Objectives

The objective of the project is to contribute to the development of the Italian social finance market, by designing and launching a financial instrument and generating effective demand for social finance among Italian Social Enterprises.
There’s the need for expanding tools and chances of action for social entities, prioritizing access to funds and for strengthening linkages between the key activities run by social enterprises and the policies of local administrations: the initiative aims to pave the way for creating cooperation between different types of private and public investors, which could provide a different source of finance, enabling real opportunities of access to finance for Social Enterprises, and fostering the creation of territorial network and Social Enterprises clusters.
The importance of non-financial support is key for the success of those Social Enterprises and the initiative looks at the suitability of the different financial sources, by promoting blended finance for social enterprises, following the growing awareness that finance has the responsibility to consider the positive impact generated and not only to focus on the paradigm of the financial risk/return.
The initiative also intends to address the demand side by supporting the emergence, the growth and the awareness of social enterprises: providing the right educational tools, soft skills, coaching and mentoring services in order to settle a clearer and most efficient business model and to bridge the gap of social enterprises on financial literacy and transparency.

Services

Microfinanza Srl will be involved in the market analysis and assessment of the social finance market in target territories in Italy, together with the analysis of the “supply” and “demand” as a complement of the research. The partnership identifies Social Enterprises to be supported in the build or scale-up phase, their needs regarding mentoring and support, and provides training, coaching and mentoring services to them, to help them becoming investment-ready. The provision of financial support to Social Enterprise will follow the training and coaching phase and will be parallel to the mentoring phase. The company will also work on the evaluation of the social impact.

Project partners:

• Phitrust SA
• Microlab
• The Hub Sicilia Soc. Coop.

Other information

Official website

The project has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020).

Objectives

The aim of the programme is to activate unemployed youth to access the labor market and promote entrepreneurship.
Despite significant investment, young people in many regions face systemic challenges to start, grow and sustain a business. This is intensified by the lack of documented evidence on what kind of entrepreneurship support is most effective in different contexts, and a scarcity of tested and scalable models.
The project aims to pilot the Trust based Partnership Model, based on a specific local experience made by one of the project partners, and provide direct services to underserved youth who will benefit from dedicated and highly specialized financial and non-financial business development services, resulting from evidence-based research, in Greece, Italy, Spain and Poland: YES! will provide youth NEETs from these 4 countries with various services to start & grow business or to find a job, such as training, coaching, mentoring, and access to finance.

Services

Microfinanza Srl supports a total of 400 NEETs (youth Not in Education, Employment or Training) from Italy, to start and grow their own business or to find a job. In particular, it provides training, coaching, mentoring and access to finance services. Microfinanza also works together with its partners in the research phase, to gather evidence on target group needs and existing gaps in services provided, support the general management of the programme implementation, networking and reporting activities.
Counting on two decades of experience in the national context, Microfinanza can exploit close relations with a wide range of partners throughout the country, especially with partners operating in the South of Italy and usually provide services to NEETs and vulnerable categories. Microfinanza’s satellite office is located in Siracusa (Sicily), the Region with one of the highest % of NEETs in Italy. The organization is research-oriented to fight financial barriers of vulnerable people and communities, strongly focused on youth, and can count on a young and dynamic team which develops new ideas and approaches and escapes old ones, pursuing innovative projects

Project partners:

• Agricultural University of Athens – Research Committee (Lead partner)
• Anka – Development Agency of Karditsa S.A
• Autoocupació
• KIZ Sinnova Company for Social Innovation GmbH
• Munich Business School
• Youth Business International (YBI)
• Youth Business Poland – Foundation Technologic Incubator (YBP)

Other information

Official website

The project benefits from €2,3M grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. The EEA and Norway Grants Fund For Youth Employment

Objectives

The programme helps provide aspiring European entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to start and/or successfully run a small business in Europe. New entrepreneurs gather and exchange knowledge and business ideas with an experienced entrepreneur, with whom they stay and collaborate for a period of 1 to 6 months. The stay is partly financed by the European Commission. It aims at supporting the development of new SME enterprises, increasing cooperation between European entrepreneurs, through the exchange of experiences and information and stimulating the networking among the European business community. The specific objectives of the projects are: (i) to provide on-the-job training to new SME entrepreneurs to start up new businesses, or foster innovation with existing businesses, with a focus on young entrepreneurs, ensuring future sustainability; (ii) to enhance market access and identification of potential partners to the final beneficiaries.

Services

Microfinanza Srl, as Lead Intermediary Organisation, coordinates the programme implementation, networking and reporting activities. In addition, the company promotes the programme and recruits New and Host Entrepreneurs by: providing on-the-job training, fostering exchange of experiences, stimulating the cooperation and networking among the European business community, supporting new entrepreneurs by providing mentoring and training by senior entrepreneurs in order to start and develop new businesses, fostering innovation to already running businesses bringing fresh ideas from young entrepreneurs, enhancing market access and identification of potential partners for new and established businesses, and providing strategic advice and mentoring to support the growth of new businesses and to ensure their future sustainability.

