PlaNIS, the entity of PlaNet Finance Group dedicated to advising SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) funds, is partner of Hanson Wade for the Micro Financial Services World which will be held in Amsterdam from the 8th to the 11th of May.  This event is an opportunity for PlaNIS to share with the leading actors of microfinance who will be there.

For more information: www.mfs-world.com

New technology represents a key driver for the evolution of the microfinance sector: its use could result in doubling the number of microentrepreneurs, beneficiaries of microfinance, to 300 million worldwide.

Moreover, in Morocco the microfinance market already appears promising for providers of technology solutions attracted to the sector.

In this context, PlaNet Finance is co-organising with the Banque Populaire Group and Sogeti the 2nd international conference “Microfinance and New Technologies”, taking place on March 11th & 12th 2010 at the Royal Mirage Hotel in Marrakech, on the theme “Which models are best placed to increase access to financial services for the unbanked?”

An international ideas exchange and networking event for leading decision makers in new technologies and microfinance fields

The 2nd Microfinance and New Technologies Summit (MFNT) is a key event for decision-makers in the technology and microfinance fields.

After the inaugural event held in India in 2008, its principal objective is to reinforce the synergies between the two sectors in order to develop the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the microfinance sphere.

The theme for the 2nd MFNT Summit, “Which models are best placed to increase access to financial services for the unbanked?” will deal with the following subjects:
- Which management information systems for microfinance?
- What technological solutions are available to improve microfinance institutions’ performance?
- Mobile banking and microfinance: what is the most efficient use?
 

Around 50 international experts will speak at the conference, including representatives and consultants from microfinance institutions, IT and telecommunications companies, banking and money transfer sectors, regulatory authorities, public and private investors and international development agencies.
Sessions will be held over 2 days in order for speakers to share their experiences, present their technology-based solutions and propose ideas to develop the use of ICT in microfinance.
Around 250 decision makers from around the world are expected to attend.
Both national and international exhibitors will be showcasing their products and services.

Some of the speakers
• Global leaders
- Jacques ATTALI, President, PlaNet Finance Group, France
- Norman FRANKEL, CEO, Mi-Pay, Romania
- Hannes VAN RENSBURG, CEO, Fundamo, South Africa

• Technologies & Finance Experts
- Kamal BOUDHABHATI, CEO, Craft Silicon, Kenya
- Oscar MADEDDU, Credit Management Specialist, IFC, World Bank, United States
- Alfred MESGUICH, MIS Global Coordinator, The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, Switzerland
- Ernst HENNCHE, CEO, Fisa Group, Ecuador
- Elio VITUCCI, General Manager, Experian Micro Analytics, France
- …etc.

To learn more, please visit the event website: www.mfntsummit2010.com

Following the success of last year, the third edition of “Tee Off Against Poverty !”, a friendly golf tournament organized by the UAE branch of PlaNet Finance, will star Manuel De Los Santos, a phenomenal rising golf star with 2 handicap, despite a disability: Manuel lost a leg in a traffic accident. In 2009 Santos competed on the European circuit against able bodied golfers from around the world. Said to “redefine all the rules of the golf playing techniques”, Manuel De Los Santos is causing a furor in the golfing world both with his performance, spirit and ambition.

“After the success of the second edition id “Tee Off Against Poverty!” in April last year, we approached Manuel who is not only excited to support our cause, but to play with fellow golfers in Dubai,” said Cabanel-Rey. During his stay in Dubai, Manuel De Los Santos will also conduct a golf clinic for participants in the tournament.

The third edition of “Tee Off Against Poverty” will take place, on 11 March 2010, just a few weeks after the Desert Classic, courtesy Emirates Golf Club Dubai. The tournament is open for individual players and corporate teams from all of the UAE. Details about participation can be obtained from dubaigolftournament@planetfinance.org or Tel: +971 509355475
 

Mobile financial services are about to reach the ‘tipping point’ in Southern and Central America. Mobile penetration in Latin America and the Caribbean stands at 80%, whilst in contrast the unbanked population in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Jamaica averages over 60%. That is why PlaNet Finance decided to be a partner of the MMT, the first conference dedicated to mobile money innovations throughout Central and Southern America, the Caribbean and the US.

For more information: www.mobile-money-transfer.com/americas

PlaNet Finance Nepal is organizing the 8th Handicraft Trade Fair and 6th Craft Competition implemented by its local partner Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN). The event will take place from February 18th to 22nd 2010 in Kathmandu.
 

The fair aims to promote Nepalese handicraft and entrepreneurship through products exhibition on the one hand, and business meetings with both national and international sellers on the other hand.
 

For more info, please visit: www.smelink.com.np

Nepalese entrepreneurs heading towards Europe
 

The SMElink project, implemented by PlaNet Finance in Nepal is co- funded by the European Commission. The project is entering its third and final year. For two years, more than 150 Nepalese Small and Medium Entrepreneurs have learnt about various business-
related issues in order to fulfill their dreams of exporting to Europe.
 

The Small and Medium Entrepreneurs were selected sector-wise, according to a preliminary survey about European demand for Nepalese supply. The chosen sectors were Jewellery and Metalcraft, Pashmina and sustainable tourism.
 

Since February 2008, entrepreneurs attend training courses on business planning, marketing, quality management system (QMS) and information technologies. These courses led to various concrete results like the designing of their own business plans (for 50 among them) in Year 1; in Year 2, 62 of them came up with their own marketing plan. The QMS training scheme is still going on and will empower 50 entrepreneurs to get a certification based on the ISO 9000- 2000 format. As for the Information Technologies training course, entrepreneurs are now able to use it in their everyday business (word, internet, etc.) and 25 entrepreneurs who did not have a website before, now do.

PlaNet Finance Colombia is currently working to develop tailored microfinance services which will focus on the needs of a specific group – the 3,000 producers who belong to the ECOCACAO cocoa-growing cooperative. What makes this initiative special is that services will be directly provided by ECOCACAO in partnership with the commercial bank, Bancolombia.
Access to financial services will mean that producers can move into growing organic cocoa and the manufacture of high value added products like speciality chocolates for sale on national and international markets.The second phase of this initiative can now get underway and will see a new microfinance institution receiving backing in the form of technical support over a two-year period. The project will be part funded by ECOCACAO alongside other investors brought in by PlaNet Finance.