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Ugandan Government to Set up Laws for Regulating its Microfinance Sector
During the 2007 Citigroup Micro-entrepreneurship awards ceremony in Kampala on January 10, 2008, State Minister for Microfinance, Caleb Akandwanaho announced that a new law regulating the activities of microfinance institutions will take effect in June 2008. The law is meant to bring an end to corruption in Uganda’s savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) following dozens of complaints from customers claiming to have been fleeced of their savings, and police investigations in September 2007 of four savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) suspected of fraud, including the suspension of The Support Uganda Savings and Cooperative Society, and arrests of SACCO heads.
The Citi Foundation Citigroups GrantMaking Arm Pledges USD 100000 to PlanetFinances Microfinance Training Programme in Middle East and North Africa
The Citi Foundation, the grant-making foundation of international financial services firm Citigroup, has pledged a USD 100,000 grant to PlaNet Finance, the French non-profit company that assists microfinance institutions (MFIs), towards the development of a microfinance training curriculum in Arabic. This will be aimed at MFIs in seven Arab countries and delivered through 50 course modules designed to provide them with skills in human resources, planning and strategy, products, accounting, supervision and finance. There will be five-day training sessions in Casablanca, Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Ramallah, Damascus and Sana’a over the next three years.
6.0 References: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
References
5.0 Conclusions: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
In sub-Saharan Africa, there is ample evidence that the poor, particularly those in the rural sector, value both deposit and credit facilities. The existence and growth of cooperative banking and combined savings and credit institutions in the microfinance sector in sub- Saharan Africa reflects the growing demand for both savings and credit facilities.
5.0 Conclusions: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
In sub-Saharan Africa, there is ample evidence that the poor, particularly those in the rural sector, value both deposit and credit facilities. The existence and growth of cooperative banking and combined savings and credit institutions in the microfinance sector in sub- Saharan Africa reflects the growing demand for both savings and credit facilities.
4.1 Objectives and Coverage of the Regulatory Framework: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
Overall, the rationale for microfinance regulation is to create a healthy environment for microfinance activities while not stifling the growth of the sector by imposing undue requirements.
4.0 The Role of Governments: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
In several African countries—for example, Ghana, Guinea, Tanzania and Uganda— governments have in the past relied on state-owned banks to extend rural credit and microfinance services.
3.2 The Roles of Donors and NGOs: Microfinance in Africa Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
Donors and NGOs have generally provided support through two main channels: domestic NGOs or donor-managed microfinance projects, and microfinance institutions that function more or less like leasing companies (receiving wholesale external resources and lending to clients).

Other microfinance sector Related Articles

Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
Benin Mwangi, who blogs about doing business in Africa, asked me recently: "should the discussion be about how to get the informal sector to become part of the formal sector or should it be how to cater to the informal sector?" This in an excursion into the morass of African poverty and development. The short answer is: neither; ending poverty has nothing to do with the informal sector.

4.1 Objectives and Coverage of the Regulatory Framework: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
Overall, the rationale for microfinance regulation is to create a healthy environment for microfinance activities while not stifling the growth of the sector by imposing undue requirements.
5.0 Conclusions: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
In sub-Saharan Africa, there is ample evidence that the poor, particularly those in the rural sector, value both deposit and credit facilities. The existence and growth of cooperative banking and combined savings and credit institutions in the microfinance sector in sub- Saharan Africa reflects the growing demand for both savings and credit facilities.
Who are the clients of microfinance? FAQ
The typical microfinance clients are low-income persons that do not have access to formal financial institutions. Microfinance clients are typically self-employed, often household-based entrepreneurs. In rural areas, they are usually small farmers and others who are engaged in small income-generating activities such as food processing and petty trade. In urban areas, microfinance activities are more diverse and include shopkeepers, service providers, artisans, street vendors, etc. Microfinance clients are poor and vulnerable non-poor who have a relatively stable source of income.
Can microfinance be profitable? FAQ
Yes it can. Data from the MicroBanking Bulletin reports that 63 of the world's top MFIs had an average rate of return, after adjusting for inflation and after taking out subsidies programs might have received, of about 2.5% of total assets. This compares favorably with returns in the commercial banking sector and gives credence to the hope of many that microfinance can be sufficiently attractive to mainstream into the retail banking sector. Many feel that once microfinance becomes mainstreamed, massive growth in the numbers of clients can be achieved.
Realising the potential of microfinance
Microfinance is a key strategy in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and in building global financial systems that meet needs of most poor people. Although microfinance has demonstrated the potential to reduce poverty, its impacts have varied. Perhaps as a result of these inconsistencies, few donors have prioritised microfinance in their strategies to achieve the MDGs.
Redefining Microfinance as a Strategy to Achieve the MDGs: International Year of Microcredit Report Advocates Shift from Poverty Alleviation to Wealth Creation
With microfinance gaining attention for its vital role in eradicating poverty, the International Year of Microcredit recently released a report, "Microfinance and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): A Reader's Guide to the Millennium Project and Other UN Documents", to provide further background and support for microfinance initiatives.
Inhibitors to Success
At its core, microfinance is not terribly different from mainstream consumer finance. From accessing funding to managing the disbursement and collection of funds, microfinance operates like any consumer finance business. But because microfinance serves a very different client segment – the world’s poor – we cannot ignore the different set of challenges these clients face and the implications these challenges have on the organizations serving them.
Can MicroStart Have a Significant Impact on Policy and the Environment for Microfinance?
MicroStart programs establish an action-oriented framework for bringing key players together to learn about microfinance development. These players include government policy makers, private sector actors (potential social entrepreneurs or financiers), MFIs, and other donors.

About.com’s Martin Murray’s post “Non-Profit Organization Suing ERP Supplier” A Sign of the Times?
In a white paper that I had written in 2007 titled “SAP Procurement for Public Sector” I had highlighted how the challenges with failed ERP-centric initiatives extended beyond the public sector to include the private sector. The difference as one senior Colgate-Palmolive executive told me shortly after scrapping a failed program was that “unlike the public sector in which a failed initiative becomes front page news, private sector company ERP failures rarely make a blip on the media’s collective radar screen.” The lack of media awareness notwithstanding, the frequency of failures in the private sector is comparable to the number of setbacks that occur in the public sector.
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