In addition to the general programme cycles, we run project activities with a target group of Ukrainian entrepreneurs (EYE fot FUTURE). 

Consortium Members:

Cycle 10

• Associazione Artigiani e Piccole Imprese Mestre C.G.I.A. – Italy
• Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) – Greece
• Fejér Enterprise Agency – Hungary
• KIZ SINNOVA gGmbH – Germany

Cycle 12

• Asociación Educativa por la Integración y la Igualdad 
• Associazione Artigiani e Piccole Imprese Mestre C.G.I.A. – Italy
• Jinishian Memorial Foundation (JMF)
• KIZ SINNOVA Gesellschaft Fur Soziale Innovationen GGMBH (KIZ SINNOVA)
• Latvijas Asociacija Eiropas Kopienas Studijam (LECSA)
• Sdruzhenie Bulgarska Targovsko-Promishlena Palata (BCCI)
• Zeytin Grup Danismanlik Arastirma Organizasyon Egitim Mimarlik Insaat Bilisim Ticaret Sirketi (Zeytin Grup)

Cycle 13

• Asociación Educativa por la Integración y la Igualdad 
• Associazione Artigiani e Piccole Imprese Mestre C.G.I.A. – Italy
• Jinishian Memorial Foundation (JMF)
• Noa – Albania
• Latvijas Asociacija Eiropas Kopienas Studijam (LECSA)
• Sdruzhenie Bulgarska Targovsko-Promishlena Palata (BCCI)
• Selego
• Zeytin Grup Danismanlik Arastirma Organizasyon Egitim Mimarlik Insaat Bilisim Ticaret Sirketi (Zeytin Grup)
• Kauno prekybos, pramonės ir amatų rūmai (Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts)

Cycle 14 – EYE for FUTURE

• Nyuko ASBL Luxembourg
• KROK UNIVERSITY Ukraine
• European Center for Social Finance Germany
• Foundation Startup Wise Guys Estonia

Other information

Official website

An initiative of the European Union

Villa SALUS as a new Sustainable Accessible Livable Usable Social space for intercultural Wellbeing, Welfare and Welcoming in the metropolitan City of Bologna

Objectives

The main aim of the project is converting Villa Salus, an abandoned former hospital for elderly into an innovative core-space for Wellbeing, Welfare and Welcoming-S.A.L.U.S. ‘W’ Space – operating towards the social, cultural and economic inclusion of migrants/refugees and as a multi-level services facility to the whole metropolitan area of Bologna.

The intervention also aims to recognize and enhance individual skills of migrants and refugees living in the area of Bologna Municipality by supporting start- up of micro-enterprises and job placements.

Services

The component lead by Microfinanza aims to foster social and economic inclusion of the targeted beneficiaries through the joint provision of entrepreneurial training programs, financial education, business mentoring and access to microcredit. Services delivered include selection of business tutoring to potential and existing entrepreneurs for the start-up and development of microenterprises among disadvantaged groups (migrants/refugees, unemployed, youth, women). Project outcomes include provision of training and tutoring to 25 preselected refugees and migrants and financial support for at least 3 selected entrepreneurial projects.

Objectives

The project aims to paint a picture of the degree of financial and social inclusion in the European Union (EU), and to evaluate the impact of microfinance on financial and social inclusion at the micro and macro level.

It aims to achieve objective by also establishing whether the promotion of microfinance programmes, providing financial and social inclusion, should be preferred compared to the financing of welfare programmes. This will be achieved relying, for the microeconomic analysis, on a quantitative measure of the Social Return On Investment (SROI), which is capable of quantifying the externalities which arise from fostering the provision of microfinance and welfare, in a region and through a particular implementation, on top of the more traditional financial and economic gains.

Services

(i) Assessing financial and social exclusion in the EU through the creation of a protocol for the definition and measurement of financial and social inclusion and microfinance markets development, building a map of financial and social inclusion; (ii) Assessing the channels of influence of financial inclusion on social inclusion, and vice versa in selected EU MSs, obtained via microfinance or welfare programmes; (iii) Quantifying and measuring the impact of microfinance on financial and social inclusion; (iv) Sensitivity analysis: validated estimates of the calculated SROI, definition of a set of feasible and “absorbable” policy recommendations to maximise the impacts of MeMI results as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of microfinance and welfare tools/programmes.

Consortium members:

• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
• Research Centre “Centro Studi di Politica Economica e Monetaria (CeSPEM), Mario Arcelli”
• Department of Economics, University of Parma
• Department of Economics, University of Genova
• European Microfinance Network (EMN)
• Italian Microfinance Network (Rete Italiana di Microfinanza – RITMI

Other information

Official website

Objective

The technical assistance provided by Microfinanza is part of ADA’s activities to develop a National Financial Education Programme (PNEF), promote responsible microfinance and build the capacity of microfinance institutions.

