Participant Report

3rd Introductory Microfinance Certificate Course

(October 10th to 24th 2010)

 

The following is a report on the Alliance Forum Foundation ‘Financial Services for the Poor Introductory Course’ which took place October 10th to 24th 2010 in Bangladesh. The report was written by Ms.Kano, a course participant from Japan.

The Alliance Forum Foundation held its 3rd Introductory Course on microfinance from October 10th to 24th 2010 in Bangladesh.

 

 

 

The ten day course brings together leading practitioners and academics from across the field of microfinance providing a broad global picture of the state of microfinance, its emergence and challenges, and its future grounded in the experience of Bangladesh.

 

Fourteen people participated in the October course including university students and seasoned professionals working in finance, law, and non-profit management. Participants came from a number of countries including Japan, Zambia, and Bangladesh to attend the two week certificate course and learn about microfinance and social enterprise in Bangladesh.

 

At the beginning of the ten day course, I asked a few of the participants to explain their motivations for coming to Bangladesh and joining the course:

"Through this course, I hope to explore possible linkages between microfinance and my field of expertise in healthcare and medicine"   -male course participant who works for an non-profit

"I would like to determine how to effectively apply microfinance to poverty problems in both developing and developed countries"   - female participant working for U.S. financial institution in Japan

"I am here to learn about how to create the optimum regulatory environment necessary to support microfinance and drive development."   - female course participant working for a financial institution in the Republic of Zambia.

 

Classes and Lectures

Course classes were primarily taught by Dr. Syed M. Hashemi, Director of BRAC Development Institute and specialized lectures were given by experts from well-known nonprofits and microfinance institutions including CGAP, the central bank of Bangladesh, and Grameen Bank. The classes and lectures took place at both BRAC headquarters and on the campus at BRAC University. A few of the lectures include the following

 

 

Lecture A: “Regulation and Supervision” given by Mr. Greg Chen, Regional Representative for South Asia, CGAP

Mr. Chen's lecture on the "Regulation and Supervision" allowed me to gain meaningful perspective on the role of regulation and regulatory authorities in the industry, particularly in relation to fund procurement by microfinance institutions (MFI)."   - male course participant who works for an NGO in Africa

 

Lecture B:  “BRAC Social Enterprises” given by Ms. Tamara Abed, Director, BRAC

"The lecture on social enterprise was extremely thought-provoking. Ms. Abed's point about maintaining the proper balance between the pursuit of profit and social development seems to me to be of great importance not only for Bangladesh but for enterprises around the world."    - male participant working for an NGO in Japan

 

Field Visits

In conjunction with classes covering the basics of microfinance and specialized lectures by leading experts, participants also made several field visits to observe MFI's and NGO's and their interaction with borrowers. The field visits included: SafeSave, BRAC Ultra Poor Program, BURO, and ASA.

 

A.     SafeSave

SafeSave is a unique NGO that emphasizes the importance of savings and provides reliable basic banking services, profitably, to poor and very poor men, women and children, in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. SafeSave also makes individual loans (as opposed to the group-based loans done by many MFIs) to clients and uses a handheld terminal to manage client information making it unique in the industry. Safesave's female loan officers visit clients daily to assist them with making a deposit or withdrawal from their savings account. This daily interaction allows them to build close relationships that facilitate optional individual loans.

 

 

In most parts of the industrialized world, the use of bank accounts are commonplace, but in some countries women have only recently been able open an account and manage their money. It was inspiring to hear stories from women who are saving for their children's education and their families’ future.

"I really enjoyed hearing directly from the female clients in the field. We often hear the adage touting savings as a way to guarantee a better future for one's family, but it was really powerful to hear this from the clients first hand."   - female participant working at a U.S. financial institution

 

B.     BRAC Ultra Poor Program

The "Ultra-Poor" refers to people at the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder who are unable to benefit from microfinance. The BRAC Ultra Poor Program is a two year program that assists participants with moving from mere subsistence living to activities such as agriculture and livestock breeding that will eventually enable them to become economically self-sufficient.

 

In the field, course participants met with graduates of the Ultra Poor Program who used the training and resources provided to them  to increase their income through farming and livestock sales, becoming economically self sufficient. A number of these graduates relayed their experiences and described their successes saving to pay for their children's education or building a home. These real life examples attest to the powerful impact of BRAC's initiatives helping the rural poor lift themselves from absolute poverty.

 

 

 

"It was amazing to see the dramatic impact that non-profits and microfinance can have on peoples' lives.  After seeing a number of inspiring success cases first hand, I am interested in learning how we can increase the success rate and make these services more widely available to the poor."    - Female graduate student studying economics

 

 C.     BURO

BURO is an extremely transparent and specialized micro-finance institution that provides financial services to low-income people. The non-profit organization has six loan products, three savings products and one insurance scheme. In addition, it provides agriculture loans to small and marginal farmers. Course participants visited BURO's branch office, area office, and customers in the field. The office visit included a detailed lecture that touched upon the organization's criteria for selecting borrowers, its non-financial services, and its method for raising funds. A question and answer period followed the lecture allowing course participants to gain insight into their particular areas of interest related to BURO's operations.

 

D.     Association for Social Advancement (ASA)

The Association for Social Advancement (ASA) is considered one of the most efficient microfinance institutions in the world and is known throughout the industry for its commercial, standardized approach.

 Course participants were given the opportunity to observe two group meetings for ASA borrowers during the ten-day course

 

 

E.     BRAC Social Enterprise Visits

The final field visit took place at one of BRAC's social enterprises, BRAC Dairy, a milk production facility. The facility produces milk and butter products using cattle purchased from microfinance borrowers and collects milk from 92 collection and chilling stations located in 25 districts, including 10 located in ultra-poor areas.

 

 

 

 

Overall feedback from the participants:

"Participating in this course and speaking directly with borrowers through field visits, I came to understand the crucial role that financial services can play in helping to lift people from poverty and provide them with a better life. Going forward, I hope to become actively involved with microfinance in my home country and abroad."   - female working for an international bank

"I took part in this course to primarily learn about microfinance. In doing so, I have also become interested in how microfinance can be used to tackle problems in education and health and improve people's quality of life."   - female participant studying at graduate school.

"In my career as a banker, I plan to develop a proposal for Japanese banks to fund microfinance institutions."   - male participant

"This course has helped me to think about ways that I can help to support the field of social businesses in my work as a lawyer. I would like to assist social businesses in Japan going forward."   - male participant and legal professional from Japan

 

Looking back, the course was an incredibly rich experience. I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of the lecturers, the staff at BRAC and other microfinance institutions, and all of the wonderful people that I met during the course. All of the experiences and interactions that I had on the course were fruitful and gave me excellent insight into not only microfinance and Bangladesh but also helped me think about my future career and what I can do to help support international development.

 

Finally, I want to thank my fellow participants with whom I shared the last ten days. I look forward to staying in touch with all of you and seeing how you apply what you learned on the course to your respective fields and areas of interest.

Report written by: Ms. Kano, course participant and intern with the Alliance Forum Foundation