a new organization and new ambitions, the Foundation ARDI is an extension of the activity of the Credit Agricole Morocco to the rural population not served by traditional bank financing.

ARDI gives poor local services necessary for their socioeconomic integration, investing space and closer to people who need it even in the remotest areas.

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Microfinance Products in Morocco

Microfinance
Morocco is one of the pioneers in the microfinance industry in the Arab world where Provide microfinance associations in Morocco, three types of Products:


1 - Solidarity loans:

known as the group solidarity apply the principle of solidarity among themselves, so that in case of failure to perform the due payment by an individual belongs to the same group is imperative for the rest of the group and Iwduha him. The group consists of 3 to 5 individuals - according to all the Assembly - and, in solidarity loan does not request any guarantees, but the only guarantee is the same group, ranging in value of loans granted between 1000 to 30000DHs period of time between 3 and 18 months, and is satisfied premiums loan on a semi-monthly or monthly.

2 - Individual loans :

Go and this type of loan at the beginning of 2006 and the reverse loan solidarity must be having a specific guarantees to benefit from this type of loan and can generally distinguish between the inside two types:

- Individual loan-oriented small businesses :

Is a loan intended for small businesses and micro enterprises for the development of their projects and business plans and small loans range in value between 1000 to 50000 dirhams in the time period between 6 months to 5 years. This type of loan should provide specific guarantees one Calcgel commercial or personal guarantees (such as the monthly wage ...).
In terms of the special conditions that must be provided in the beneficiary: it is to be the holder of entrepreneurship, and to be the capital of the latter than the predecessor.

-  Housing Loans:

Started work in recent years is directed to those who wanted to improve the residence, repair, or to link housing connected to drinking water, or electricity, ranging from the value of loans granted between 1000 to 50000 dirhams in the time period between 6 months and 7 years. The request is specific guarantees as collateral furniture for home or personal guarantees or to ensure a relative. These are the various financial services provided by microcredit associations in Morocco, in addition to the specific safeguards that should be available to take advantage of individual loan, which is in the development in Morocco since its inception in 2006, and to reduce the hardness in the performance of their clients, and the risk of debt recovery as well as financial services, Association provides microcredit, Morocco, non-financial services in parallel to the beneficiaries, such as training programs, guidance and counseling them through the field agents who are tracking the project, in addition to marketing the products of customer service at the regional level or national level, through the establishment of special exhibitions in this regard, we note In this regard, the "TASWIK" of the AL-AMANA, which was launched in 2008, which helps more than 200 customers in the industry of traditional marketing to sell their products, contributing to poverty alleviation.


3- Microinsurance Products :

is Modern Products in Microfinance in Morocco Like death and disability insurance and personal accident insurance, at 2 Euro (per year per product, and should cover the beneficiaries of microloans, up then do not qualify for hedge risks.

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Support Muhammad Yunus

More than 12 Microfinance institutions and organizations signed An Open Letter in Support of Dr. Muhammad Yunus. A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday upheld an order removing Yunus as head of Grameen Bank.

Open Letter:
"Muhammad Yunus has diligently served the poor for decades. No one has done more to inspire generations to work to reduce poverty.

We are increasingly concerned and dismayed with the troubles Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is facing in Bangladesh. As we understand it, the Government of Bangladesh is resorting to technicalities to remove Dr. Yunus from the Grameen Bank, without presentation through legitimate and transparent legal processes of any evidence of wrong-doing.

We deeply deplore this lack of justice and unproven allegations that not only impugn Dr. Yunus' character and the integrity of his flagship bank, but reach much further. Forced removal creates unnecessary risk for the more than 8 million borrowers-owners of the bank. The Government of Bangladesh previously had respect for the bank's independence as a majority client-owned microfinance institution; it is our sincere hope that a return to the status quo can be made quickly.

Dr. Yunus has played a seminal role in the development and recognition of microfinance -- the provision of small, working-capital loans and other financial services for the entrepreneurial poor. He has our strong support, and our wishes for a just and speedy resolution to this sad turn of events."

Sincerely,

ACCION
Calvert Foundation
Co-Operative Bank
FINCA
Freedom From Hunger
Grameen Foundation
Grassroots Capital
Microvest Fund
Opportunity International
Pro Mujer
Triple Jump
Visionfund International
Women's World Banking

Can Micro Insurance Protect the Poor

Low-cost insurance that covers the lives, health and property of the poor could provide protection against natural disasters.
In December 2010 devastating flooding in Colombia killed more than 200 people and left 1.7 million homeless. The damage caused was catastrophic, with 628 cities and towns hit by floodwaters, over 1,800 homes destroyed and a further 256,000 damaged.

Like the victims of most natural disasters across the world, the vast majority of those who lost relatives, homes and belongings, many of them poor farmers living in isolated rural areas, will receive no compensation for their losses and will have to rebuild their lives from scratch.

With the floods largely ignored by the international community, government assistance patchy and slow, and aid agencies struggling to fill the void, Colombia's insurance agencies are saying they can provide a much-needed safety net for when the rains return.

Microinsurance, low-cost insurance policies that cover the lives, health, crops and property of the most vulnerable, are being seen as a central way of providing social protection to the increasing numbers of people affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding and drought.