•  Meet the greatest needs in terms of financial education, particularly those of vulnerable populations, in order to reduce obstacles and dependence on the informal economy;
• Promote responsible financial behaviour in Tunisia to better prepare young people for the increasingly complex economic environment;
• Strengthen financial education throughout the country, including in rural areas;
• List concrete measures to be carried out under the PNEF and provide Tunisians with the tools, resources and support measures to improve their financial skills and culture;
• Disseminate financial education to target groups, especially in the school system and among women, in particular to increase people’s confidence in financial services, especially digital services;
• Strengthen consumer protection measures and promote digital access / digital literacy.

Expected Results

Outcome 1: Provide training materials, methodologies and tools to be shared with inclusive finance and the financial sector actors.

Outcome 2: Strength the capacity of the operators of MFI to provide financial education to guarantee the financial health of their clients.

Outcome 3: MFI customers have adopted the principles of financial education.

Objective

The aim of the PRIMEA program is to help boost investment in agriculture by leveraging the State budget with co-financing from banks and contributions from farmers, enabling the modernization of some 60,500 farms and improving the system for granting subsidies and credit.

The specific objectives of the PRIMEA intervention are to improve: 

• the access of agricultural holdings to the financing of their productive investments, through support for the agricultural implementation of the policy plan to stimulate investment in Tunisia, through the Investment Code; 
• the quality of modernization projects and the productivity of farms, through a high-performance and mass-based technical and economic advisory system; 
• the environment for agricultural investment in Tunisia

Expected Results

Outcome 1: Reduction of development inequalities between rural areas in the interior of the country and urbanized coastal areas.
Outcome 2: Improved individual welfare through increased EA household income, access to employment through economic sustainability of EA and its transfer, and improved farmers’ skills.
Outcome 3: Improved social cohesion through maintaining the main economic activity in rural areas, thus stabilizing their population
Outcome 4: assurance of social welfare through the creation of a sustainable system of financing and technical and economic support for agriculture, preventing the marginalization of the rural population and the development of areas of hardship and insecurity.

Partners

• DT Global
• ACK International

Objectives

The mission contributes effectively to the operational start-up of the ADAPT programme by providing the required expertise on two key innovative elements such as i) the Private Investment Support Fund and ii) the setting up and maintenance of a digital platform facilitating the access of potential economic promoters to the programme’s financial scheme.

Services

The mission consists of four phases as follows: 1. Definition of the eligibility criteria for accessing the Fund; 2. Elaboration of the procedures for granting resources from the Fund via the Associated Financial Partners and other sources of credit; 3. Support activities and technical assistance to the Project Management Unit; 4. Design, implementation and maintenance of a digital platform for the management of the Fund

Project partners

• ACK International (France)

Objectives

The programme T.R.A.C.E. is financed by a donation of the Government of the Netherlands through a trust fund managed by the World Bank, whose objective is to create employment targeting especially young people and women, in the rural, agricultural, and agri-food sectors, by enhancing productivity and resilience of small Tunisian producers. Furthermore, it aims at strengthening professional organisations’ and SMEs competitiveness thanks to a better access to knowledges, to innovation and to financial services.
The realization of the proposed interventions is done by selected partners after due diligence by the World Bank in partnership with public, private, and professional institutions in Tunisia, and in coordination with other complementary programmes. The programme T.R.A.C.E. covers the Governorates of Jendouba, Kairouan and Gabes.
In this framework, the creation of a fund supporting the job creation in the rural entrepreneurship, agricultural and agri-food sectors is foreseen. This fund will provide with technical and financial assistance to producers organisations, to small and medium enterprises, and to young entrepreneurs for enhancing their business, their professionalization and for creating new jobs.
The fund supporting the employment amounts to USD 2.83M in view of financing around 250 investment projects with a high potential for job creation, more specifically 85 projects in Jendouba, 80 projects in Kairouan and 85 projects in Gabes.

Services

Microfinanza provides technical assistance services and management in the Governorate of Jendouba as:

• Fund manager in support of job creation in the sector of rural entrepreneurship, agriculture and agri-food
• Technical assistance provider to professional organizations, to entrepreneurs and SME for preparing and selecting investment projects that are technically, financially and commercially robust and consistent, as well as sustainable from the environmental and social point of view
• Guide in the realization of investment projects in order to ensure durability and sustainability of created jobs, and in the support to professionalization of entrepreneurs
• Follow-up of socio-economic and environmental indicators

The main activities are the following:

• Selection of potential beneficiaries
• Analysis and final selection
• Support to realization
• Professionalization

Project partners

• ACK International (France)
• AGER (Tunisia)

Other information

Official website. Here you can find more information regarding the project and view the main documents, available for download.

Objectives

• To strengthen past lessons learnt
• To work on the weaknesses of the five microcredit associations;
• To develop new innovative niche markets concerning green microfinance and strategical partnerships.

Our activities

• Needs Assessment of the microcredit associations
• Training and institutional reinforcement
• Green microfinance needs analysis
• Strategies and financial partnerships

Other information

The project is financed by the Italian Development Cooperation Agency

Context

This project in Lebanon is in line with the objectives of the “Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP 2017 – 2020)”, the “Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview” (HNO) and the “Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2018”.

