EVENTS & WEBINARS

Since 2018, the Financial Inclusion Compass annual survey of sector trends has become an invaluable resource to disseminate and understand what a broad cross-section of financial inclusion stakeholders sees as the great challenges and opportunities to come. The Financial Inclusion Compass 2024 is the seventh edition in this e-MFP series and has new questions to ask - on fraud, biodiversity, reputation, missed opportunities and even what "financial inclusion" actually means: is it, beyond re-branding, meaningfully different from "microfinance"?

e-MFP's Sam Mendelson, lead author presented some of these ideas in this joint e-MFP & FinFev Gateway webinar and was joined by Deborah Foy, Executive Director of Opportunity International; Philippe Guichandut, Secretary-General of Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation; and Dr. Asongo Abraham, COO of Standard Microfinance Bank Nigeria for a lively discussion.

Gender Lens Investing (GLI) is an approach to investing that recognizes these gender-based disparities and directs capital to address them, supporting the social and economic empowerment of women in pursuit of the ethical imperative of gender equity. Investors such as Women's World Banking Asset Management and BlueOrchard have been leading the way GLI in inclusive finance. The joint e-MFP & FinEquity webinar provided a comprehensive understanding of GLI, its significance, and its ability to drive positive change across sectors and segments. Attendees gained insights into how GLI can enhance risk assessment, identify opportunities, and generate long-term value while promoting gender equity and women's empowerment. The discussion also delved into the implications of GLI for financial inclusion players, examining its expected outcomes, potential challenges, and its role in facilitating access to finance, promoting entrepreneurship, and fostering economic growth. Attendees also learned about a new initiative from the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) on creating a dedicated e-MFP GLI Action Group.

Speakers: Christina (CJ) Juhasz, Institution: Women’s World Banking Asset Management; Veronika Giusti Keller, BlueOrchard Finance; Juana Ramirez, Independent Consultant; Nisha Singh, FinEquity

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most recent crisis to face the microfinance sector but it was far from the first. From its earliest years, crises have appeared throughout the modern history of microfinance and the responses they engenderd have included some of the most significant reforms and innovations in the sector. In their article for the Spring 2024 special microfinance issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, e-MFP's Daniel Rozas and Sam Mendelson review some of the key crises from the 1980's to the present. In this research seminar organized by the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi), they discussed their findings and consider what this means for responses to future crises.

At a COP28 side event on 12th December 2023 at the BENELUX-EIB Pavillion, e-MFP together with our members ADA, the European Investment Bank and the Microinsurance Network, brought the experience of an ecosystem of organisations based in Luxembourg - an internationally recognised inclusive finance hub - on 'The Financial Inclusion Sector Social and Green Agenda: Partnering for a Sustainable Future'. The session deepened understanding on how the financial inclusion sector is becoming a greener sector while maintaining its strong social mission, and gave insights on how to develop a green agenda when working with excluded and very vulnerable populations.

Panelists: Joana Silva Afonso, e-MFP/ SPTF Board Member; Mathilde Bauwin, ADA; Jesper Persson, EIB; Michele Grosso, MiN Board Member/Democrance.

The e-MFP WASH Action Group kicked off a series of webinars on Climate and WASH in October 2023. In this first webinar, Aqua for All led a session on financing climate-smart WASH which included Aqua for All's ambition to bridge the WASH financing gap, a background on the intersections between WASH, climate change inclusion, and most importantly set the stage for financing climate-smart WASH. The webinar, which featured Rachel Child, Climate Advisor, Leandra Roller, Climate Strategy Advisor and Loes Nijkamp, Programme Officer, included case studies and short engagements with the audience for further insights and feedback.

