CGAP Virtual Conference

CGAP, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a global resource center for microfinance standards, hosted a Virtual Conference last week entitled, "Vision 2015: What Does the Future of Microfinance Hold?" The conference was held from February 26th - March 2nd starting with a discussion within the ambit of global forces affecting microfinance, and succeeded daily with a different sub-topic – technology, government role, funding. On the last day, CGAP sought participants' input on the future role they believed CGAP should play in working towards universal access, this topic is still open for final comments.

We found each daily discussion to be quite lively and included valuable feedback & ideas from a wide variety of practitioners in the sector. For example, in the Technology discussion there was much focus on advanced distribution channels such as mobile banking, Biometrics and POS technology. However, a pertinent theme of the discussion focused on the need for MFIs to firstly develop a core IT foundation that is stable & efficiently delivers upon the MFIs business strategies & needs (such as efficient enterprise software systems) before launching into additional technology channels.

Day 4's funding discussion touched upon the need for private investors to diversify their investments rather than continuing to focus on the same top MFIs. Additionally, we discussed the idea that perhaps the donor investment organizations should focus more on the least developed MFIs in need of funding for basic growth capacity building?

The online discussions were facilitated by microfinance industry experts and writers of CGAP’s paper, “Four Scenarios for the Future of Microfinance,” Elizabeth Littlefield, David Porteous, and Brigit Helms.