Objectives

The objectives of the project are as follows:

1. To improve access to education for protection and a dignified life for the affected populations, especially women, young people and small farmers.
2. Improving access to WaSH provisions for the most vulnerable people living in informal camps (ITSs) in Lebanon
3. Strengthening the role of civil society in humanitarian work (affected populations, local actors, Oxfam)

Activities

• Analysis of the financial habits and behaviours of the target beneficiary group
• Organization of training of trainers for local operators
• Organization of financial education training for beneficiaries
• Training and follow-up on the use of the savings book within households
• Support for the establishment of community savings groups and asset-building programmes
• Provision of monitoring and assistance services to ensure the sustainability of the actions implemented

Context

Within the framework of the “Start Up Palestine – financial tools and technical assistance to promote employment and income generation in Palestine” program, a project component is dedicated to the set-up a mechanism for a Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), jointly supported by AICS and GIZ.

Objectives

After having accomplished the pre-feasibility study for the set-up of the CGS, Microfinanza developped the feasibility study and the operational pilot of the CGS.

The overall objective of the assignment was to establish the CGS structure and launch the operations. Once operating, the CGS is expected to be managed in a transparent and efficient way, reaching the pre-set goals in terms of enabling access to credit to economic sectors and entrepreneurs who, until now, are left aside of the financial market.

Services

The Microfinanza consultants implemented the following tasks:

• Pre-feasibility: Desk review and preliminary field visit and drafting an assessment of the possible schemes for at least two different CGSs
• Road Map: identification of the steps to be implemented according to the selected scheme
• Pre-assessment of economic sustainability, outreach and additionality of the scheme, proposal on the governance, legal status, organizational structure, financial products and active involvement of the regional stakeholders through a participatory approach.
• Business plan of the scheme
• Technical Assistance for the implementation of the scheme

Context

Within the framework of the activities conducted by Tanmeyah network an impact study was requested to MFR and Microfinanza. The aim of the study was ‘To collect information on the tools and systems that Jordanian MFIs use to realize their social goals and how these tools are being used to implement their social mission, as well as the impact that the social performance practices has had on their clients’.

Services

For conducting the assignment, the Team gathered information on social performance management (SPM) practices and procedures followed by MFIs willing to adhere to the process and analysed the link between SPM practices in place and the achievement of social impact. Moreover, the Team l highlighted a set of outcomes indicators that can be followed to track changes at client’s level.

The research framework focused on the following key areas:

1. Social performance goals of Jordanian MFIs,
2. Social Performance Management Practices within Jordanian MFIs;
3. How are SP practices transformed into relevant products and services for clients;
4. Impact of SPM of the MFIs adhering to Tanmeyah network on clients and their families according to a specific set of indicators

The objective of the project is to enhance paths of economic independence of Syrian refugee households hosted in Informal Tented Settlements by improving their capacity of managing private financial resources.

Activities

Project activities consist in providing financial education training and support to Syrian Refugees, Lebanese and Palestinian living in the Beqaa Region and in the urban area of Tripoli in the North of Lebanon and are organized as follows:

1) Interviews and focus groups to identify literacy level of beneficiaries, financial management habits and behaviors, income opportunities, financial needs and aspirations.

2) Savings notebook tool and training program development.

3) Training sessions on the saving notebook’s use.

4) Training sessions on financial education related to the needs arisen during the previous phases and skills improvement.

5) Follow up on the field with peer group sessions to evaluate direct and indirect impact

Context

The Technical Assistance is the prosecution on the path set up by AICS – Tunis in 2016 and recently strengthened, which provides continuity in supporting Tunisian local authorities on the financial inclusion theme, through the development of the private sector, which represents one of the objectives set out in the 5th Annual Development Plan 2016-2020.

Objectives

The technical assistance mission is composed of two axes:

• Supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Finance in the facilitation of round tables on the Social and Solidarity Economy, with the aim of improving the SSE component of the new national strategy for financial inclusion ;
• Develop the new AICS 2017/2020 private sector development program, which covers the themes related to financial inclusion with a special focus on small and medium enterprises, including social enterprises.

Services

• Evaluation: coordination of SSE theme groups and secondary data analysis
• Finalization of the document: interview and data collection in the field
• Feasibility study of the 2017/2020 programme and development of the strategy: meeting with stakeholders and reporting on objectives, results, activities and allocation of funds for each component
• Elaboration of a first version of the 2017/2020 programme and preparation of the final proposal: finalization of the AICS 2017/2020 private sector development programme within the framework of the Italy-Tunisia cooperation programme

Context

Within the framework of the program “Start-Up Palestine” – Financial Vehicles and Technical Assistance (TA) to Boost Employment and Income Generation in Palestine”, a work plan for the year 2016 focusing on several TA components has been jointly identified with the client UCASC, the Italian Cooperation Office Team and the Italian TA providers (Cassa Padana, Banca Popolare Etica, Microfinanza and FederCasse).