The launch event of the ‘Green Map’ - Addressing Climate Change Via an Open Resource for Green Inclusive Finance Projects & Practices – took place in the House of Microfinance in Luxembourg on 28 September. e-MFP’s Christoph Pausch warmly welcomed all participants and Paul Weber, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Luxembourg gave the opening remarks. This was followed by an intro and background to the project by e-MFP’s Joana Afonso, coordinator of e-MFP’s Action Groups, before a deep dive into the topic and the project’s implementation by Isabelle Barres, Green Map Project Lead, and the two GICSF-AG co-Heads, Davide Forcella, JuST Institute and Natalia Realpe Carrillo,HEDERA. The session included also the testimonies of two Green Map contributors, BANFONDESA & United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

The ‘Green Map’ is a project developed by the e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group (GICSFAG) and supported by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. This innovative resource is available to all green finance and inclusive finance actors. The project maps green inclusive finance projects and inclusive finance actors’ best practices in both adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and more broadly coping with environmental degradation and promoting sustainable environmental practices.

The session was co-ordinated and moderated by e-MFP’s Sam Mendelson, who was joined in person by Noémie Renier, Head of Debt at Incofin IM, and Johanna Ryan, Direct of Impact at Vision Fund International. They were joined remotely by Sally Yacoub, a gender expert and consultant who supported the EMA team in 2022, and, via pre-recorded interview, Roshaneh Zafar, Managing Director of EMA2022 finalist Kashf Foundation from Pakistan. In this session, which attracted 65 attendees in person and over 120 online, the panellists covered the landscape of challenges and solutions, gender lens investing (including the ‘2X’ challenge), challenges from the field, and the role that other stakeholders, including raters and regulators, can play in ensuring the delivery of products and services that serve women clients, and building internal environments within FSPs conducive to women’s advancement and leadership.

One of the main challenges FSPs face in serving the low income customer is understanding their needs. WSBI and FMT joined forces with e-MFP and ADA in a webinar to share insights on a study which focused on the use of external data sources that are regularly available across the African continent and are a rich, untapped source of information. Several leading FSPs are translating this external information into meaningful insights to support their product design and rollout, distribution strategies and more.

What if the most transparent and community minded leaders of informal savings groups were provided with a financial nudge to train more groups? The organisers of these groups, with over half a billion members, are the experts. Watch the recording of our recent webinar - the panelists from Ghana, Yemen, Nepal, Mexico, India, and Korea - have a wealth of practical experience on how to achieve what we consider the revolutionary next step in financial inclusion.

The webinar moderated by e-MFP’s Daniel Rozas featured a great panel with a real wealth of experience, led by a savings group pioneer, Jeffrey Ashe, Director of Grassroots Finance Action who was joined by several of his former graduate students: Gervase Adams, Zaynab Ali Abdi, Achyut Hari Aryal, Poorvaja Sundar, and Jong-Hyon Shin.

An e-MFP/FIF UK Webinar to discuss selected case studies and factors for success from the European Microfinance Award 2021.

This webinar was a chance to learn more about this dynamic and burgeoning field of financial inclusion, and to hear from (and ask questions to) representatives of organisations that represent the three main approaches in e-MFP’s publication: preventing and treating illness; mitigating the risk of health shocks; and delivering health care to those who need it most. In 2021, the topic of the EMA was “Inclusive Finance & Health Care” – a subject which has never been more relevant than it is today. The Award, which opened in March and culminated with a High Jury to select a winner in November, invited applications from all over the world, presenting a diverse field of initiatives in insurance, credit, education, prevention and screening, among others.

e-MFP, in partnership with FinDev Gateway, explored findings from the Financial Inclusion Compass 2021 survey which this year looked beyond the impact of the pandemic and focused on issues related to current trends in the sector and future areas of focus. In addition, a special section highlighted the perceived impact of the pandemic, the changing roles of various stakeholders, and opportunities for "building back better". The webinar was led by Sam Mendelson, Financial Inclusion Specialist at e-MFP and lead author of the Compass series, joined by Antonique Koning, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP, Malkhaz Dzadzua, former CEO of JSC MFO Crystal in Georgia, and Noémie Renier, Head of Debt for Financial Institutions at Incofin Investment Management.

