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Dear friends,
2006 was quite a year in the microfinance industry! We started
2007 still buzzing from the excitement of the Nobel Peace Prize
being awarded to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. This year
we hope to carry the momentum forward, and extend our reach even
further.
Since the Nobel Peace Prize announcement, nearly 7,000 people
have joined the ranks of our eNewsletter subscribers! Many of
you told us that the announcement was your "Aha!" moment, the
moment when you first learned about microfinance and/or decided
to actively join the fight to end global poverty. I would like
to thank you and all of our supporters for helping us to give
the poor the tools to build new and better lives for themselves
and their families.
We also have another great reason to work hard and celebrate
this year: 2007 is Grameen Foundation's 10th anniversary. Over
the decade, our dedicated cadre of volunteers, professionals,
donors, partners and allies has grown making this organization a
powerful force for reducing global poverty. We will be counting
on this support over the next the next two years as we race
toward our goal of providing financial services to five million
families by the end of 2008.
For me, the most memorable moment of the last few months came
during the Nobel Peace Prize concert when Dr. Yunus asked his
colleagues from Grameen Bank to stand. Many of them started out
as borrowers and have grown into living models of the success of
microfinance. It was a thrill to see these "foot soldiers" of
the movement receive a huge ovation, and it reminded me that for
microfinance to succeed, a team effort is required and that we
all have a role to play.
Sincerely,
Alex Counts
President
P.S. We're thrilled to start 2007 with the breaking news that
our partner SKS has reached 500,000 clients! Read more in the
right hand column.
New partners join Grameen Foundation's
global network
GF staff member Kate Druschel talking with a Chifeng
client |
Grameen Foundation is pleased to welcome three new
microfinance institutions (MFIs) into our partner network:
Chifeng Zhaowuda and ARDPAS of China, and FONDECO of
Bolivia.
Grameen Foundation board member Wayne Silby and staff members
Deb Burand, Kate Druschel, and Abbey Lin visited Chifeng
Zhaowuda during March of last year. Despite the cold weather of
Inner Mongolia, they found that everyone was warm and inviting,
and above all were empowered by Chifeng's optimism and 'can-do'
attitude. This incredible visit strengthened Chifeng's future
partnership with us. Currently serving over 3,000 female
clients, Chifeng Zhaowuda is considered one of the strongest
microfinance programs in China.
ARDPAS, located in Sichuan province of western China, began
operating in 1998 with funding support from the Sichuan
Provincial Government. Government interference impeded their
operations, but by 2004 ARDPAS was able to get a fresh start
using capital from Grameen Foundation partner Funding
for Poor Cooperatives, Grameen Trust, and Zhejiang Province.
We plan to support ARDPAS with technical assistance in process
engineering, MIS automation, business plan training, and other
areas over the next two years.
In November, Grameen Foundation staff member Ximena Arteaga
visited FONDECO in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and their branch in
La Paz. During her visit with FONDECO staff and clients, she was
particularly moved by the stories of some of FONDECO's housing
loan clients. The visit catalyzed our relationship with FONDECO,
which serves 7,000 clients; we are supporting their business
plan to reach nearly 10,000 clients by 2010. FONDECO is Grameen
Foundation's second partner in Bolivia along with Pro
Mujer Bolivia.
Grameen-Jameel Initiative Co-Sponsors the
Arab Region's First Microfinance Investment Seminar
GF staff member Deb Burand conducting a workshop at the
seminar |
The Microfinance Investment Seminar, held November 20-21 at
the Dead Sea in Jordan, was the first seminar of its kind. It
served to train CEOs and CFOs of microfinance institutions
(MFIs) on commercial financing, educate bankers about investing
in microfinance, and build relationships between banks and MFIs.
The seminar was co-sponsored by the Grameen-Jameel Initiative
and the Rockdale Foundation, and was hosted by Sanabel, the
microfinance network of Arab countries.
A key goal of the seminar was to build knowledge and
collaboration across the regional microfinance industry. Grameen
Foundation staff members Deb Burand, Heather Henyon, and Camilla
Nestor led sessions on topics including how MFIs can best
negotiate financing from banks, manage foreign exchange risk,
and transform themselves into formal financial institutions, and
how to evaluate MFIs as investments. Staff from Women's World
Banking and ACCION also provided training sessions at the
seminar.
There were 150 participants including 50 bankers working in
the region. Leticia Alonso, Financial Advisor at our MFI partner
FONDEP
in Morocco, reported that the seminar was "one of those rare
times when everything is just right: the themes and discussions
were highly technical but very practical at the same time....
Honestly, it was one of the few seminars where you go out
longing to start applying all the new ideas you've got."
Launched in 2003, the Grameen-Jameel Initiative is an
innovative partnership between Grameen Foundation and the Abdul
Latif Jameel Group to reduce poverty in the Middle East and
North Africa through microfinance.
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