Objectives

The objective of the assignment, to be implemented in close coordination with the Union of the Palestinian Credit and Saving Cooperatives as well as with the Ministry of Finance and Palestine Monetary Authority, has focused at conducting a set of activities focused on the definition of a disbursement mechanism for a 3M capitalization fund within the framework of the SetUp Palestine Program.

Services

The TA components have been the following: i) Design of the 3M capitalization fund project component – disbursement mechanisms (inclusive of procedures & and risk mitigation strategy), ii) Data Asymmetry, iii) Strategic Planning Process, iv) Business Planning.

Consortium members:

• Banca Popolare Etica
• Cassa Padana
• Associazione Microfinanza e Sviluppo

Objectives

The initiative directed by the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance had two specific objectives: i) contributing to an inclusive financial system in providing support to micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas excluded from the formal credit system, and ii) promoting the sustainable development of Micro-Credit Associations (AMCs) through parallel access to technical and financial support. Particularly, with this intervention Microfinanza aimed at consolidating and strengthening 5 local rural financial institutions (AMCs) to improve the availability of financial services in rural areas and the competitiveness of the AMCs at national level. The first phase has been focused on the update of the operational plan, the benchmark definition and the start-up of the Institutional diagnostics.

Services

• Institutional Diagnostics: data gathering and analysis
• Training and Technical Assistance needs assessment
• Definition of project monitoring system
• Rural microfinance product design
• TA/ Training on: Governance, Planning and management of human resources, IT systems and MIS, Planning / Implementation of a strategy for positioning the AMC in the market, Improving Financial Management, Management of risks and internal audit of social performance, Business Planning and procedures design, Monitoring and development of quarterly reports

Consortium members:

• Agriconsulting Maroc

Technical assistance services to Equity Bank Kenya and Equity Group Foundation in establishing non-financial services (NFS) and business development support services (BDS) in agricultural and agro-industrial value chains.

Objectives

The main objective of the assignment is to expand and enhance Equity Bank Kenya’s (EBK)/ and Equity Group Foundation’s (EGF) non-financial services (NFS) offerings, building on EGF’s existing set of programmes (in the food and agriculture, business development and financial inclusion sectors) and EBK’s market-leading MSME lending in the food and agriculture sectors.

Phase 1: Assessment of EBK/EGF’s existing supply of NFS, as well as demand (agri-SME side) and supply (Kenyan competition and international best practices) of NFS in agriculture.

Phase 2: Development of EBK/EGF’s NFS value proposition and a plan to reach 10,000 entrepreneurs (MPMIs) annually in the seven priority agricultural value chains. Co-design and accompany EBK/EGF’s implementation of dynamic pilot tests, incorporating them into EBK’s credit processes for long-term sustainability.

Consortium members

• NIRAS – Financial Access

Objectives

Financial Inclusion Development Programme in Niger (PADIF) provides the technical assistance and expertise needed to support the implementation of the National Inclusive Finance Strategy (SNFI). The specific objective of this Indicative Cooperation Programme  is to improve access to financial services for vulnerable communities and members of the agricultural sector, especially women and young people in rural areas.

Services

The services provided under this contract are part of a public cooperation project (between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Niger) for the benefit of a country outside the EU, in this case Niger. The purpose of this contract is to determine the terms and conditions of the consultant’s intervention (fees, other expenses) with a view to providing FONAP with manuals of procedures for the operations of its windows in addition to the administrative, financial and accounting manuals.

Consortium members

• ADA

Objectives

1) Conduct a diagnosis of the current agricultural sector financing model.
2) Formulate recommendations to improve the agricultural sector financing model and define a three-year rural finance development plan.
3) Update the manual of agricultural finance procedures.
4) Provide support in the implementation and monitoring of the recommendations adopted.

Services

A diagnosis will be carried out to assess the financing model used for the agricultural sector, supply, demand and the positioning of ACEP Cameroon on the local/national market. At the same time, the team will carry out field research aimed at ‘studying customer needs’, in collaboration with ACEP staff. This phase will enable the team to develop recommendations that will help to improve the institution’s performance, with a focus on customer needs and opportunities for Financial Institutions development and positioning. Supporting the updating of the agricultural funding procedures manual will help to consolidate the guidelines and procedures adopted by the institution in order to strengthen its financial and social positioning and performance. Finally, the team will support the institution in implementing key recommendations, ensuring that what is suggested can be implemented. Microfinanza propose a comprehensive and integrated solution to solve the main questions: diagnosing and improving the ACEP Cameroon’s agricultural sector financing model, assessing the existing tools and methods, identifying the expectations of the recipients and adapting it to the needs of the socio-cultural and economic context.

Consortium members

• ACEP Camerun
• Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation

Objectives

The objective of the contract is to evaluate the IDE (Inclusive Digital Economy) country strategy for Burkina Faso implemented by UNCDF.
The overall country strategy is evaluated on the basis of the 6 DAC/OECD Criteria of pertinence, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, likely impact and sustainability. Microfinanza will evaluate the strategy in the context of overall UNCDF IDE strategy, of National Development strategies of the Government of Burkina Faso and of the Luxembourg Development strategy, which is the main donor.

