EU/ACP Microfinance Programme

We are pleased to announce the results of the Call for Proposals of the EU/ACP Microfinance Programme, a flagship progamme implemented in collaboration with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) a multi-donor consortium housed at the World Bank (www.cgap.org).

Selected from a total of 76 proposals received in response to the Programme’s Call for Proposals,the awardees will use the EU/ACP’s support to expand outreach through innovative delivery mechanisms and products, and to improve transparency. Most grants are for support to existing MFIs, though two are for creating new microfinance banks. The grants made range from 250,000 to 1 million Euro, for a total amount of 6,538,884 Euro.

Specifically, the 11 awards will help:

• Diversify financial products and services. Urwego will pilot new savings services in Rwanda. Opportunity International, UK will strengthen the capacity of several partner MFIs in Africa to refine and develop products, including microinsurance.
• Apply new technologies. Procredit will introduce ATMs in DRC.
• Expand to rural and remote areas. Aquadev and Etimos will strengthen financial service providers operating in rural areas in Senegal; MIFED and CIDR will reconfigure and support the CVECA networks in Cameroon; KDA and Africa Now will improve the capacity of financial services associations in rural Kenya; and a consortium of SIDI, Alterfin and MAIN will work with MFIs that operate in underserved areas.
• Enhance transparency. Triodos International Fund Management and Facet will enhance the risk management function and social reporting capabilities of MFIs in Africa. AMFIU will help improve consumer protection in Uganda.
• Create microfinance banks. LFS Financial Systems will set-up a new microbank in Madagascar, and Horus Development Finance will do the same in Cameroon. The European Investment Bank will invest indirectly in both banks (through investment funds).

Lessons learned from these awards will be shared broadly among ACP microfinance actors. More information on the selected proposals is available at the Programme Web site: www.euacpmicrofinance.org. If you have any questions, please contact the programme coordinator, Ms. Antonique Koning at akoning@worldbank.org, who is based at the Brussels' World Bank office.