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2010 Annual Conference and General Assembly
from 05/10/2010 to 09/10/2010
Accra, Ghana
From October 5th to 9th, 2010, the Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) will organize its 9th Annual Conference on the theme "Access to Financial Services: Reaching the Poor and Excluded"....
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History
The idea for AFMIN was conceived in 1996. In June of that year, leaders from several international organizations and leading African microfinance institutions met in Bamako to identify the key steps necessary for building local networks in fifteen African countries. In July 1997, the program was launched in South Africa. Since its launch, the program has helped to create or strengthen country-level networks in thirteen African countries.
The goal of the program was to contribute to poverty reduction in Africa by opening access to finance and business development services to poor entrepreneurs and producers, particularly women. The immediate objectives of the program and related outputs, as stated in WWB’s original project proposal were to :
- Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of regional and country-level networks of MFIs in Africa. Build the mechanisms, products and services to facilitate lateral learning among microfinance leaders in Africa, and with leaders around the world.
- Reinforce the institutional capacities, reach, and leadership of women-led MFIs that focus on serving poor women, as a means of reaching more poor women, and as a means to get other leading microfinance organizations in Africa to shift toward a greater participation by women in financial services, and in institutional decision-making.
Therefore, the program centered on :
- The formation and strengthening of country-level networks of MFIs in 15 African countries,
- Activities leading to the formation of the Africa regional microfinance network,
- The distillation and dissemination of best practices in microfinance in the region, and
- Institutional development support to women-led WWB affiliates in Africa through technical inputs and services from the WWB network.
WWB and UNDP had collaborated closely since 1995 in preparatory activities, notably the preparation of an inventory of MFIs in 17 African countries, conducted by WWB and UNDP country bureaus; and a Best Practice Workshop of Leading African MFIs-many identified through the inventory exercise-held in 1996 in Mali. Most MFI leaders convened at the workshop became key players in the program, taking a leading role in the formation or strengthening of country-level MFI networks and the eventual formation of AFMIN.
These African anchors and network leaders decided that the initial focus of the program should be on building country-level networks in countries where they did not already exist, and to strengthen the networks that already existed. It was agreed that the Africa regional MFI network should be formed only after the establishment of strong, operational country-level networks with a proven record of providing value-added services to their members. As a result, the first two years of the program were dedicated to building and/or strengthening country-level networks. Participating African anchors and MFI leaders agreed on the criteria that a country-level network would need to meet by 2000 to become a member of AFMIN.
The successful strategy adopted in the program was three-pronged :
- Organizing six-monthly workshops in which anchors and network leaders plan and evaluate their in-country activities and achievements;
- Building best practice know-how on the role of networks, key success factors of MFI networks, criteria for membership and value-adding network products and services that retain existing members and attract new ones;
- Providing seed funding for the start-up activities of country-level networks, e.g., mobilizing members, meetings and sensitization activities. All regional-level meetings combined a best practice session with a networks session. The best practice session was open to participation by UNDP officers, additional existing and potential funders and other leading MFIs. The networks session involved only network leaders and anchors. They included sessions in which all country-level network representatives outlined and discussed the progress made in the previous six-month period in building country-level networks and presented the action plan for the following six-month period.
Regional meetings were held in the following locations :
- Johannesburg, South Africa, July 1997
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 1998
- Abidjan, Ivory Coast, September 1998
- Nairobi, Kenya, April 1999
- Dakar, Senegal, October 1999
- Cape Town, South Africa, July 2000-pre-launch meeting
- Cotonou, Benin, December 2000-official launch of AFMIN.
FAITS SAILLANTS
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Mission and Vision
AFMIN’s mission is to contribute to the development and provision of effective and sustainable financial services to the low income population of Africa, by supporting Country level Networks and their member MFIs to achieve their missions and objectives, and helping to improve the microfinance environment in Africa and globally. AFMIN’s vision is to work together with microfinance...
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organizational structure
AFMIN governing bodies are : The General Assembly; The Board of Directors; And the Executive Secretariat; The General Assembly The General Assembly is AFMIN’s supreme governing body. It consists of the leaders of the 22 country-level networks represented by their Board Chairs and Executive Directors from each of the 22 country-level networks: an appointed network member and the...
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Board of Directors
The AFMIN Board of Directors is a body of seven individuals elected from among the members of the General Assembly; Board member do not represent their networks on the Board. The later reports to the genral Assembly and is responsible for developing guidelines for the long-term strategic direction of...
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Management team
The Executive Secretariat, together with the Board of Directors, constitute the network support organization for AFMIN. AFMIN secretariat staff consists of one Executive Director, one programme officer, one accountant, one Program Officer and one Administrative Assistant. This is expected to be the limit of full-time permanent staff for the AFMIN secretariat. In addition, AFMIN recruits...
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