Services

The evaluation exercise includes 2 micro-evaluations on PARI – – Programme d’Appui au renforcement de la Résilience et à l’Innovation (Resilience Building and Innovation Support Program) and CE4PR – Clean Energy 4 People Resilience, which is the implementation in Burkina of the worldwide Cleanstart program.
IDE program, and the related project, aims to foster financial inclusion through the vehicle of digitalization, with a clear focus on contributing to green economy and empowerment of women, youth and migrants.

Consortium members

• Timpoc

Context

Objectives

In the frame of the Programme financed by FMO (Entrepreneurial Development Bank) and NASIRA, a risk-sharing facility for financial institutions, the assignment proposes to support Equity Bank Kenya (EBK) and Equity Group Foundation (EGF) to realize an opportunity to provide non-financial (NFS) and business development services (BDS) to agricultural MSMEs and entrepreneurs in Kenya.

The core objective of the assignment is therefore to expand and improve EBK/EGF’s NFS offering, building on EGF’s existing set of NFS/BDS programmes (in Food and Agriculture, and Enterprise Development and Financial Inclusion), and EBK’s market leading Food and Agriculture MSME lending portfolio.

Services

The project is composed of two main phases, in addition to the inception phase:

1. A practical and efficient assessment of EBK/EGF’s existing NFS offer, and of the demand (agri-MSMEs) and supply (Kenyan competition and international best practice) of agri-focused NFS.

2. Drawing on the conclusions from Phase 1, developing EBK/EGF’s NFS value proposition and a practical and implementable framework that can reach 10,000 MSME entrepreneurs annually in the seven priority agricultural value chains.

Consortium members

• Niras A/S

• LFS Advisory GmbH

• Financial access consulting services, middle east investment initiative

Objectives

The Assignment is guided by two overarching objectives, and namely: 1) Assessing the design and implementation of the Project, and, in particular, the achievement of results at output, outcome and, whenever feasible, impact level (accountability); and 2) Drawing key lessons from the experience of the Project, leading to the formulation of recommendations for a second phase of the Project, but also towards informing the design and implementation of similar future engagements (learning).

Services

The evaluation of the projet is composed of three phases as follows: 1) An initial phase, devoted to the firming up of the methodology and the initial review of documentation; 2) A data gathering phase, mostly consisting of fieldwork in Ghana; and 3) A final phase, involving the consolidation and analysis of findings and the preparation of the final report and of the case studies.

Consortium members

• Economisti associati (Lead)

Other

The World Bank

Context

The investment fund Regional Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA) is a specialized investment fund of 200 million of Euro with the aim to improve the medium and long-term needs of local financial intermediaries, by providing funds to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. In parallel with the Fund there is a Technical Assistance component (TA Facility) focusing on the provision of technical assistance services to financial institutions financed by the Fund.

Objectives

The Technical Assistance component linked to the Fund has developed, approved and supported 84 projects of technical assistance and training for microfinance institutions in 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. betzeen 2011 and 2015.

Services

The Technical Assistance component is managed by a team composed of a TA Project Manager (Symbiotics SA), a TA Field expert, a TA Analyst and a backstopping expert (Microfinanza).

Services provided are the following: (i) Needs Assessment of TA and development of Terms of Reference (ii) Terms of References Drafting Process; (Iii) Evaluation and Monitoring of proposals; (iv) Management of a database of experts (individual and corporate); (V) Selection of consultants on the basis of a manual of procedures; (vi) Management of selection procedures and evaluation on technical and financial offers; (vii) Management of the TA process and evaluation of consultants; (viii) Monitoring of the TA component; (ix) Follow-up of TA projects; (X) Reporting.

Outputs

The 84 technical assistance projects approved in 18 Countries supported 40 Financial Institutions with a strong focus on: Information and management system, transformation processes, mobilization of savings, human resources, marketing and market studies, new financial products, social performance, non-financial product development, risk management, governance, business plan development, customer management, evaluation and impact studies, internal control, loan portfolio and credit products, financial education.

Consortium members

• Symbiotics SA (Leader)

Objectives

The project aims at:

• Designing and supporting UNIDO in the creation of an Investment Support Facility (ISF) in order to channel financial and non-financial services on fishery value chain investments;
• Supporting UNIDO in the operationalization of the ISF and assisting it through monitoring and evaluation for a four-months period.

