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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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Membership criteria
Members’ Profile
Only African MFI country-level networks are allowed to be members of AFMIN. Only one national network in a given country can become a member of AFMIN. To be granted membership by AFMIN, the country-level network must fulfill the following eligibility criteria:
Criteria
In 1998, the anchors and participants developed principles for establishing membership criteria for country-level networks and set standards to distinguish country-level networks by their stage of development. The leaders decided that the regional network would be comprised of country-level networks, and not individual retail microfinance institutions. This decision was based upon the premise that it was a more efficient strategy for harnessing resources, and a more effective approach to building collective bargaining power and representation of the interests of microfinance institutions and low income people. Fundamental to this principle was the agreement that AFMIN will be a network of strong, operational networks.
AFMIN is presently composed of 22 country-level networks from Central, East, West and Southern Africa, and from both Anglophone and Francophone countries. These networks represent about 44% of African Nations, and more than 1,000 MFIs who serve more than 13 million low-income savers.
To qualify for membership in AFMIN, a country-level network must meet the following eligibility criteria:
-Be legally registered
-Legally allowed to operate in country of origin; and
- Obtain a registration document or letter from responsible government agency acknowledging receipt of application for registration.Registration to be concluded within one year of membership in AFMIN.
- Have at least five MFI members that are representative of significant client reach and of serious microfinance institutions in the country. List of members showing their organizational type; and Number of direct clients reached by each MFI member with savings and/or credit products; and Estimate of total clients reached by all MFIs in the country; and Justification of significant reach (official statistics may be provided where available).
- Have a permanent secretariat with a full time coordinator: A salaried Managing Director or full-time salaried person responsible for implementing network activities. A physical address; and a functional office.
- Have a strong business or action plan of at least one year: At least a one-year plan of action and a budget.
- Be providing a range of services for its members:
- Have provided services within last 12 months; and
- Have plans to provide services within next 12 months.
- Be committed to establish performance-based criteria for membership, including outreach among clients and financial performance indicators, within one year of AFMIN membership:
- Evidence of a process of developing knowledge and understanding of performance indicators among members and/or evidence of a process of building consensus on performance standards among members (e.g., workshops, meetings, publications); and
- Signature to membership agreement of AFMIN, which includes statement on commitment to performance-based criteria.
