Microfinanza Srl is a private and fully independent consulting firm specialized in the microfinance and rural finance sector. The founder members are 6 professionals with specific experience in Development Finance. Our proposed pool of experts includes Microfinanza Srl’s staff and associate consultants. In the majority of cases the consultants proposed are either full-time employees or have previously worked for Microfinanza Srl.

Microfinanza Srl can rely on a database of more than 500 Microfinance, International Development, and MSME experts. All our consultants have demonstrated their capacity to work effectively in multi-cultural environments and in challenging circumstances. Thanks to its experts, Microfinanza Srl has a longstanding experience in a large number of countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Balkans countries and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Middle East.

Here below we provide a summary description of the profile of Microfinanza Srl’s staff.

Mr. Giampietro Pizzo is the President and founding member of Microfinanza Srl. He is an economist with 22 years international experience in Microfinance, Rural Finance and SME Finance as a Consultant, Project Manager and Regional Coordinator. From 2003 to 2008, he worked at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affaires (MAE) as the Team Leader responsible for the management of institutional and technical activities of the MAE/UE Program named “Italia Internazionale” - Technical Assistance to Southern Italian Region “Objective 1” for international relations.In general, he has gained extensive experience in the management of financial projects and development programs with credit components and has often dealt with local financial systems and financial regulators. Moreover he has significant experience in training related to financial and non-financial services for MFIs and Microenterprises. Mr. Pizzo worked in various countries in Africa (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Tanzania, Togo) in Middle East (Morocco Algeria, Tunisia) in Latin America (Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Honduras, Guatemala), including Romania in Eastern Europe.He is familiar with the different phases of the project cycle: Identification, Formulation, Financing, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation. He has coordinated multidisciplinary teams of experts and has gained significant experience with regard to relationships with international donors and local partners.He graduated in Economics at the University of Venice. Mr Pizzo is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Mr. Fabio Malanchini is the Director and founding member of Microfinanza Srl. He is a senior microfinance specialist, with over 10 years of professional experience. He has gained more than 8 years experience as the CEO of the sister company dealing with MFI appraisal and rating, Microfinanza Rating. Mr. Malanchini has gained extensive experience in the microfinance sector, covering all the phases of the “Project Cycle”, from the identification and design to the implementation and the evaluation of MFI-related assignments. His main areas of expertise include: (i) rural and urban microfinance; (ii) evaluation and rating of microfinance institutions; (iii) feasibility studies and business planning; (iv) microfinance and international remittances; and (v) design and conceptualization of second-tier MFI/investment funds for MFI. Mr. Malanchini also has extensive experience in the provision of hands-on support to MFI in the design/reformulation of financial products and strengthening of operations. His international experience includes assignments with the World Bank, the EU, IADB, and the Italian development cooperation program, carried out in over 30 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean region, Asia and the Balkans. Mr. Malanchini holds a master’s degree in economics from Bocconi University and was visiting student at the University of Southampton. He speaks fluent English and Spanish and he has a good knowledge of French and Portuguese.

Mr. Mameli Biasin is the Financial Director and founding member of Microfinanza Srl. He is an economist with 20 years experience as a Professor of Financial Management and more than 10 years experience financial management in the private sector. He did extensive research for the establishment of a Guarantee Fund for SMEs in Eastern Europe. Mr. Biasin has written several articles and publications on matters related to Ethical Finance and Corporate Social Responsibility. He graduated in Economics at the University of Verona.

Mr. Ivan Sannino is the Senior Consultant at Microfinanza Srl. He has gained more than 10 years of international experience in Microfinance and International Development. In particular, he has gained significant experience in the field of Rating of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Rural Finance, Microfinance Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation, as well as Capacity Building of MFIs in diverse countries in Africa (Mozambique and Angola), Latin America (Nicaragua, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, El Salvador), Eastern Europe (Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Russia, Albania), and Central Asia (Kirghizstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia). Before joining Microfinanza Srl, he worked for various years in Bolivia at a non-governmental-organization as a Project Director of a Rural Finance project and in Paraguay as a Microfinance Consultant. Mr Sannino is the Tutor of the students of a Microfinance Training Course in Italy. Also, he is the Microfinanza’s Senior Consultant within the on-going EU funded project named “Handled with Care” whose main aim is to promote the use of remittances between Italy and Albania. Mr. Sannino graduated in Economics at the Bocconi University in Milan and did 6 months scholarship as an exchange student at the San Paul University in Brasil. Mr. Sannino is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Ms. Elena Vascotto is the Program Development Assistant at Microfinanza Srl. She is responsible for the preparation of the documentation for international tenders (Expressions of interests, Technical and financial proposals) to be presented to International Organizations (WB, IFC, EBRD, EU, ADB, IDB, etc.) and private donors. Ms. Vascotto has gained more than 3 years of experience in the field of Consumer Finance working as a Financial Assessor at Agos Spa, an Italian Financial Institution owned by Crédit Agricole. She has gained significant experience in Funding Requests Assessment, Portfolio Management, Client Retention, Customer Service, New intake training and Branch Administration. She graduated in Political Sciences at the University of Trieste. She is fluent in English and she has a good knowledge of Spanish and French.