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

Sogeti, a leading provider of professional technology services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cap Gemini, has been a partner of PlaNet Finance for eleven years, and reaffirms its support to the organization. In this respect, consultants have carried out
security audit missions for microfinance institutions since the beginning of 2009, jointly with PlaNet Finance local experts.
Within the context of these missions, the Sogeti teams have, for instance, done an overhaul and a general securitization for the IT system of a microfinance institution’s local office in Morocco. Sogeti’s security skill center ESEC has also carried out an audit in a microfinance institution in South Africa (The Kuyasa Fund) which is a partner of PlaNet Finance in the development of a microfinance and housing program, cofinanced by the European Union.
“Microfinance is effective at fighting against financial exclusion. It is necessary, or even imperative, that companies like Sogeti partner towards further developing this sustainable approach”, explains Jacques Attali, president of PlaNet Finance. “This partnership has a real added value for PlaNet Finance because it brings contacts and outside expertise to these projects”.
Luc-François Salvador, Chief Executive Officer of Sogeti adds: “Sogeti aims to provide its expertise and its standards for quality to solidarity actions. Transactional security is a major issue in microfinance development, and we are proud to contribute in this area with PlaNet Finance. This partnership, which allows us to mobilize our know-how and human resources, also demonstrates our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.”

In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PlaNet Finance launched an innovative project to deploy and learn from 3 different microfinance and mobile money projects in 3 different countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and the Philippines. The aim is to provide savings and loan repayment services through mobile devices, and give access to convenient and competitive financial services to MFIs Customers. In each country, PlaNet Finance will deploy the program in partnership with 1 MFI, using Mobile Banking solutions proposed or developed in partnership with a local Mobile Network Operator (Orange, Safaricom, Smart etc.).
Côte d’Ivoire was the first country of deployment, where PlaNet Finance signed a partnership in 2009 with an MFI (Afrique, Emergence & Investissements) and accomplished initial Market Studies, Processes and Training sessions. In this country, 2010 will be an important year of operational deliverables, and the first pilot which began in the 4th Quarter of 2009 will be rolled out on a large scale. In the two other countries, PlaNet Finance will deploy Initial Market Studies, Marketing Plans, Processes, Training Plans, Pilots and also lead Learning Studies by the end of 2010.

MTIC trainings
Launched in 2006 with the support of Microsoft, Netfective and in partnership with the ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, as well as four Microcredit Associations, the project “Introduction to IT for the Management of a Microenterprise program”, known as the MTIC project, continues to train more and more people. In 2009, 98 individuals recieved training.
For example, 15 people attended the certificate training UP Microsoft. Additionally, 35 loan officers at the AMSSF/MC and the Al Karama Foundation, 4 trainers in the ESPOD association in Casablanca, and 2 youth workers from the “Centre de Sauvegarde de la Jeune Fille” and the association “Voix de Femmes” in Agadir have been introduced to the MTIC methodology.
Trainers from the ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports who have already received the MTIC training have also participated in IT sessions for 33 beneficiaries of the Banque Populaire Foundation, at the center Ajialcom in Berrechid.
Since November 2009, a partnership was launched with the Hay Adil recreation center in Hay Mohammedi in Casablanca.
The MTIC project will also be soon linked to the “HP Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT” or GET-IT program, supported by UNIDO (the United Nations Industrial Development Organization).
 

GET-IT trainings
As part of the GET-IT program (“Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT”), financed by HP, two employees at PlaNet Finance Maroc, Hicham Bahij and Hind Malainine, have taken part in a training of trainers, concerning the introduction for microentrepreneurs to IT.
Given by the MEA-I (“Microenterprise Acceleration Institute”), this training session is based on an interactive and original training method: virtual entrepreneurs, stories and animations, hands-on activities, discussions and act ivi t ies, debr ief ing and sel fassessments. As a result, they began holding training sessions for microcredit associations in December 2009.
As part of this program, HP has also given twenty computers to the PlaNet Finance Maroc training center.

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