Services

The activities are divided up into three phases as follows:

Phase 1 – Inception Phase

• Documentary review: analysis of the supply (MFI and banks) and demand side (MSMEs)
• Draft of situational analysis based on preliminary desk review and meetings with relevant actors
• Preliminary working assumptions
• Proposed methodology and tools

Phase 2 – Design and support UNIDO in establishing the Investment Support Facility (ISF)

• Situational analysis and interviews with other stakeholders
• Formulation of working assumptions to be validated by Project’s stakeholders
• Establishment of ISF for managing FVC investment and technical support
• Preparation of Terms of Reference for Technical Manager (TM) and Fund Manager (FM)
• Preparation of documentation for the Expression of Interest (EoI) and the Call for Proposals

Phase 3 – Promotion and operationalization of the ISF

• Development of a tailor-made awareness campaign for promoting ISF
• Support to UNIDO, TM and FM
• Interim reporting
• Final reporting

Objectives

Based on MISFA’s request, the objective of the study is to determine the impact of microfinance interventions on the clients’ households in Afghanistan. Since 2007, when a previous impact study has been conducted, the social and economic environment drastically changed and the aim is to answer some research questions formulated by MISFA and to better understand the profile of the clients, the impact of microfinance services on clients’ activities and risk management strategies, the quality of the service offered as well as the role of microfinance within the creation of an inclusive financial sector. Given the peculiar feature of Afghanistan, the impact of economic, social and security environment will be also analyzed.

Services

The assignment covered different areas, as follows:

• Desk review and tools design (questionnaire, data sheets, focus group discussion guidelines)
• Organization of training sessions for survey enumerators
• Interviews to >1540 clients in 5 Provinces
• Data Analyisis
• Reporting and final presentation of the survey

Outputs

Impact study

Consortium Members

• Tadbeer

Downloads

Executive summary of our research 

Objectives

The survey has been implemented within the framework of the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) that aims at regularly measuring the poverty level of the microfinance sector using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI tool)

Services

The assignment covered different level of analysis, as follows:

• Desk review and tools design
• Organization of training sessions on tools and reporting system for the local staff and workshops on PPI methodology
• ToT on how to carry out the PPI survey
• Training session on how to embed the PPI. Survey into the system
• Reporting and final presentation of the survey

Consortium Members

• Timpoc
• Ghani

Objectives

The focus is on climate and environmental risk prevention and reduction in order to protect and agricultural production in terms of quality and productivity of small rural producers. Following the pilot phase (2016-2017), the current project aims at reducing the vulnerability of the agricultural sector in relation to climate and environmental risks, as well as increasing the overall performance and efficiency of agricultural production. Moreover, our goal is to promote environmentally friendly practices among farmers involved in the project. Four Saving and Credit Financial Institutions are involved in the process.

Services

Data analysis of farmers’ dossiers received during the pilot phase; Further development and improvement of the software tool (Excel); Integrations of the Strategic Plans of the Savings and Credit Banks for 2016-2020; Introduction to the project of a new Savings and Credit Bank; Adoption of the software tool by the new financial structure; Launching of financial products; Technical training on the software tool to loan officers; Support and technical assistance to portfolio management; Issue table with stakeholders of the agricultural and rural sector (private and public); Organization of a national atelier for discussion.

Local Partner:

• Anacaph

Objectives

The project aims to contribute to the poverty reduction of the population living across the border Haiti – Dominican Republic, improving their living conditions, particularly targeting the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable people depending on the informal economy on the border areas of Ouanaminthe, Belladère and Malpasse.

Specifically, the project wants to ensure the organizational strengthening of marginalized groups, the ownership of their rights, the extension of the social protection coverage, the entrepreneurship supporting and the creation of productive job around the boundary binational markets Haiti-Dominican Republic.

Services

Needs assessment on demand and supply sides of financial services in the border area; support in designing the program overall strategy, participation to coordination committee meetings; training delivery on financial education and programs and materials development and organization of field activities; support local institutions on new financial products development; support processes aimed to the improvement of partnership between popular credit banks and business-development service providers (BDS); development of appropriate indicators and monitoring; preparation of interim and activities’ final reports.

Consortium members:

• Oxfam Italia
• Oxfam GB, Oxfam Quebec, CMAH (Chambre de l’Artisanat et Matiers d’Haiti)
• GARR – Groupe d’Appui aux rétournés et Repatriées
• ASOMURE
• CMAH – Chambre de Métiers et d’Artisanat d’Haïti
• GARR – Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés
• Asociación de los Municipios de la Región Enriquillo (ASOMURE)

Website of the project

http://www.fsfk.org/ 

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Edikasyon finansye

Research question

‘Microfinance as a Means for Women Empowerment in the Colombian Post Conflict Scenario: Transformational Development or a Tool for Better Managing Poverty?’

Abstract

Gender financial inclusion initiatives, such as facilitating access to financial resources or business opportunities, have recently been promoted as a key strategy to advance women empowerment in post conflict scenarios, especially regarding refugee and internally displaced women. Drawing on literature review, this paper attempts to provide an analysis of the potential role of microfinance as a means for empowerment of internally displaced women in Colombia. It argues that without challenging the structural conditions that create poverty and discrimination against women, usually deepened during transition processes, these initiatives will be tackling the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of gender inequalities, thus missing out their transformative potential and simply providing tools for women to better manage their poverty. Instead, engaging other members of the household and the community (men and children), the recognition of the socio-cultural dynamics in which women live and the acknowledgment of women’s agency may strengthen any effort of empowering women through financial inclusion during the post-conflict phase.

As a result of this analysis a set of recommendations will be provided with the purpose of promoting virtuous cycles of female economic empowerment in the Colombian post-conflict scenario through transforming microfinance initiatives.