Weathering the Storm II publication synthesizes the experiences and lessons from 16 institutions in 14 countries on four continents that faced a variety of crises over 15-year period. Its aim is to use these lessons to inform those facing future crises, including the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29th June, e-MFP and and the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) hosted a special seminar featuring the leaders of two of these institutions – Kashf Foundation, Pakistan, and Viator Microcredit Azerbaijan. They were joined by the lead author of the Weathering the Storm project, Daniel Rozas, as well as the author of the case study of Spandana, India, and expert on the 2010 Andhra Pradesh crisis. Together, they discussed how past crisis experience has helped them face the COVID-19 crisis and prepare for the coming recovery.

The First Wealth is Health“, an e-MFP webinar on “Inclusive Finance and Health Care” was hosted on 26th May. The aim of the webinar was to present the current health care landscape, including the needs of low-income households and the costs they must bear to access health care, the role of different financial products such as insurance as well as crucial non-financial support, the particular health care needs of women, and the roles that financial services providers can play to address this enormous challenge. We welcomed Bobbi Gray, Research Director at Grameen Foundation, to lead the webinar, and she was joined by Lisa Morgan, Technical Officer at ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility; Peter Wrede, a senior consultant with years of field experience, especially in health insurance; Barbara Magnoni, President of EA Consultants; and Shams Azad, Chief Operating Officer at BRAC Microfinance.

The Financial Inclusion Forum UK (FIF UK) and the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) jointly hosted an open-to-all expert discussion on the state-of-the-art in savings behaviour and what different financial services providers are doing to innovate in the design and delivery of savings to low-income households and businesses.

Un webinar con Gabriela Erice (e-MFP) y Georgina Vazquez (OMTRIX) para presentar las conclusiones de la tercera encuesta de la e-MFP Compass, una edición especial que examina específicamente los desafíos que el Covid-19 plantea al sector de la inclusión financiera.

A webinar with e-MFP's Sam Mendelson and CFI's Mayada El-Zoghbi presenting the preliminary and pre-publication findings from the third e-MFP 'Financial Inclusion Compass' survey - a special edition of the survey specifically looking at the challenges Covid-19 is posing to financial inclusion sector stakeholders, and what they prioritise going forward.

In the first of the 'Financial Inclusion Conversations' video series with institutions that have successfully weathered past crises, e-MFP's Sam Mendelson sat down with Roshaneh Zafar of Kashf Foundation, Pakistan to talk about the past, present and future.

How is the financial inclusion sector responding to the Covid-19 pandemic? The immense challenges right – to clients, institutions, investors, support providers, and policy-makers – are clear. But the question we'd like to ask is: are we managing? Just how much trouble are we in?

The joint European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) / Financial Inclusion Forum UK cross-sector panel held on 13 May 2020 with six outstanding speakers discussed how the financial inclusion sector is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

e-MFP's Sam Mendelson, author of the Financial Inclusion Compass 2019, presented the trends, future areas of focus, challenges and opportunities for inclusive finance from the second e-MFP survey of financial inclusion trends in an event jointly held with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) - the European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) and e-MFP.

A joint event with the Financial Inclusion Forum UK (FiF) and hosted by Allen & Overy, which presented the background to the 2018 European Microfinance Award on 'Financial Inclusion through Technology' and the emerging best practice in this area including through the finalists and semi-finalists' programs profiled in the European Dialogue publication Digital Pathways in Financial Inclusion. 

Speakers were: Audrey Joubert, Advans International; Graham A.N. Wright, MSC; Aurélie Wildt Dagneaux, PHB Development with moderation by Sam Mendelson, e-MFP/FiF. 

Read  our blog The Promise (and Pitfalls) of Technology: Launch of 'Digital Pathways in Financial Inclusion' in London