A recent report by the German insurance giant Munich Re calculated that 2010 was the second worst year for disasters since 1980. It reported that 950 global catastrophes had amounted to overall losses of around $130bn. Of this, only around $37bn was insured. For example, only 1% of the $14bn of property damage caused by Haiti's massive earthquake was covered by insurance.

At the Bonn climate change talks in 2008, microinsurance was touted as a central component of climate change adaptation measures in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Yet while microinsurance has seen increasing success in Africa and Asia, it has so far failed to make significant inroads into the Latin American market. But this could be changing.

The Colombian offices of insurance companies such as Liberty and ESA have told journalists that they are seeing a spike in the number of people taking out microinsurance policies. ESA says it is selling more than 60,000 microinsurance policies a month, mostly health , for around $1 a month.

There are hopes that microinsurance could offer some form of social protection in other countries across the region. A government-backed scheme run by Peruvian insurance company La Positiva targets over one-third of Peru's 9 million rural population, offering micro-life insurance at a marginal cost of the income generated by a family's annual harvest.

The cost of the insurance, which is between $0.5 and $2 a month, is added to the water irrigation price already paid by the farmers. Brazil and Mexico have also been identified as huge markets for growth, with millions of potential customers.

Yet despite the buzz surrounding microinsurance, the industry's reach is still limited. The 150 million people currently holding policies represent only a small fraction (around 5%) of a potential market of up to 3 billion.

Unlike microfinance programmes that provide people with instant cash, the insurance industry has so far struggled to overcome the simple problem of trying to ask poor people to pay for something they might never use.

Richard Leftley, the chief executive of UK-based MicroEnsure, one of the leading microinsurance companies, says that it has all but scraped the idea of trying to sell policies direct. He says turning up in towns and villages and asking poor families to buy insurance simply doesn't work. "Trying to explain to someone with no prior experience of insurance that if you pay even just a little bit every month then someone will pay you back if your crops failed or your child is hospitalised is often met with a perfectly understandable 'yeah right' response," he says.

Instead, the industry is evolving, with many policies now being sold as add-ons to products and brands that people already use and trust. For example, MicroEnsure says it is now conducting most of its business in Africa through partnerships with mobile phone companies.

Phone companies trying to get people to stop using multiple sim cards and stay loyal to one air-time provider are offering life or health and disaster insurance as an incentive. People who buy credit for one month get a month's worth of insurance at no extra cost.

Other obstacles are also stunting the potential of microinsurance as a widely used financial service for those vulnerable to natural disasters.

Weather-based claims have proved tricky. Microinsurance companies have had to dictate levels of rainfall as a way of setting limits for claims. Leftley says problems have occurred when these limits haven't quite been reached yet farmers still believed their crops had been damaged and expected compensation.

Major insurance firms are still being put off entering the market because microinsurance claims have to have few, if any, exclusions. Claims have to be paid almost instantly. It only takes one company to fail to pay out to its customers for years of fragile trust-building to be destroyed in an instant.

Yet Leftley believes microinsurance's time has come. He points to the increasing backlash against microfinance as a "fix-all" solution to poverty as stories mount of families being put under unbearable and devastating pressure to pay back microfinance debts.

"I think credit has been seen as the easy solution for global poverty, and the micro-finance industry has been drinking its own Kool-Aid for a bit too long," he says. "While credit is the best option in some situations, people are starting to realise that there are other options – and this can only be good for the microinsurance industry."

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Source: Guardian

Global Microcredit Summit in Spain


The Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid, Spain will be the 15th global or regional summit organized by the Microcredit Summit Campaign.

The purpose of the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit is to encourage practitioners and other stakeholders to use microfinance as a means towards ending global poverty.

This summit brings together microcredit practitioners, educators, lawyers, NGOs, international financial institutions in connection with microcredit to exchange best practices and share their knowledge of microfinance.

This summit aims to develop the standard of living of the poorest families in the world, and specifically targets women.

The first microcredit campaign was launched in 1997 and managed to achieve the goals set in 2006, as a campaign of 9 years.

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Sanabel Microfinance Conference

The Microfinance Network of Arab Countries "Sanabel" organize the Seventh Annual Microfinance Conference, in June 1st - 3rd, 2010 at the Convention Palace in Damascus, Syria.
The theme of this year’s conference will be “Responsible Growth: Learning from Global Trends and Regional Experiences”.

Over the course of three days, more than five hundred participants will have the opportunity to learn from expert panelists and share individual experiences through sessions, mini-trainings, and workshops designed under four different tracks; namely, “Responsible Finance”, “Investment Readiness”, “Increasing Outreach while Maintaining Quality” and “Enabling Policies and Regulation”.

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Rural women and microcredit


Rural woman in Morocco

Are women vulnerable group of the population, suffer most from poverty and social exclusion, economic, and women are the victim of a great inequality in utilization of various services (education, health ...) Micro Loans, originally, was addressed primarily to serve women.

Women in rural areas bear the burden of a large part of the tasks and works in agriculture and traditional industry and the White, but that work is unpaid, and studies show that microfinance can contribute to the emancipation of women from economic dependence and play a fundamental role in the autonomy of women, the fact that micro-credit to grant women the self-confidence and helps to strengthen their independence, when women benefit from a small loan Ferencvaros, the project, many aspects of the parallel turn
grow (food, education, health ...) and the project is not only alone.

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