Published on Peace Human Rights Governance (PHRG)

Autors

• Lawyer and Master’s student in Human Rights and Multilevel Governance at the University of Padova, Italy;
  duartereyes.laura@gmail.com
• Financial Inclusion Jr. Expert at Microfinanza S.r.l. (Vicenza), Italy;
  giulia.fattori@microfinanza.com

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Annex I – Paper CDU

The objective of the Migrants’ Remittances Programme is to improve the financial resilience and economic inclusion of migrants and their families through low-cost digital remittance services and remittance-related financial products, with the aim of contributing to the sustainable development of countries of origin in the Global South.

Microfinanza’s main activity for this contract is the mid-term evaluation of the programme.

Consortium members

• MFR
• MDF
• Timpoc

Objectives

The program focuses on providing technical and administrative assistance to the ACP Secretariat and PSD platform in order to promote ACP-EU PSD knowledge management and to reinforce an effective private sector engagement framework with learning and collaboration between key stakeholders.

Services

Technical support offered for the implementation of the EUR 600 million intra-ACP/EDF envelop under the Joint Cooperation Framework for PSD evolves around the following four (4) program pillars:

• Pillar 1: Support business-friendly and inclusive national and regional policies and strengthen productive capacities and value chains
• Pillar 2: Increase financial inclusion
• Pillar 3: Increase access to finance for enterprises, in particular SMEs
• Pillar 4: Promote ACP-EU PSD knowledge management

Partners

IBS
Microfinanza
GOPA

Objectives

The assignment aims at evaluating the effectiveness of Silatech microfinance activities, the extent to which the microloans have been used for their intended purpose and their contribution to business development, improving livelihoods and enhance employment outcomes for young clients and their families in three target countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan).

Services

The assignment covered different level of analysis, as follows:

• To assess the youth lending portfolio (performance, process and products of the FSPs)
• To measure socio-economic features of youth that were served by FSP and track use of loans;
• To measure which are the main determinants of business development, well-being and community improvements.

The proposed research methodology includes a multidimensional approach including a mix of quantitative (statistics and econometric) and qualitative/descriptive methods based on primary sources of information (interviews clients and FSP staff, direct data extrapolation from FSPs’ management information systems [MISs]) and secondary sources (documentary desk review).

Outputs

Baseline Survey in three target countries and set up of a monitoring system on outcomes on youth employment and job creation.

Context

Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA), appointed Microfinanza to carry out an assessment on the financial needs of refugees and the business case for serving them in Uganda and Jordan. Consultants made an in-depth analysis of the demand for financial and non-financial products and services among refugees and their host communities in the districts of West Nile and South West in Uganda, as well as in camps and urban areas in Jordan.

Objectives

The aim of the study is to gain a robust understanding of this market’s unmet financial needs and opportunities for financial service providers (FSPs) to profitably serving refugees.

Services

i) Developing a market study on the demand for financial and non-financial products and services among refugees in Jordan and Uganda, ii) Developing strategic confidential reports to the 3 MFIs involved in the program towards serving refugee clientele.

Outputs:

• Market study : market segmentation, demand evaluation, potential areas for future businesses for refugees, analysis of client’s affordability and creditworthiness, challenges and barriers in accessing self- employment opportunities, product prototype testing, conflict analysis and risk assessments of external risks that could pose an obstacle to the successful implementation of the intervention;
• Strategic recommendations to Donor, Agencies and other market infrastructures on how to set up an effective strategy in response to the challenge of financial inclusion of refugees in Jordan and Uganda;
• Strategic confidential reports to 3 selected Microfinance Institutions (1 Jordan, 2 in Uganda) to support them in designing credit products and other financial and non-financial services that can support business activities and consumption needs of the target market.

Downloads

GCAF Refugee market assessment Jordan EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
GCAF Refugee market assessment Jordan FINAL REPORT
GCAF Refugee market assessment Uganda EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
GCAF Refugee market assessment Uganda FINAL REPORT

Context

CleanStart, a UNCDF multiyear programme (2012-2020), aims to increase sustainable access to clean and affordable energy for more than 2.5 million people (low-income households and micro-entrepreneurs) through inclusive finance.

Objectives

The overall objectives of the independent mid-term evaluation are to: i) to allow UNCDF and funding partners to meet their accountability and learning objectives; ii) to ensure that the evaluation can support the ongoing attempts by the programme and its funders to capture good practice and lessons to date in a sector which is still relatively new and innovative; iii) to guide and inform the next years of CleanStart as well as the next phase of the programme.

Services

Desk review, refinement of evaluation methodology and preparation of data collection (and analysis) toolkit, drafting of inception report and validation of data collection (and analysis) toolkit, interviews with stakeholders (global, macro, meso, and market level), FSP/ESPs visits (micro and client level), preparation of brief presentation of preliminary field visit findings, data analysis and reporting phase, preparation of debriefing presentation, preparation of final evaluation report, preparation of dissemination presentation.

Consortium Members:

• MicrofinanzaRating Srl