Grameen Foundation, Standard Chartered Bank host East African Microfinance Investment Conference

Microfinance Focus, Feb. 20, 2010: Grameen Foundation and Standard Chartered are hosting an industry conference today in Nairobi, Kenya, to help MFIs navigate these changes and take advantage of new funding opportunities that can fuel their growth and outreach to more of the region’s poor people.

Professor Njuguna S. Ndung’u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, will deliver the keynote address at the opening session. The summit will bring together the chief executives and senior management from MFIs from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as government regulators, investors, commercial banks and other key players in the microfinance industry.

“The changing environments in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have created a significant opportunity for microfinance institutions to move beyond grants and donor funding to equity, savings and other sources of commercial financing,” said Norman Buckham, Grameen Foundation’s regional CEO for Africa.

“We are pleased to work with Standard Chartered to help microfinance institutions in these key markets adapt to this changing funding landscape.” During the conference, attendees will learn best practices for structuring their operations to attract and manage commercial financing, including advice on securing equity financing and managing debt financing.

They will also have a unique opportunity to network and develop deeper relationships with key lenders and investors. Mr. Richard Etemesi, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, said that the conference provides a unique opportunity for the sector players to openly discuss financing requirements and concerns given the challenging global economic environment and a unique opportunity to provide long-term solutions for the entire microfinance sector across East Africa.

He added that microfinance is no longer a local issue but a global business. “It gives me great pride to be able say that in Africa we are using our international network, products, systems and services to provide microfinance institutions with debt finance and innovative solutions to their business problems, including local currency funding and foreign currency hedging,” said Mr. Etemesi.

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